Last call on Oregon boatbuilding courses! Don't miss this!

Our McKenziac course is full, but we still have a couple spots on the Open Chub course. These are super fun one-week classes in the magnificent McKenzie River valley, where the McKenzie River Drift Boat was first created. A few boating shots to lure you in:

Immerse yourself in beauty and history, and maybe go home with a boat! Here are two happy boat winners from last year’s Doryak course.

And a happy new Chub owner (left) from our most recent Open Chub course.

Here are some details about the two boatbuilding courses in July, to be taught at the Pruitt shop by the McKenzie River in Oregon—the river where the drift boat was born. For the third year we are working with the McKenzie River Discovery Center to teach our boats and spread the contagion of wooden boatbulding. Each class will take you from a sheet of apparently random numbers, through drawing a boat full size (lofting), through designing and building the parts, assembling them, finishing out the boat, and floating it on the McKenzie River. Cricket and Glade Zarn, along with Brad Dimock will be teaching the courses, allowing for an excellent teacher to student ratio. Click on the blue links for more information and signing up.

Building the McKenziac July 12 – 17, $950

Currently ful, but DM us if you want to get on the waiting list.

Building the Open Chub River Dory, July 19 – 24, $950

The Chub was originally designed as a big-water decked dory, but we felt it could function excellently as an open boat as well. It has the breadth of a standard Briggs dory, but is a full three feet shorter. Unlike its McKenzie cousins, the Chub is more of a Rogue hull, with a bit of flat in the center and fuller bow and stern for more bouyancy and load carrying. Initial reviews confirm our hunch.

Our classes start with lofting–drawing the boat lines full size and adjusted to eye. Here’s Cricket explaining the theory. With this foundation, the rest of the process makes a lot more sense.

Once we’ve drawn and perfected the lines, we build the parts directly from the drawings and put it together. You’ll learn all the tricks of the trade as wwe go.