Boat Building

Boat Building is fairly self-explanatory. Students have the opportunity to build a boat of their choosing. Throughout the years, students have made all sorts of canoes and kayaks. Best of all, when they are finished, they bring the boat home.

The RKMP maintains a small wood working shop, Chevalier Lodge, for the program. It contains all the tools and materials needed. In building the boats, students start from scratch. More specifically, they build molds and jigs, soak gunwales and stringers to make them pliable, fabricate every part of the boat: gunwales, stems and knees, keelson, ribs, bracing, stringers, breasthooks, thwarts, backrests, floorboards, etc, steam and bend ribs, lash stringers to ribs, stretch, sew, and staple durable nylon skins over the wooden frames, waterproof skins with polyurethane, attach stem bands, and sand, varnish, and finish their work.

The complexity of the process is tweaked to accommodate the motivation and handiness of the builder. It is a very unique and rewarding experience.