Welcome to the Apprenticeshop, one of the oldest traditional boat building schools in the country.  Atlantic Challenge, our parent organization, offers various maritime activities from sailing to a winter lecture series, but the Apprenticeshop's traditional wooden boat building program is our oldest and remains our core focus.

Photo: Tim Arruda Photography

Two-year Apprenticeship at a Maine Boatbuilding School

The philosophy behind our two-year apprenticeship program is simple:  learning to do anything is best accomplished through direct experience.

When an Apprentice starts with the concept of a boat on the lofting table and carries it through the subsequent stages of construction, from framing, planking, decking, and finish work to a fully rigged boat ready for launching, a great deal of learning happens in a short amount of time. It is a process that not only fosters a high level of craftsmanship, but also sharpens one's problem solving skills and sense of aesthetic proportion and detail. 

New Apprentices begin their programs in January or July. Total enrollment is limited to 20 students. Apprentices work on commissioned or spec vessels from 8 to 30 feet. Seamanship is also a key component to our Shop; all students have the opportunity to sail.

Twelve-week Internship in Wooden Boatbuilding

Learning through direct experience is also the philosophy behind our internship program. In twelve-weeks, Interns build a Susan skiff, a flat bottom rowing skiff, following a weekly project schedule. The Susan skiff teaches all of the basic skills of traditional wooden boatbuilding -- the focus of all of our programs. 

Successful Interns are highly self-motivated individuals with a strong interest in boatbuilding and seamanship. New Interns begin their programs in January, April or September. 

Cooperative Internship in Traditional Boatbuilding

Cooperative Internships allow students in academic institutions to supplement their school coursework with a hands-on experience. As an accredited program through Franklin Pierce College of New Hampshire, the Cooperative Internship combines daily boat work with journal entries and offers the opportunity to learn about the management and philosophy of a community driven non-profit organization. Because of our focus on personal growth and attention, we are flexible and creative when working with administrators to arrange for interns to fit our program into each academic institution’s required curriculum.

Adult Workshops in Traditional Boatbuilding

Traditional wooden boatbuilding workshops for adults are being planned for the summer of 2010. Workshops will run for two weeks.  Details available soon.

In the past the Apprenticeshop offered classes in canoe or dory building and half-hull model making. Our most popular classes often included a guest builder in the shop. Pictured here, a skin-on-frame kayak building course offered a fast, easy and fun way to get your feet wet with a building project.

Youth Boatbuilding

Our boat building for young people program includes a two-week boatbuilding and sailing course for students aged 8 to 15 in late June or early July. This course will not run in 2010.

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