Youth Boatbuilding

Get hands-on with our boat-building program and assemble your own boat from start to finish!

Give your child the chance to become a boatbuilder!

Over the course of 10–12 weeks, participants will work together to build a real wooden boat right here in our Boat Shop.

Guided by our skilled volunteer boatbuilders, kids will learn teamwork, problem-solving, and hands-on craftsmanship while watching their project take shape from keel to launch.

Program Details

When: Seasonal, Weekly on Saturdays, 9:30 AM – 12:30 PM
Duration: 10–12 weeks (no sessions on holiday weekends)
Ages: Middle-School age (entering 6th, 7th, 8th grade)
Group Size: Limited to 8 participants for an engaging, hands-on experience

Over those 12 weeks, the students have the helm - building their boat under the guidance of our expert volunteers. They assemble the whole boat, design its colors, and pick its name, all before taking it out on the water for its first voyage, and rowing away with a wonderful sense of accomplishment!

FAQs

Still have questions?

Call us at 508-815-4438; or email at tirwin@capecodmaritimemuseum.org

Definitely! Our volunteer instructors are excellent, patient teachers who will help guide your child through every step in the process.
Cost is dependent on several factors including registration and outside funding. If you are interested in signing your child up for the next upcoming session, please reach out to us for the most up to date information.
At the end of the program session, the youth boatbuilders have the opportunity to go out and row their completed boat!
After this row, the finished boats are for sale through the Museum. All proceeds from the sale go right back into the Museum and all our wonderful programming.
Our Youth Boat Building program was launched in 2012! Since then over thirty Bevin’s skiffs have been built. There is joy and wonder in hanging out in a Boat Shop within a Maritime Museum, where Cape Cod’s proud maritime heritage meets the curiosity and eagerness of young learners gaining new skills.
Our instructors have carefully selected the 12ft Bevin’s Skiff boat for our youth classes to build.
This boat was designed in the 1990s by boatbuilder Joe Youcha from Virginia, and named for the ‘Shop Supervisor’, his dog Bevin. Youcha wanted to create a boat that could be built nearly anywhere, was easy enough to learn to build with, and that would stable and safe once finished.
They are wonderful little row boats, which can also be constructed to have a mast and sailing rig. Your child’s group will get to decide the configuration- sailing or just rowing —as well as the colors and name.