Welcome to the Apprenticeshop, one of the oldest and finest traditional boat building schools in the country.  Atlantic Challenge, the parent organization, offers many programs throughout the year that focus on various maritime activities from sailing to a winter lecture series, but the Apprenticeshop's traditional wooden boat building program is our oldest and still remains at our core.

Photo: Tim Arruda Photography

2-year Apprenticeship at a Maine Boatbuilding School

The philosophy behind our two-year apprenticeship is simple: learning to do anything is best accomplished through direct experience. When an apprentice starts with a mere concept of a boat on the lofting table and carries it through all the subsequent stages of construction, from framing, planking, decking, and finish work to a fully rigged boat ready for launching, a great deal of learning happens in a short amount of time. It is a process that not only fosters a high level of craftsmanship, but also sharpens one's problem solving skills and sense of aesthetic proportion and detail.

Custom Internship in Wooden Boat Building

Independent Internships are designed to be custom programs. Whether you come with a design in mind or decide to build a Susan Skiff and follow our weekly schedule for the project, the independent internship can become what you create in focus, duration, and timing. Whatever path you choose, the basic skills of traditional wooden boatbuilding are the focus of this program.

Cooperative Internship in Traditional Boat Building

Cooperative Internships allow students in academic institutions to supplement their school coursework with a hands-on experience. As an accredited program through Franklin Pierce College of New Hampshire, the Cooperative Internship combines daily boat work with journal entries and offers the opportunity to become involved and learn about the management and philosophy of a community driven non-profit organization. Because of our focus on personal growth and attention, we are flexible and creative when working with administrators to arrange for interns to fit our program into each academic institution’s required curriculum.

Youth Courses and Afterschool Boatbuilding

Our offerings for young people Include an all day summer boatbuilding and sailing class for students aged 8 to 15, and an after school Marine Mentoring Program in the spring and fall.

Adult Evening & Weekend Courses

The 'Shop has been known to offer classes in canoe building, how to build a dory, and half-hull model making. The most popular classes are when we host a guest builder in the 'Shop. Skin-on-frame kayak building is a fast, easy, and fun way to get your feet wet with a building project.

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