Category: Boatworks

And… it’s a WRAP!

We had an amazing week.  We did all the things – woodworking, team-building, spacial thinking, problem solving, finishing, even a little tool-making including metal work, forging and, of course, pizza-eating!  See all our photos here, just updated:  OOPS we Did it Again!

On Friday we had a party, and had an amazing turnout from the city!  See this post from none other than Coco Alinsug on Facebook:

I joined Essex County District Attorney Office DA Paul Tucker and his staff with my fellow City Councilors Obed Matul, Natasha Megie-Maddrey, Esq., and Pete Meaney with Sean Reid, Lynn School Committee Member as we joined community leaders and staff at The Brickyard Collaborative as we cheered on our Lynn English High School kids who are part of Frank Grealish’ Kayak and Sail Lynn project of teaching them how to build a boat from scratch. Good job, everyone.
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Want to help?  Tomorrow we present our grant request to the Lynn Citizen’s Advisory Board for funding to continue the program.  You can find the Board here, and see who represents your Ward – Send them a note to let them know you support what we’re doing!

Want to donate to us directly and help keep us going?  Go here: Donate! for all the information you need.

Be sure to stay tuned, we’re planning another build in April and a launch during April vacation!

That’s right!  For February Break, the kids came back to the Brickyard to build another boat!

This time, rather than start off from scratch, they’re doing the stuff “behind the curtain” – learning how to complete and finish the boat, along with actually forging some of the tools they need.

Stay tuned for more photos…  more to come this week!

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Well, first, a heartfelt THANK YOU to the generous donors who have helped us get closer to meeting our goal!

Second, work in the shop has begun!  What you see above is the boatbuilder’s “form” (or “jig”, or “temporary frames”) around which the boat will be built.  And here’s a photo of the first plank as it was put in place:

Well, folks, we had a great time at the official launch of our Boatworks program at the Museum last week! We posted up photos here, on our Facebook page: Boatworks at the Brickyard at the Museum! …take a look! Our Tiny Boats got a lot of interest too:

This week we’re officially starting the tooling up process, getting the forms built and getting our teaching staff up to the cutting edge. More on that later, we’ll have some photos this week.

…and a little bit of challenging news. In spite of the fact we raised over $20,000 in matching funds for the program, MassDEV took a pass on our grant request. Some days you make the cut, some days you don’t. This makes it a little more challenging to launch the project, but, along with the funds you’ve donated, we’re going to be working hard to raise more donations. Be assured, your generous donations will go directly to teaching kids to build boats!

Want to help us out? You can, using PayPal, either with your credit or debit card, or your PayPal account, by clicking this link: Donate!

Every dollar counts, and we’re a 501c3, so your donation is tax-deductible!

Stay tuned for more news coming soon!