By Dominik Lobkowicz
A Hampton boat similar to the one apprentices will build in the Scholarshipwrights’ program. (Photo courtesy Monhegan Historical Society) |
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Lance Lee (left) will advise Arista Holden as she runs the Scholarshipwrights’ Hampton boat apprenticeship program starting this fall. (D. Lobkowicz photo) |
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An apprenticeship program planned to start in Nobleboro this fall is hoped to “resurface” the boat-building methods and ways of life of 19th century saltwater farmers in
Maine.
Starting in September and running until next June, Scholarshipwrights will run an apprenticeship program at their shop in Nobleboro where six people will build a 24-foot-long,
sail and oar powered Hampton boat.
The program will be run by Arista Holden, and she will be advised by Lance Lee, founder of The Apprenticeshop, now in Rockland.
According to Holden, Hampton boats were a utility craft used for everything on the water.
“They were pick-up boats, essentially, and the modern day lobster boats are derived from their design,” she said.
The common belief is Enoch Chase developed and designed the first Hampton boat in Hampton, N.H., and the design quickly spread north to Maine in the mid-19th century, Holden
said.
The boat will be built using a “mid-ship raising frame” method, where the boat is built from the keel up starting with just two patterns for the mid-ship raising frame and the
transom.
“It’s thought that this [method] would’ve been used on the Maine coast because there wouldn’t be any plans to buy,” Holden said.
Lee became familiar with the mid-ship raising frame method when he grew up with people using the method in the Chesapeake area and Bahamas in the 1950s.
The Bahamian way of building the boats would use sawn frames cut from wood chosen for its particular shape, whereas a similar process used in Nova Scotia in the 1920s called a
“mold frame” where wood was steamed to take the shape the builder wanted.
Sawn frames are the best way to build a boat, according to Lee, but steam-bent frames were used when wood became scarce because it required smaller pieces.
“It’s not as simple as good and bad,” Lee said. “There’s great strength in using steam bent frames.”
The apprenticeship program is about more than just building a boat, according to Holden.
The apprentices will research and document the methods as they work through it to complete the boat, and will create a written body of work by the time they finish, Holden said.
They will also, through living, building, and researching together, create community, she said.
“It’s joining the contemplative and the experiential, sometimes you just have one or the other,” Holden said. “Experience teaches judgment.”
“You build a boat with your mind every bit as much as your paws,” Lee said.
The program will cost $500 per month for the apprentices and will cover the costs of instruction, building materials, utility costs, and rent. Lee said he and Holden look at the
cost as a shared venture rather than tuition.
After the apprenticeship program is complete, Holden said the hope is to find a school to take the boat and incorporate it into their program.
“We would like to see our boats worn out, not sit idle,” Lee said, adding that he would like to see it used to empower children.
For more information on Scholarshipwrights or the upcoming Hampton boat apprenticeship program, visit http://www.scholarshipwrights.org.
