Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Most of the boatbuilding and seamanship classes begin at 8 a.m. and run through 5 p.m.
Lunch is brought in and served at the shops, at the Boathouse, or on board the teaching boats
at noon. In the evening, students can visit local boatyards (there are nine in Brooklin), ex-
plore the quaint little town where E. B. White wrote Charlotte's Web, or ply the Maine coast
in one of the school's fleet of wooden boats.
MARITIME SUPERSTITIONS
Boats (which are always “she”) should never be renamed (unless you perform an
elaborate ceremony), never be painted blue (lest the ocean be jealous), and never be
launched on a Friday (it's been considered bad luck for years). Also, a silver coin
with the date of the boat's birth should be placed under the mast as a tribute to the
winds.
ALSO FLOATS
A good place to study the revival of wooden boats is at Seattle's Center for Wooden
Boats. Founded in 1976 by Dick Wagner, a longtime lover of wooden boats who
can spin tales as windy as any sailor, the center owns 200 wooden boats, 75 of
which are on display at any given time, with 25 available for rent. They also of-
fer dozens of classes in such subjects as sailmaking, tying knots, and other topics
relevant to wooden boats. The small fleet at the Seattle Center includes rowboats
such as Whitebears and Davises, or you can let the wind do the work for you in
one of the center's sailboats, such as a Concordia sloop, Beetle Cat, or Blanchard
Junior. “There are plenty of museums with large boats—boats you can look at but
not touch,” Wagner says. “Ours are intended to be touched.” Boats are available for
daily rental and range from $10 to $45 an hour. Center for Wooden Boats, 1010 Val-
ley Street, Seattle, WA 98109, 206-382-2628, www.cwb.org.
More than a hundred classes, from beginner to advanced, are offered each year. Classes
at Brooklin run from June through September, but the famous school also offers boatbuilding
classes at various maritime museums and similar facilities during the spring and fall. The cur-
ricula for the off-campus courses are identical to the classes at the main campus, except that
students at the off-site locations must find their own accommodations.
For tuition of around $700 for a weeklong course ($1,100 for two people), students can
study such subjects as boat repair, oar- and paddlemaking, or marine photography. For anoth-
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