Page 18 - CA 2019 Final(3)

A view of the gallery

Fun & learning on Eggemoggin Reach

the WoodenBoat School in Brooklin

feature by Susan Dewey, phot s courtesy of the WoodenBoat School

The story of the WoodenBoat School in Brooklin is as much about the people as the boats. Casual visitors can arrive by boat or car
and wander freely around the 64-acre campus perched on Eggemoggin Reach, looking across the water to Deer Isle. Once there, the
choices seem endless. You are free to wander around the workshops, observe classes, or watch the watercraft. Ask questions about
what people are doing, and get friendly answers that will go as deeply as you want in many (if not all) things that have to do with
wooden boats.

WoodenBoat School was started in 1980 as an extension of John Wilson’s magazine, “WoodenBoat,” first published in 1974. The next
year, Rich Hilsinger, the current school director, was wintering over in the Caribbean when he heard about the school. In 1983, he took
his first class, on the Brooklin campus. He worked with Arno Day, a fourth generation boat builder who started the Brooklin Boat Yard
and built wooden lobster boats for local fisherman. It was a three-week course followed by three weeks at Arno’s shop on Little Deer Isle.
He then worked three winters at the Brooklin Boat Yard before beginning full-time employment at WoodenBoat in 1991.

He’s managed the school since then, and seen a lot of people come and go. Classes are sometimes made up of friends who want to
share a boat building experience. More often they start off as a class of strangers working with a master builder. “It is interesting to see
a community form out of a class of strangers. Life-long friendships are formed and it is not unusual for people to return for more classes.
If you ask any 10 people why they chose WoodenBoat School, you’ll get seven reasons why,” Rich said.

There have been changes over the years. The WoodenBoat School has grown in the tradition of John Campbell’s Folk School.
Today, about 30 percent of the students are women. Classes have reached well beyond just building boats. They include cabinet-

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