BRANCHES:
PROGRAMS:
SUPPORT:
N.C. Maritime Museum
. . . Boat Building Program
The museum's historic boat collection is a potent cultural tie to the numerous small coastal communities in the state where residents continue to build traditional boats by traditional methods—by "the rack of the eye," in their backyards. The museum collects and restores these cultural artifacts and teaches traditional boatbuilding techniques in its Watercraft Center.
The museum's Watercraft Center (for boatbuilding and restoration) has its own set of conservation guidelines and is supervised by the maritime curator and the Watercraft Center manager. The wooden boat collection is stored in a well-ventilated warehouse. The collection is stabilized and regularly serviced by museum staff and volunteers. Major conservation needs are let out to specialists, although some challenging projects have been performed by staff.
The Watercraft Center also offers a very extensive range of boatbuilding classes throughout the year. These include boatbuilding carpentry, lofting, lift half-model carving, oar and spar construction, and plane making. There also are classes in diesel engine maintenance and 12-volt electrical system trouble-shooting, sail making, and marlinspike seamanship. During regular one-week classes students construct individual skiffs, while our Boat-in-a-Day program is an opportunity for parents and children to join together in building a small flat-bottomed rowboat.
It is the museum's philosophy to stabilize its watercraft collection rather than to restore or renovate, which means the replacement of original wood. The primary importance of this collection is its research value, and only secondarily as an exhibit item. Therefore, appearance is less important than actual structure.
The museum more than 50 of these vernacular work boats, the earliest an 1850s split-log canoe which represents nineteenth-century North Carolina working
watercraft. Others include indigenous shad boats, hunting and fishing skiffs, and 1950s pleasure craft.
WATERCRAFT CENTER
HOURS OF OPERATION:
Monday-Saturday:
9:00a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Sunday:
1:00 to 5:00 p.m.
Watercraft Center closed for several days at Thanksgiving and Christmas plus first two weeks of each year. Holiday hours/closings vary. Please call for specific closing dates and times.