The COMMUNITY BOAT PROJECT

The Crew at CBP certainly has not been idle through this hot and dry summer.

Here are some of the highlights of our activities.

The Voyaging program ran all the way into the beginning of July this year, rather than ending at the start of June as usual.

These hardy mariners had a fantastic 8-day Journey aboard their longdory Epic in the San Juan Islands. They visited 7 different islands, traveled over 30 miles and got to experience orcas at close range. (Visit our Facebook page for a day-by-day account.)

The program wrapped up for the year with an end-of-class party/review organized by the students themselves. It included a PSV trivia game/test, a knot tying relay and party piece sharing by our talented students.

Later in the summer CBP partnered with Force 10 Sailmaking and Rigging to offer Voyaging students an intensive apprenticeship in traditional sailmaking. Students helped build a sail for an educational tall ship of Los Angeles Maritime Institute.

Our new Forest Ecology hiking program broke in its new boots on the trails of the Olympic Peninsula. These intrepid explorers visited river valleys, mountain peaks and ocean shores, including:

Dosewalips
Lena Lake
Mt Eleanor
Silver Lake
3rd Beach on the Pacific Coast
Rialto Beach and Hole-in-the-Wall
Mt Townsend

Much was learned by all about the plants, animals and local ecology. Our educator team also gleaned valuable insight about how to improve and expand this program in the coming year.

Throughout the summer months the Dragonhearts spent every Thursday evening out on their namesake longdory. They ranged from Chimacum Creek in the north through Port Townsend Canal to Oak Bay in the south. New hands and seasoned crew shared pizza and home-baked desserts. They reveled in strong breezes and glided through glassy calms with songs and laughter. Felicity Ann joined the fun too, sometimes sailing in company, sometimes following her own sun path.

In the CBP Shop the Shelter From the Storm interns completed another beautiful Tiny Home. Recently featured in a Peninsula Daily News article, the Whispering Willow Cottage will be a part of the new housing project of Bayside Housing – Pat’s Place. But WW was not the only project going on. Yearly maintenance on Epic, work tables and many other things were built, fixed and painted.

Now our stellar team gathers their energies for a new season of programs.

The Puget Sound Voyagers are expecting 5 new students – the biggest influx in years!

Forest Ecology is looking into partnering with Chimacum Schools to be a monthly enrichment program throughout the school year.

Shelter From the Storm is working on a new tiny home design that will comfortably accommodate a small family to host farm workers in our community.

Let the bright warmth of summer carry us through the chill dark of winter.

As the world slowly re-opens like a flower after a rain storm, CBP is ramping up our programs again.

In the Shop the interns are hard at work on yet another tiny house (this will be #8… we think). But that is not all! Felicity Ann is in the Shop for her annual scrub-up and paint. Another boat restoration is underway, as well as another cradle boat for one of our interns who is an expecting father. Dragonheart was hauled out and is waiting the re-launch of FA to have her turn under the brush.

This winter and spring there has been a lot of cooperation between the CPB and the Schooner Adventuress. The Voyagers spent a month and a half restoring several of the “A”s deck boxes. CBP interns have helped with sail repair as well as transportation and bending on of the ship’s sails.

After a winter of remote learning, then most of early spring spent land-locked at the shop the Voyagers were very eager to get back out on the water. We traded out the longdory Epic for Dragonheart and are now back to weekly sailing. Recently we did plankton tows under oar-power!

We are excited to announce a new high school summer program – Forest Ecology! Visit our Summer Programs page for more info.

So the wheel turns and we adjust. It has been a good Autumn of being safe in the shop and classroom. We built tiny houses, painted beautiful signs, learned many knots and how to move boats with lines.

Now as we head into the dark cold season and we have decided to close up our spaces for the winter. In the shop tools are cleaned and put away. The interns have gone home for the rest of 2020.

Our Voyagers will miss our teamwork and seeing each other’s smiling eyes, but will continue to study from our homes. An effort is being made to keep everyone learning and not substantially increase screen-time. Last Friday everyone went home with a bag of goodies. Charts, simple navigation tools, knot-tying and splicing lines will hopefully keep everyone happily learning through these lonely months. Every week they will receive a set of activities and exercises to practice and learn new skills.

Hopefully we will be able to come together again in the spring.

Fair winds and Good health!

‘If you believe in what you are doing then let nothing stand in your way.

The best work of the world has been done against seeming impossibilities.”

The world right now is full of uncertainty, but at the Community Boat Project we have not lost our focus. “Building a stronger community by giving youth job and life skills through adult mentorship.” This has kept us grounded in the maelstrom.

We shut down all operations for the first few months. But through it all maintained communication with our students, interns and mentors.

In July the Shop reopened for just our small group of interns to wrap up projects and finish off their internships. Polly’s tiny house was finalized and delivered. The Makinaw Boat was likewise delivered to her new owner.

Throughout the sunny summer months we had community boating days with the Dragonheart and Felicity Ann. Volunteers, students and interns went rowing and sailing every week that the weather permitted.

This fall marks the start of the second year of Shelter From the Storm, our paid internship program. Young adults aged 18-24 work in our shop, learn and build. This year we had way more applications than spots available and even have a waiting list for the next round.

Striking a balance between caution and fulfilling our mission has been an ongoing challenge in these times. We have decided to put our Boatbuilding/woodworking program on hold for now. While volunteers and mentors are our stock in trade, we have had to limit and stagger the number of people in our spaces. For now our interns work with a small selection of staff and volunteers to complete this autumn’s projects.

Due to popular demand the Voyaging Program has also restarted with appropriate precautions. New crew members have brought good energy to the group, and returning students (some on their 4th year!) provide wonderful mentorship and continuity. We expect great things of this group!

All in all, the Community Boat Project took a deep breath and continues to thrive, sharing it’s lust for life and passion for learning. We are incredibly grateful to our community for its connection and support during these times. “We are only as strong as we are united, as weak as we are divided.”

Kipling has great advice for these times:

If you can keep your head when all about you

    Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;

If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you

    But make allowance for their doubting too:

If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,

    Or, being lied about, don’t deal in lies,

Or being hated don’t give way to hating,

    And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise

The hardy Voyagers have returned safely after having endured blustery winds, flat calms, long miles, and far more rain than than anyone would want with minimal shelter available.

We rowed and sailed over 30 miles, with either no wind at all or it blowing directly from where we wished to go. Yet despite the blisters, the drenching rain, the contrary wind and the creeping chill, spirits were kept up by camaraderie, jokes and above all – song. We sang a bit of everything from sea chanties to show tunes.

This Voyage proved true our motto “Grace in the Face of Adversity” and like a fine knife of good steel tempered in fire, water and oil, our crew came out better, stronger and wiser. Fair weather may be comfortable and easy, but you don’t learn nearly as much, about the craft or about your self.

Another thing we learned was the importance of flexibility, as many times the weather thwarted our plans and we were forced to improvise.

On the whole it was a challenging, but great Journey with one of the best crews ever.

Life proceeds apace.

In Boatbuilding:

Our tiny house grows, the Wink’n is ready to row, Epic’s new mast takes shape with a sweet marriage of traditional and modern rigging.

The baby boat 2 has a skeg, musical instruments continue to form, and more marvelous carvings emerge from the wood work.

In Voyaging:

We prepare for our annual Journey; packing, planning and practicing. This year we start in Quilcene and head North stopping in Fisherman’s Harbor, Port Gamble and Mats Mats.

But life is not all just work, we have still been getting out on the water each week to relax with some sailing.

In News:

Announcing 2016’s Summer Program

   Summer at Sea – Sailing the Dragon

For High Schoolers & young adults   14 – 21 y.o.  (12-14 considered)

First Session June 20 – July 1^st

Overflow Session  Aug. 15 – 26^th

Free and Accredited

Each session is Five days of daysailing then a five day Voyage