The Arques School teaches all aspects of traditional wooden boatbuilding, including design and lofting, timber harvesting, bronze casting, and all of the techniques of tool use and methods of plank-on-frame boatbuilding. Our 'Small Boat Class,' the perfect class for beginners as well as for advanced students of traditional boatbuilding and hand-tool use, is held on Saturdays from 9am to 4pm. Traditional boat design, open to beginning and advanced students, occurs on Tuesday mornings from 9am to noon. Other classes including navigation, lumber milling, are taught periodically during the year.
Apprenticeship Program
An in-depth program for learning the fine art and craft of wooden boatbuilding in a traditional manner. This program is offered in two preparatory courses designed for diligent students who want to build traditional wooden boats. Exceptional graduates of this program become eligible to participate in a third level of “paid apprentice” while working on projects of the Arques School and its affiliates.
During the course, students will learn boat design, lofting, and construction; hand tool use, local tree felling and lumber preparation, bronze casting, rigging, and some sailing as well!
Celestial Navigation
This class, usually taught on Wednesday evenings over a four week period in the summer, teaches navigation by the sun, moon and stars. Students learn theory and history of navigation, how to calculate position using tables, and how to use a sextant.
Classic Small Boats On The Bay
This class teaches the many small skills that go along with operating a small traditional sailboat and rowing boat.
Lumber Harvesting, Drying, and Applications
This class deals with various aspects of wood technology. Special emphasis is on the use of locally growing timber. The class includes wood harvesting north of San Francisco with chainsaws and the ‘Alaska mill.’ This class is limited to apprentices plus up to six additional students.
Saturday (Small Boat) Classes
This is an ongoing class in small boat building for San Francisco Bay Area residents. The class offers in-depth instruction on lofting, boat building and hand tool use. Every Saturday from 9am to 4pm. Tuition covers six months of attendance. Limited to twelve students.
The Saturday class offers serious boat building education on a part time basis and prepares amateurs for boat building on their own.
Traditional Boat Design
An introduction to traditional sailboat and yacht design. Covers the evolution of sailboat design through the use of half-models and lines drawings. The class is limited to apprentices plus up to three additional students.