an origin story…
"In 1996, my parents' college graduation present to me was a week-long class at the WoodenBoat School. There I got my first taste of traditional wooden boatbuilding and, even more importantly, traditional wooden boatbuilding instruction. I went back in 1999 to take Greg Rössel's renowned two-week Fundamentals of Wooden Boatbuilding class, and it changed my entire approach to building and teaching. Much of my own approach as an instructor and Rocking the Boat's commitment to building boats with traditional materials and methodologies are a direct result of my experience at WoodenBoat School."
- Adam Green, Founder and Executive Director, Rocking the Boat
WoodenBoat Magazine, from which grew the WoodenBoat School, is the veritable bible of the craft, history, and trade of traditional wooden boatbuilding. Now in its 51st year of publication with over 60,000 subscribers, the magazine has served to knit together otherwise isolated boat building practitioners and shops into a community of common practice.
Rocking the Boat's relationship with the esteemed publication reaches back to 2003, when Senior Editor Tom Jackson first featured us in a praise-filled column. Since then, we've been a regular reference in WoodenBoat's pages, profiled in a feature article in 2008 and most recently with not one but three placements in their milestone 300th issue–an especially exciting moment for us as proud owners of every single edition!
Off the page, the partnership between WoodenBoat and Rocking the Boat has continued to thrive. Since the early 2000s, our staff and apprentices have welcomed guests to steam a frame or bang in a rivet at our hands-on exhibit at the WoodenBoat Show, a weekend-long festival held at the Mystic Seaport Museum. For people who get really excited about swinging a hammer or handling a chisel and want to actually learn to build boats, WoodenBoat offers a whole other opportunity at the WoodenBoat School.
the woodenboat school
Founded in 1981, the WoodenBoat School attracts thousands of seasoned and aspiring boatbuilders each year to its campus in Brooklin, ME with an impressive array of courses, all taught by world-class instructors in an incomparably beautiful setting.
In 2023, the WoodenBoat School extended its reach by partnering with Rocking the Boat to offer two off-site boatbuilding courses for adults–bringing this exceptional experience directly to our Bronx boat shop.
off-site classes at rocking the boat
Clint Chase instructs a skiff-building class at Rocking the Boat.
Adult participants ranging from skilled craftspeople to those who have never built anything from wood have joined our courses for a rare and rewarding chance to learn the craft of wooden boatbuilding and hone their carpentry skills. And for those in Clint Chase's program, their craftsmanship contributes to a meaningful cause.
In February 2024, noted Maine-based designer Clint Chase led a three-day course that produced two 14-foot lightweight rowing skiffs, which were donated to City Parks Foundation to be used in their Astoria, Queens-based Coastal Classroom middle school program. This year, Clint returns to Rocking the Boat for another session, building two more skiffs for the program. You can attend this year's class in April by signing up here.
Young participants in City Parks Foundation’s free rowing program navigate the waters in a skiff built last year.
"I have known about RTB for a long time having been in youth boatbuilding before as a program manager, by seeing the kids at the WoodenBoat Show and through meeting folks in the organization over the years. I have always been impressed with both the kids and adults who run the programs. So, when I had the opportunity to teach one of my classes in the Bronx I jumped at the opportunity."
- Clint Chase
In our sold-out February-March session, Graham McKay, master boatbuilder and Executive Director of Lowell's Boat Shop in Amesbury, MA will be teaching participants how to build a 12' Peapod Dory over the course of six days using a set of plans that were created last summer at the WoodenBoat School. More info.
Coming full circle from Adam's formative boatbuilding learning experiences in Brooklin, Rocking the Boat is thrilled to bring these unique courses to our professional-grade boatbuilding shop the Bronx, not only inspiring young people from the Bronx to learn to build boats as we have for 26 years, but now adults, too, from far and wide.
