About the Staff

Robert Darr, program director and head instructor, is a boatbuilder, designer, and teacher. As a boy he made several sailing voyages with his father, Captain Omer Darr, between California and the South Seas. He has studied with many local builders. In the 1970s he established a boatshop on Tomales Bay, California, where he built a number of small boats and yachts. In 1981 he founded The Center for Wood Arts, a school of wooden boatbuilding in Marin County. Darr is also an author and has pioneered the use of native woods in traditional boatbuilding.

Rob Thompson is a graduate of the Arques School Apprenticeship program. He is a talented young boatbuilder with a lot of energy. He occasionally teaches in our apprenticeship program.