This is a hands-on course. Students will work together to complete one plywood rowing skiff. The construction method is well within the ability of beginners. Participants should be familiar with basic woodworking tools, but a high level of skill is not required. At the end of the course, students will be familiar with all the skills needed to build their own rowboat at home.	Click on the photo for Past workshops and projects... Westlake Boats HOME page.
Materials and Supplies: All boatbuilding materials and tools are supplied. Students must supply their own dust mask and eye protection.
The Design was prepared especially for beginner builders, with the hull shape based on a traditional double-ended rowing boat once in common use on the Fraser River and Georgia Strait. Length is 15-½ feet and width is 4 feet. Crew capacity is 3 adults. Some of you will recognize the shape as being very similar to the famous East-coast 'dory' type. Plans are available for those who wish to build their own boats at home.
History: The Fraser River Skiffs and Rivers Inlet Skiffs of British Columbia were double-ended rowing-and-sailing boats that were used primarily for fishing but also for general utility and light transport. As their role in the fisheries diminished with the coming of gasoline power, some of them lived out the end of their lives as yachts. Most of the working boats were 18 to 26 feet long. The essence of those original boats has been condensed to a more convenient length that can be built from two standard sheets of plywood. Like its dory cousins, this skiff exhibits good seaworthiness and rough-water handling, easy rowing, and good carrying capacity.
Construction Method: Whole-wood framing and fittings, with sheet plywood planking and glued-and-screwed joints, providing permanently waterproof seams even with amateur builders. Expect no leaks! The difficult traditional procedures have been substituted with easier, faster methods and modern materials, but this is still a 'real' all-wood boat, not a fiberglass simulation.
Tools: Some pre-cutting will be done by the instructor for this workshop so that no heavy power tools will be used by students. This reduces noise and risk concerns for a more enjoyable group experience. The small hand-held power tools we will use are: jigsaws, drills, and sanders. Most of the work will be done with muscle-powered hand tools.