During the winter months, SBCSA introduces members to the art of boatbuilding. No prior boatbuilding knowledge is required. Basic woodworking skills are helpful, but not necessary.

What You'll Learn

A variety of construction methods are taught, including:

• stitch and glue,
• strip planking, and
• glued lapstrake.

Building techniques include:

• lofting (creating curved lines),
• layout, and
• mold set-up.

Other skills are also taught, such as:

• reading basic boat plans
• proper use of hand and power shop tools
• epoxy bonding and filleting
• sheathing with fiberglass
• fitting planks and structural membranes
• creating fair surfaces (a surface without bumps or hollows)
• proper application and use of West System® epoxy and fiberglass
• paint and varnish techniques to get the perfect paint/varnish job.

Types of Boats Built

Each season, the boat-building class will continue to work on existing projects and start new ones. Past projects include:

• a pair of wood strip 12-foot-long Wood Duck kayaks,
• a 20-foot-long wood strip triple cockpit Osprey kayak, and
• a 16-foot-long strip plank Bob’s Special canoe.

Completed boats are raffled off or sold and proceeds support the SBCSA’s youth and adult sailing programs.