So I stopped by the boat building workshop at Cape Fear Community College to see what they were building and chat with the instructors. I saw some great stuff, and learned about some neat things.
First off, the stuff they were building looked great. They have a 23' CC plank on frame that is currently upside-down getting faired. It has a gorgeous "Carolina" bow that should deflect the spray quite well. I talked to the owner/builder, and he's getting near to putting on a nice paint job and setting up a 150HP 4-stroke on the back. It should be just the ticket for fishing the waters around here. They are also building a couple 14' skiffs for rowing and OB use. They are turning out very nice too. After speaking to the instructor for a while I got an idea of how their course progresses. A student has to take a Marine Drafting class and the "lab" part concurrently. There is something like 3 hours of class time and 9 hours of lab/shop time per week. The instructor said that for the first semester of the course (it's a 2 semester program) the shop time is mostly concerned with the proper use and care of the hand tools used most for boat building. The drafting part is actually not named correctly, as it's mostly about lofting techniques. The second semester is when the class gets to actually build the boats that were decided upon by the class and approved by the instructor. Apparently when the class is completed the boats are then offered to the students who wish to buy them for the cost of the supplies that went into them. Seems like a nice deal.
The second thing that caught my attention is that while you're a student in the program you get a discount at a local lumber yard. This sounds like a nice perk for building your own boat at home!
The course is offered both days and evenings. I think I know what I'll be doing come this Fall semester....
If you look in the back of WB magazine in the instruction section you'll see the college listed. If you want to learn more you can also check out the school's website at www.cfcc.edu .
DISCLAIMER: I am affiliated with the school, but I am not an instructor, and I have no "stake" or personal gain in this program except to inform other boatbuilding enthusiasts about the course.
Matt
Wilmington, NC
Thanks for the heads up. I have added the link on the resources page. Tell me you didn't take your camera with you!!!!! Your post would make an ideal review. If you could get us some pictures for the web page we will add it to the site. Wishing we had a school like this in the midwest. Hey maybe I oughta just start one. Ya, thats it... No, really, good content, cool program, thanks for the post. Kruez
ReplyDeleteI spoke with the instructor of this program today and he says it'd be fine if I came into the shop with a camera and took pictures of the class projects for posting here on the MSN group. I will hopefully get some pics taken and uploded in the next week.
ReplyDeleteMatthew
Be sure to introduce the instructor and his students to this website. Always room for more wooden boat people. If you, he, or a student wanted to write a review of the program, it would be a great addition to the review page. Kruez
ReplyDelete