The Living Boat Trust is committed to preserving and passing on knowledge and skills to do with boats and boat building. The LBT committee has decided that embarking on a programme of creating and delivering courses in traditional boat building as well as other types of boat construction, tool making, repairing and maintaining boats, oar and yuloh making will assist with this mission.

We have started this process off by building an Acorn dinghy, one of Iain Oughtred’s beautiful and functional designs. This course, running one full day per week for 15 weeks commenced Monday January 11 2010 with 4 students and has just completed. The result is a very beautiful and lightweight boat that rows beautifully. Photos of the course activity and boat development can be seen here. This boat was launched at 1.30pm on Saturday May 1 2010 after our Daggy Dinghy day.

Peter Laidlaw is the boat builder who has taught the course and he is now keen to run several other courses including another of his popular Making Bush Furniture courses in the near future.

The next course to be completed was an oar making course run by John Young and started in May 2010 for four weeks of 1 four hour session each week. The course covered the theory and history of oars and each person made a pair of oars. While we hoped that there would be some donations to the LBT every one fell in love with their oars and took them home. On the plus side, most of the course participants are active rowers of our Grebe dinghies so our old oars will get less wear and tear as a result.

We will be utilising the skills of various boat builders to deliver various courses. Ideas from prospective participants about courses will always be welcome.

Future courses include:

Making greenwood furniture - 4day short course

Learn to use traditional tools to split timber from recently felled trees and construct everything from spoons to fine post and rung chairs with woven seats. An exploration really; going into the bush, getting the timber and shaping it into something practical and beautiful. Start off making something of your choice, shaving horse, chair whatever. There has to be at least a five day gap in work days so the rungs can dry out before being assembled into a chair. Peter has run quite a few of these courses and is looking forward to another.

4 days for 6 people @ $240 + $60 materials

Monday 31 August - Thursday 3 September 2011

We are also looking at building a dedicated “plywood tinnie” rescue boat as well as building a dedicated sailing expedition boat to replace the Capricornia after her lease runs out in 2011.

The committee are interested in ideas for designs. I would suggest a course taking the lines off the Capricornia, then building a replica specifically designed as an expeidtion boat.

Other future courses proposed by Peter Laidlaw are building a PVC bilge pump, making a trug and we are interested in providing a course for families, probably around building a strip planked boat or kayak.

Expressions of interest are welcome.

The little Acorn dinghy Eileen after completion. She was launched on Saturday May 1 2010.