Boatbuilding for beginners

Students will work as a team on a 4 metre kayak . The tutor is a retiree who has been building boats all his life. He has been passing on his knowledge for the past 15 years and in that time dozens of people have reaped the benefit of his experience. Building, Finishing and Sheathing a Kayak will be covered in this course working on a partly built Kayak. The same principles apply to building a kayak or much larger boats. In six weeks you will learn many specialist techniques.

Entry Requirements

Nil

Student Instructions

Please bring your lunch
and the following safety equipment:

  • Safety Gear
  • Safety glasses (goggles)
  • Ear Muffs
  • Disposable face dust mask.
  • Disposable rubber gloves (as glue stains fingers)


NB: Steel capped boots, if this is a requirement with WH&S.

The minimum requirement for tools to bring are:

  • Claw hammer
  • Phillips screwdriver


To participate fully you would be advised to have some if not all of the following equipment.

  • Flat screwdriver
  • Wood chisels 1×1/2“ (12mm), 1×3/4“ (18mm) & 1×1“ (24mm)
  • Electric drill (battery drill preferable as we have limited power point access)
  • Drill bits a small packet each of 1/16“ & 1/8”
  • 1 only counter sunk bit.
  • Electric jigsaw with spare blades for plywood.
  • Small wood plane
  • Small handsaw
  • Steel tape measure
  • Pencil and notepad.


The location of the classroom is the lower floor of the building and is overlooking the mouth of the creek. Entry is by the main front door, an intercom system is provided to assist entry.

Topics

During this course students under supervision will build a 4 metre kayak using plans donated by Bruce Roberts International Yacht Designs. The course has been streamlined down to six weeks, and in that time you will learn many specialist techniques including building jigs, frames and bow sections, bending stringers, final finishing and much more.
Practical lessons will be including colour and design impregnated into the Fibreglass, a process that I have developed for the course.

Career Prospects

Even fibreglass boats need wooden joinery, so you can gain benefits in many areas still required in the marine industry. Completion of this course and continued boating activity will demonstrate an interest that can be attractive to various employers in the industry.

Delivery Style

Hands-on

Outcomes

At the completion of the course the kayak will be offered for sale for the material costs to the students first. Complete the course and you will learn techniques that enable the building of much larger boats.