December 3, 2020
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                   
 
Hudson River Maritime Museum’s Wooden Boat School Announces Winter Classes
 
KINGSTON, N.Y. – The Hudson River Maritime Museum’s Wooden Boat School has released its winter class lineup!

In August, the museum’s Wooden Boat School began holding classes on a limited scale after our COVID shutdown. The class sizes were kept small and students were able to learn with plenty of distance between them while following guidelines designed to keep everyone virus free.

Several of our popular classes will be returning and we have added several new offerings this winter. Returning classes include Build Your Own Adirondack Chair, Live Edge Table Build, Build Your Own Oval Shaker Boxes, Cigar Box Guitar, and our Foundations of Woodworking five-part series. Classes which are new to our lineup include two different classes on building different styles of tool boxes, pen turning, a basic bookshelf build and others.

We have also scheduled a Family Carolina Skiff Build where one lucky family or friend group can build a boat together in one weekend. We normally offer this class to two groups who build two boats at the same time. However, to ensure COVID safety protocols, we are only building one boat with one group this time. The class is open to one group of 2-4 students who are comfortable working together.

All the classes this winter are great for beginner woodworkers or anyone looking to improve their skills.

Fall classes sold out quickly, so we encourage anyone looking to purchase classes as a gift or for themselves to register early.

To learn more about the classes, register, or view the extra safety guidelines we will be following please visit www.hrmm.org/boat-school.html
 
About the Hudson River Maritime Museum. Located along the historic Rondout Creek in downtown Kingston, N.Y., the Hudson River Maritime Museum is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization dedicated to the preservation and interpretation of the maritime history of the Hudson River, its tributaries, and related industries. HRMM opened the Wooden Boat School in 2016.
 
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Maritime Museum to Host Vets-on-Water
Veterans’ Kayaking Group Arrives in Kingston Tuesday, September 15, 2020
 
KINGSTON, N.Y. – The Hudson River Maritime Museum is pleased to host kayaking veterans from the Vets-on-Water program of the Hudson Valley Center for Veteran Reintegration. The veterans group will be arriving in Kingston by water on Tuesday, September 15, 2020.

The museum’s 100% solar-powered boat Solaris will meet the vets at the Rondout Lighthouse and escort them into Rondout Creek and back to the museum around noon on Tuesday.

Three veterans in handmade wooden kayaks started their journey on September 5 at Lake Tear of the Clouds in the Adirondacks. They are kayaking the entire length of the Hudson River, ending at the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum in New York City.

The goal of the journey is twofold. First, to raise awareness of veterans issues, including  the battle against Veteran/active duty suicide, and homelessness. Second, to raise funds for the Hudson Valley Center for Veteran Reintegration (HVCVR). Located in Kingston, NY, HVCVR works with veterans through programs including the Wooden Boat Shop and woodworking, financial readiness, writing programs, wilderness retreats, and peer-to-peer support.  

The Vets-on-Water program will also be stopping in the following cities:

• Poughkeepsie: September 18, 2020
• Newburgh: September 21, 2020
• West Point: September: 23, 2020
• NYC: September 30, 2020

You can follow their journey, including updates with photos, videos, and livestreams, via their Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/HVCVR
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For more information about the Hudson Valley Center for Veteran Reintegration and to donate to support the center, visit their website at www.hvcvr.org.
 
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About the Hudson River Maritime Museum. Located along the historic Rondout Creek in downtown Kingston, N.Y., the Hudson River Maritime Museum is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization dedicated to the preservation and interpretation of the maritime history of the Hudson River, its tributaries, and related industries. HRMM opened the Wooden Boat School in 2016 and the Sailing & Rowing School in 2017. 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

KINGSTON, N.Y. – The Hudson River Maritime Museum is thrilled to announce that Wooden Boat School classes will resume this fall!

We have made the appropriate changes to accommodate safe distance teaching techniques so that students can once again learn and improve their woodworking skills. We urge interested students to sign up soon as classes are limited in size.

Classes which are already open for registration include:

• Live Edge Table Build: September 27th In this class students will learn how to turn a flitch from the saw mill into a beautiful live edge table. Each student will leave with their own table.
• Family Carolina Skiff Build: October 4th and 11th Over the course of 2 consecutive Sundays a group of students will build their own Skiff. The class is open to one group of 2-4 students who are comfortable working together. Call your friends and family to form a team.
• Build Your Own Adirondack Chair: October 24th and 25th This weekend class will walk each student through the process of building their own Adirondack Chair to take home at the end of the class.
• Introduction to Timber Frame: November 6th and 7th Have you ever wondered how a timber frame building is built? In this class students will learn these technics and skills. The class is open to beginners looking for an introduction or someone experienced looking to practice the skills with an instructor.
• Canoe Paddle Carving: November 7th and 8th From the shape of the blade, to its length, to the shape of the handle, the paddle each student will create will be made for them, by them. Choose either Otter Tail or Beaver Tail shaped blade for your paddle.
• Hand Built Wooden Plane: November 14th Enhance your skills and home tool kit in this hands on course as you build your own custom hand plane. Blades and kits will be supplied.
• Workbench Build: November 17th – 19th Join woodworker Michael Puryear for 3 evenings in this hands on building of a workbench. Each student will go home with a completed workbench to use on future projects.

To learn more about the classes, register or view the extra guidelines we will be following please visit www.hrmm.org/woodworking.

On the rugged shores of the British Isles and the fjords of Norway, small, double-ended wooden boats have long plied the cold waters of the North Atlantic, rowed or sailed by their fishermen owners. Built of lapstrake hardwoods, they are reminiscent of old Viking boats. In the North Atlantic, the small rocky islands and reefs that line the coastlines are called “skerries,” after the Old Norse word “sker.”  Often rowed and sailed in and around skerries, these plucky little work boats are rugged enough for the rocky shores.

This fall, the Hudson River Maritime Museum will offer a class to build the modern descendant of those historic British and Scandinavian working boats. Called a “Skerry” after those rocky islands, this version is tough and lightweight, easy to sail or row. Riverport Wooden Boat School Senior Instructor Michael Puryear notes, “This class is an opportunity to learn how to build boats using modern stitch-and-glue technology, which produces a lighter and stronger wooden boat.”

 Stitch-and-glue uses lightweight marine grade okume plywood to stich the flexible planks together in an overlapping style called lapstrake. The stitching and glue give the boat shape and strength without the use of heavy wooden ribs, as in traditional boatbuilding. The bottom of the boat is also sheathed in fiberglass for tough resistance to rocky shorelines or hard landings. 

The resulting boat is lightweight and easy to pull up on a beach at the end of the day and make camp. At 15 feet long with either a four-sided spritsail or a triangular gunter rig sail, the Skerry can be rowed while under sail, an uncommon feature for small boats. The mast can also be stepped down if you prefer to just row. At around 100 pounds, the Skerry can be car-topped with two adults, or is incredibly easy to pull in and out of the water on a small trailer.

Unlike previous boatbuilding classes at RWBS, this Skerry build is a group build – with a group of students working together to build a single boat. This boat will also be built from scratch using only plans, not kits, giving students the full range of woodworking skills as they build the boat from start to finish. Students can enter a lottery to “win” the final product.

“Students will gain confidence, manual skills, and build friendships through teamwork,” Puryear says of the group style of class. The “Group Boatbuild: Nordic Skerry” class takes place every Thursday and Friday, 6:00 PM to 10:00 PM, from Thursday, September 21 until Friday, November 3, with Saturday, November 4 as a final class for any finishing necessary, as well as to celebrate the completion of the boat and draw lots.

This class is also more affordable than the individual kit classes, at just $495 for HRMM members at the Household level and above, and $540 for non-members. “Many of our members and visitors were unable to commit to the week-long kit builds, both because of price and time commitment, so we wanted to offer an alternative and the Skerry is the perfect boat to start with,” says HRMM Director of Education Sarah Wassberg.

For many people, building a sailboat is a dream come true. “It was always my dream growing up,” says Puryear. To build a boat and then sail off into the sunset is now an affordable reality for Hudson Valley residents, provided you’ve got luck on your side.
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The class is limited to 10 people, and spots are sure to fill up fast. Interested students can register online at www.hrmm.org/classes--workshops.html or by calling 845-338-0071 ext. 16.