WHAT YOU’LL LEARN
Join us for two weeks with expert boat builder Dan Lee, where you’ll experience the full process of building a simple clinker skiff from a plywood kit—from initial setup through to final finishing and launch.
Working collaboratively as a group, participants will build a skiff during the course. At the end, you can either purchase the completed boat (subject to availability) or take home a kit to build your own at your own pace, using the skills you’ve learned.
By utilising the latest in CAD design and CNC cutting, we’ll start out the course with a look around a 3D model of what we will be building and you’ll see how that has produced a pre-cut kit of plywood parts. The aim of this course is to embrace the use of this technology in order to get the hull set up and assembled in record time. This then leaves ample opportunity within the course for us to spend time on some of the finishing elements and solid wood details of the boat.
Learn about the use of CNC cut plywood and jigs within boat building to produce super accurate forms and solid wood laminations. Epoxy work will play a key role in the build of this boat and throughout the course we will cover many of the key processes that it can be used for. You will learn about bonding, coating, filleting and lamination.
With the hull of our little skiff built we will spend our remaining time mastering the art of great varnish and paint finishes on wood. By learning to utilise modern, two-part paint and varnish systems you will learn to produce professional quality finishes within a short timeframe.
Finish up the process by installing hardware correctly to ensure years of trouble-free use with minimal maintenance. Then it’s off down to the slipway to launch our boats and begin enjoying them on the water for the first time.
