Our Junior Builders program teaches kids practical skills while sparking a curiosity about local heritage. Participants work together to assemble a full-size dory and enact a traditional boat launch, followed by demonstrations on buoyancy and stability. Each participant assembles their own model sailboat and we end the afternoon testing them out in the nearby brook. Be sure to bring rubber boots!

Children will learn:

– types of boats in Newfoundland and their uses

– differences between a flat and round bottom boat

– modern and traditional names for parts of the boat

– compass directions

– how a boat floats

– traditional tool use, including hand drill, hand plane, and caulking iron and mallet

– traditional skills such as net knitting and caulking with oakum

– nautical folklore about boat launching, superstitions and weather

All participants take home heir model boats and receive a Junior Boat Builder Certificate at the end of the day.

Safety: The workshop begins with a small talk regarding safety and the importance of being careful when working with tools. Children are provided with safety goggles for the workshop and Museum staff are present to ensure continued safety throughout.

Junior Builders is offered every Thursday and Sunday in July and August from 1:00-4:00 pm in Winterton. The cost is $25/child.

Learn about traditional uses of the Baccalieu Island Fishery Motorboat in this immersive five-day workshop. Various designs and construction techniques are explored. Minimum of 4 participants to go ahead.

Time: 9:00AM - 4:00PM

Learn about traditional uses of the Baccalieu Island Fishery Motorboat in this immersive one-day workshop. Various designs and construction techniques are explored.

Minimum 4 participants to go ahead.

Time: 9:00AM - 5:00PM

Learn the skills and techniques required to build a 17′ Grand Banks Dory, based on traditional designs used in the Grand Banks Fishery. Participants will receive detailed instruction as they build a complete dory, progressing through each stage from the laying out the bottom, to installing frames, planks and finishing details. Minimum of 4 participants required to go ahead.

Offered in partnership with The Marine Institute, this intensive 12-week workshop provides detailed instruction as you progress through each stage of building a 16’4″ Rodney originally designed and built by Marcus French of Winterton, Trinity Bay. Join boat builder Jerome Canning twice a week to learn about traditional boat uses, designs and building techniques in Newfoundland and Labrador while actively constructing the backbone, placing moulds and battens, and shaping timbers and planks.

Call 709-583-2070 or 613-866-4761 to register now.

January 07 - March 25, 2027
Tuesdays and Thursdays
6:00pm to 9:30pm

Participants will receive detailed instructions as they progress through each stage of building a 16’4″ Rodney originally designed and built by Marcus French of Winterton, Trinity Bay. Learn about traditional boat uses, designs and building techniques in Newfoundland and Labrador while actively constructing the backbone, placing moulds and battens, and shaping timbers and planks.