Boatbuilding in Beaufort

Kids and adults can make a boat, learn to sail, and watch the restoration of crafts at this North Carolina center.

The blond, ponytailed young sailor carefully maneuvers the rudder of her boat. The sail snaps full and tight, catching the breeze on the sparkling waters alongside the seaside town of Beaufort. She's enjoying her junior sailing class, one of many programs available at the North Carolina Maritime Museum.

Set at the water's edge on Front Street in downtown Beaufort, the museum teaches fascinating, hands-on lessons about wooden boats, marine life, and mankind's relationship with the North Carolina coast.

If you love wooden boats and want to watch and learn from master craftspeople and sailors, you'll want to spend lots of time at the museum's Harvey W. Smith Watercraft Center. Part workshop, part classroom, and part exhibit hall, the center is an active, hands-on place. Double doors open up to the docks and the waters of Bogue Sound, allowing light to stream in on a sunny day. Boats can be easily slipped out into the creek when they're ready.

Here's where you watch volunteers preserving, constructing, and restoring wooden boats. William Prentice, boat shop manager, talks about the many classes taught at the center. "Our Build a Boat in a Day class has been really popular," he says. "Not only do parents and children get involved, but we also have grandparents enroll in the class with their grandchildren.

"We start with a kit that's precut from a single sheet of plywood, and then help them stitch and epoxy the pieces together," William says. "By the end of the day, they have an almost 8-foot-long, flat-bottomed boat to take home and paint or fix up any way they want." Classes cost $225 (materials included).

Adults can sign up for a weeklong basic boatbuilding class ($1,100). The impressive result of their efforts is a 12- to 15-foot, flat-bottomed skiff that they can outfit to be powered by oars, a pole, outboard motor, or spritsail. Students must take the basic carpentry class ($110) first.

Even if you don't participate in the classes, you'll learn to appreciate the fine craftsmanship that goes into making one of the prettiest sights you'll ever see: a sailboat catching the wind.

North Carolina Maritime Museum: 315 Front Street, Beaufort, NC 28516; (252) 728-7317.

Copyright Southern Progress Corporation May 2004
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