News about educational activities in vocational education, colleges, universities, and maritime academies.
Historic transatlantic sloop undergoing restoration at Seattle-area boat school
Sunday, 22 April 2012 07:33 Written by Northwest School of Wooden Boatbuilding
Felicity Ann is the UK-built 23-foot sloop used by Englishwoman Ann Davison when she become the first woman to solo across the Atlantic in 1953. She wrote about her experience in her 1956 book My Ship Is So Small.
Felicity Ann was built in the Cremyll Shipyard in England in 1939, but construction was interrupted by the war. The sloop was completed in 1949 or 1950. Ann bought her in the early 50's.
Davison's story is an example of triumph over adversity. Ann was a civilian pilot before the war (her pilot husband owned the airfield, located near Liverpool). When the war came, the government took over the airfield, their planes and house, and the Davisons lost nearly everything they had. They sold what little they had left and bought an island in a Scottish lake, farming there during the war.
After the war ended, the Davisons wanted to get away from the severe austerity that characterized post-war England. They bought and partially restored a large motor ketch, but ran out of money. To avoid the boat being impounded, they took it to sea where they were wrecked and her husband drowned. After recovering, Ann went to work in a local boatyard, learned to sail and to navigate, and saved up the money to buy Felicity Ann.
"As soon as I set foot on her I knew she was right and that she was the ship for me," she wrote. "She was sympatico. She had a slightly aggressive air and the quality, distinguishable but indefinable, that spells reliability; adversity, I felt, would bring out the best in her."
Felicity Ann, as built, had the following specifications, according to author John Doherty: LOA, 23 feet; LWL, 19 feet; beam, seven feet, six inches; draft, four feet, six inches (over five feet with a full load and 2000 pounds of ballast); working sail area, 237 square feet.
Doherty, in his 1985 book The Boats They Sailed In, devotes an entire chapter to Ann's transatlantic voyage, writing, "Her feat bears a close resemblance to other first-time-ever challenges - climbing Everest, sailing around the world non-stop, landing on the moon."
Felicity Ann was sold at some point after the Atlantic crossing, and after many years ended up in Alaska for a quarter-century. She is a tough little boat and was fortunate in being stored under cover for most of her time in Alaska. A couple of years ago, she was donated to the Northwest School of Wooden Boatbuilding in Port Hadlock, Wash., near Seattle for a last chance at restoration.
Aboard The Friends Good Will Tall Ship
Friday, 25 November 2011 13:04 Written by Tom Haugen
Aboard The Friends Good Will Tall Ship (via YouTube)Quincy Elementary fourth graders from Zeeland, Michigan feel first hand the marvel of the Great Lakes schooner Friends Good Will. More video
New painting, sailmaking classes set by NW School of Wooden Boatbuilding
Wednesday, 10 August 2011 07:07 Written by Joe Follansbee
The Northwest School of Wooden Boatbuilding in Port Hadlock, Wash., has announced two upcoming classes for professionals and skilled amateur boatbuilders. Later this month, the school will host a one-week painting and varnishing class taught by Diane Salguero, an independent finisher from more than two decades of experience in the field. The class will focus on selecting the correct tools for the job, the right paint or varnish for the task and conditions, and precise techniques for getting the finish correct the first time.
"This will be an intensive class that will be cenrered on hands-on learning, so students should dress for the work," according to a news release. The school will supply safety equipment, paint, and other tools and chemicals. Salguero's class runs from August 22 through August 24 at the NWSWB facility in Port Hadlock. The cost is $150.
The school also announced its 2012 sailmaking and rigging class. Taught by master sailmaker Sean Rankins of Northwest Sails, the class is designed for beginning students interested in the traditional crafts of sailmaking and rigging. The class is suitable for individuals interested in working as a professional sailmaker and rigger, as well as for those wanting to work knowledgeably on their own vessels. Both traditional and contemporary sailmaking and rigging will be covered.
Past classes have completed new suits of sails for the schooners Adventuress and Spirit of Dana Point, the brig Lady Washington, and the topsail ketch Hawaiian Chieftain.
The sailmaking and rigging class is scheduled for January 9 through March 23, 2012. Cost is $4,350. Financial aid is available.
To learn more about these classes, including registration, visit the NWSWB website.
Has your school scheduled maritime-related classes? Send your announcement to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .
NW School of Wooden Boatbuilding adds new boat shop to its growing campus
Sunday, 13 February 2011 16:42 Written by Pete Leenhouts
The Northwest School of Wooden Boatbuilding kicked off its 30th anniversary year by breaking ground earlier this winter on its fifth shop, the Jeff Hammond Boat Shop. Soule Woodworking and Construction of Port Hadlock is erecting the steel, 6,300-square-foot educational facility and workshop building on the school’s upper campus off Lower Hadlock Road south of Port Hadlock. Construction is scheduled to be completed by March 2011.
The shop has been named in honor of Jeff Hammond, the school’s senior instructor. Hammond, a long-time resident of Marrowstone Island, near Port Townsend, learned his trade from the boat school’s founder, famed Northwest master shipright Bob Prothero, and he has been a member of the staff since 1985. Hammond was stunned when he was informed of the new shop’s name, saying, “I would never have imagined I would be honored by the school like this.”
The new shop is needed by the school, and quickly, for two reasons:
- Fifty-five boatbuilding students, a record number, are taking the three boatbuilding courses this year. While the current facilities were just adequate for the first quarter of instruction, space rapidly became a problem as students at the school began building boats this winter and spring.
- The boat school has been commissioned to build a 62-foot sailboat designed by internationally-known boat designer, Bob Perry.
Bill Mahler, the school’s executive director, said, “The [Bob Perry] boat represents a superb opportunity for the school to improve visibility of its contemporary boatbuilding program, and it will bring international recognition in the boatbuilding and sailing communities to the boat school and the contemporary program. The Jeff Hammond Boat Shop makes it possible to take on projects of this magnitude.”
It was a challenge for the school to find the funds. At just the right moment, a very generous couple who wished to remain anonymous stepped forward and agreed to contribute half of the $500,000 construction cost. Their generosity made it possible to construct the Jeff Hammond Boat Shop. With their support, and that of many other individuals, businesses and foundations, more than $430,000 has been raised to date.
However, as the school continues to grow, the need for classroom space has become acute. Accordingly, the school must raise another $70,000 to be able to install the new classroom in the Jeff Hammond Boat Shop during the summer of 2011 to be ready for the arrival of the class of 2011/2012 in October.
People willing to help complete the new classroom by making a donation to the boat school are requested to contact director Bill Mahler at 360-385-4948 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . The school is also accepting donations online via their website at www.nwboatschool.org. Interested observers can watch Soule Woodworking and Construction’s daily progress on the Jeff Hammond Boat Shop at the school’s Facebook page, http://www.facebook.com/NWBoatSchool.
Pete Leenhouts oversees special projects at the Northwest School of Wooden Boatbuilding. Send your news and photos to Fyddeye.
Respected USCG Academy instructor retires after 30 years of service
Saturday, 25 September 2010 06:19 Written by USCG Academy News Service
New London, Conn. – After more than 30 years of military service, U.S. Coast Guard Academy instructor and Bristol, Conn., native Chief Warrant Officer Michael J. Brzezicki has retired. A ceremony took place Friday at New London. Brzezicki enlisted in the U.S. Navy in 1970 and separated from the Navy in 1976. After a break in service, he enlisted in the Tennessee Army National Guard in 1982 at Headquarters and Headquarters Company of the 3/278th Armored Cavalry Regiment out of Cookeville, Tenn.
In 1984, Brzezicki transferred to the U.S. Coast Guard Reserve at the Reserve Unit Nashville, Smyrna, Tenn. He was selected as the Eighth District Reserve Enlisted Person of the Year in 1996 and was promoted to Chief Warrant Officer in 1998.