Maritime Museum Offering Boatbuilding Courses

Maritime Museum Offering Boatbuilding Courses

Opportunities throughout 2022 include DIY paddleboard, kayak & canoe

KINGSTON, N.Y. – The Wooden Boat School at Hudson River Maritime Museum will offer a number of boat building classes throughout 2022. Students will work with skilled instructors to create their own stand up paddleboard, double paddle canoe, or skin-on-frame kayak. These weekend courses offer a variety of construction experiences and are great for individuals or small groups. Limited class sizes enable students to learn at their own pace as they work closely with instructors. The school also offers introductory woodworking projects, youth classes, wooden boat restorations, maritime licensing and more. 

Instructor Chaz Corallo will teach a Build Your Own Stand Up Paddleboard class during the first two weekends of April. Corallo will guide students as they construct a wooden stand up paddleboard with a frame kit, build up the rails from bead and cove strips, add a deck, install hardware, and shape the board to their liking. Students will explore basic board design concepts, the application of steam to manipulate wood into shapes, adhesive applications, elements of edge tool work, glassing and application of epoxy, and use of traditional hand tools. By the end of the class each board will be ready for fiberglassing and finishing. 

The public is also able to register for a Build Your Own Skin-on-Frame Solo/Tandem Canoe course with instructor Rich Cerruto. This course takes place June 17-19 and 25-26, 2022. The vessel will be begin with a wooden frame and is stretched with a polyester "skin." Each student will leave with a completed canoe ready for the water. These 28 pound canoes are strong and can hold up to 320 pounds. Easily car-topped, they are perfect for casual paddlers and beginning boatbuilders alike. The finished canoe weighs about 32 pounds and can carry 320 pounds. Rig it as a solo, a tandem with a carrying yoke, or as a solo/tandem.

Also available is the opportunity to register for a Build Your Own Skin-on-Frame F1 Kayak happening March 12-17, 2022 with instructor John Richer. Students will build their project over the course of 6 days in the boat school shop. Students will start with assembly of the deck beams then steam bend the ribs in place. The frames and ribs will be lashed and the boat skinned with nylon cloth. Once the skin is coated the kayak will be completed with all the necessary rigging and accessories. This model is 14 feet long and 23 inches wide. Fully rigged it weighs only 29 pounds. Each student will leave with a completed kayak ready for the water.

The school is also offering a captain’s license (six-pack through 100 ton master) through True North Maritime Academy. The course takes place March 18-April 3, 2021 will provide training and testing requirements to apply for a US Coast Guard License. 

Find more information online at www.hrmm.org/boat-school or call 845-338-0071. People who have questions are encouraged to contact Becky Sellinger, Wooden Boat School Manager & Instructor, at [email protected].  

About the HRMM Wooden Boat School
The Wooden Boat School was founded by the Hudson River Maritime Museum in 2015 to preserve the maritime craft traditions of the Hudson Valley and to teach a hands-on interpretation of the living history of the Hudson River. The school offers diverse curriculum and opportunities which inspire skills in woodworking, boat building, and maritime craft. Also available are restoration services for wooden boats. Learn more at www.hrmm.org/boat-school.