2009 BoatLaunch Festival Archive

• Topics

  • Running a Traditional Boatyard and Current Restoration Projects

    Summary: Rob will talk about what it takes to run a traditional boat yard in this day and age, and current restoration projects at Abernethy and Gaudin.

    Speaker: Rob Abernethy

  • Skin-on-frame Kayak Construction

    Summary: Mark will talk about constructing skin-on-frame kayaks using techniques and materials learned from his travels across the Canadian Arctic as well as modern interpretations; his demonstration includes using traditional bone tools, hide, and sinew and some very impressive traditional kayaks.

    Speaker: Mark Reuten

  • Building Tern

    Summary: Steven will talk about building the 23' Exploration Ketch Tern with his son Ben and friends, bringing in his experience teaching and building and repairing wooden boats over the years.

    Speaker: Steven Brouwer

  • Voyages, Raiding, and Camp-Cruising in Small Boats

    Summary: Tips and tricks from two experienced small boat sailors. Quill and Colin will share navigation how-to, using tide and currents and eddies, on-the-spot repairs, planning, performance.

    Speaker: Quill Goldman and Colin Masson

  • Legacy in Wood

    Summary: Author Ryan Wahl will talk about the Wahl boats, wooden fishboats built by the Wahl family on the north coast near Prince Rupert.

    Speaker: Ryan Wahl

  • Building the Cockle: A replica of J.R. Purdon's 1913 cutter. A journey into madness...

    Summary: Jon and Alex will talk about their current project; boatbuilding and madness all in the context of insanely compound curves.

    Speaker: Jon Brown and Alex Low

  • Restoration of the Last of the Klondike Goldrush Paddlewheelers

    Summary: Wayne will talk about his four years work on the historical restoration of the 145' steam driven sternwheeler SS Keno in Dawson City Yukon, on the banks of the Yukon River. She is one of 2 remaining paddlewheelers of a fleet of over 150 which plied the Yukon during the Klondike gold rush.

    Speaker: Wayne Loiselle

  • Restoration Issues and the Value of Studying Historic Vessels to Develop Craft

    Summary: Mark will talk about restoration issues and the value of studying historic vessels to develop craft.

    Speaker: Mark Wallace

  • Silva Bay Museum Harbour

    Summary: Tad will talk about his proposal to create a "museum harbour" in Silva Bay following the popular European model.

    Speaker: Tad Roberts

  • A Hands-on Lesson in Boat Design

    Summary: Tad gives a hands-on lesson in boat design: please bring paper, pencil, graph paper, and a ruler.

    Speaker: Tad Roberts

Speakers

• Rob Abernethy

  After attending Sheridan College for furniture design and the Northwest Wooden Boatbuilding School, Rob spent many years building and repairing wooden boats on southern Vancouver Island; he then formed the partnership Abernethy and Gaudin, in Brentwood Bay, BC, specializing in new construction, restorations and custom interiors. http://www.agboats.com/

• Steven Brouwer

  From the Apprentice Shop to Lyman Morse and Renaissance Yachts to his woodworking shop Hunter Bay Woodworking on Lopez Island, to rebuilding fish boats in Alaska, Steven Brouwer brings a wealth of experience to his work. http://hunterbaywoodworking.com

• Quill Goldman

  Owner of Barefoot Wooden Boats, Silva Bay Shipyard School graduate, and accomplished small boat sailor, Quill Goldman builds, repairs, and restores wooden boats, and is 2x winner of the Shipyard School Raid, a staged 8 day race for traditional sail and oar boats. Barefoot Wooden Boats is on Silva Bay, BC.

• Wayne Loiselle

  Wayne Loiselle is a shipwright from Thetis Island, BC, and owner/builder of the 50' wooden schooner, Grail Dancer. http://sunrisegrail.com

• Alex Low and Jon Brown

  Alex and Jon are graduates of the Silva Bay Shipyard School and have been messing about in boats either forever or ever since. http://www.alexlow.ca/

• Colin Masson

  Colin is a well-known Gabriola rowing commuter and owner of the beautiful 1937 handliner, BUS BAILEY. Colin has expertise dodging BC ferries on his way to work in a 12' rowboat, and rowed BUS BAILEY in the 08 Shipyard Raid.

• Mark Reuten

  Mark Reuten is proprietor of Nomad Boatbuilding in Victoria BC where he builds and repairs wooden boats, kayaks, and small boats and teaches skin-on-frame kayak construction. Mark is a graduate of the Ontario College of Art, the Northwest Wooden Boatbuilding School and had a hand in building SALTS vessel Pacific Grace. He has traveled through the Arctic and worked alongside First Nations artists, doing totem pole and dugout canoe carving. http://www.nomadboatbuilding.com

• Tad Roberts

  Tad Roberts practices yacht design and naval architecture in Silva Bay. He is a director at the Shipyard School and organises the Shipyard School Raid, an 8-day staged race for traditional small boats. http://tadroberts.ca/

• Ryan Wahl

  Ryan Wahl is the author of Legacy in Wood published by Harbour Publishing, Nanaimo.

• Mark Wallace

  Mark Wallace Shipwright speciality is restoration of historic or classic vessels built from the 1930s to the 60s, and has included restoration of Fife, Alden, Rhodes, Herreshoff, Monk, and Garden designs. http://www.markwallaceshipwright.com/