The Northwest School of Wooden Boatbuilding is now accepting applications for the 2019-2020 school year. The school has recently added a Marine Systems program that teaches students maintenance and repair of integral marine systems. The program covers the basics of electrical systems, diesel and gas engines, marine plumbing, hydraulics, and propulsion. Students who graduate from the six-month course will be qualified for entry-level employment at boat shops, ship yards, and maritime museums.
Students will have the opportunity to work on the school’s latest project, an electrically-charging, solar-power boosted pumpout boat that will offer free services in Port Ludlow before expanding its services. The project is a collaboration between the school, local businesses, and state agencies. Students of the Contemporary Boatbuilding program working on the pumpout boat project will have the chance to develop skills involved with cold-molded construction, vacuum infusion, and foam core construction on top of other wood working skills.
Anyone interested in the school’s Traditional Wooden Boatbuilding program can apply to learn traditional boatbuilding skills like carvel and lapstrake planking. Students learn to build boats ranging in size from rowing skiffs and motor launches to tugs and cruising yachts.
Upon graduation of this one-year course, students will have an Associate of Occupational Studies degree and the skills to gain entry-level employment in ship yards, boat shops, or even yacht manufacturers and furniture makers.
Anyone interested in starting one of the boatbuilding or marine systems programs at the school should visit their website at nwswb.edu or call (360) 385-4948. The next marine systems program starts April 2019.
