Tallship Institute Opens Small Boat Center

Oxnard, California – In February 2010, the American Tall Ship Institute (ATSI) began their first boat building program. Based on programs such as Rocking the Boat in South Bronx and Alexandria Seaport Foundation in Virginia, the course was directed toward helping gang involved teens, under-served youth, and young adults develop critical job training skills in a unique and valuable way.

Students meet with a professional master boat builder who teaches the theory of boat building, vocational math needed for building the boat (designed to teach math needed for GED), tools and use of tools, and appropriate vocational socialization. ATSI currently has two master boat builders on staff.

The last two years, ATSI’s boat building shop offered about 700 sq. ft. boat building area. The limited space could only allow for one boat building class at a time. In that time, nine boats were built with nearly 80 area youth. Recognizing a demand among area youth for such vocational programs,
ATSI contacted their Harbor Director, Lyn Kreiger, to help find a suitable space for growth.

Krieger helped the non-profit find space among the long-vacated buildings of Fishermans Wharf in Channel Islands Harbor, an area Krieger is helping to bring to life again.

“Our goal was to run four boat building programs simultaneously. Lyn helped us do that,” said Philip Taylor, one of the boat building instructors who, until recently, had been crewing the Bill of Rights as well as working in the boat shop. “We needed more space for a long time. If you look at the new shop, its remarkable to think we ever fit into 700 square feet and made it work.”

Boat Building Instructor, Doug Sherr, chimed in, “Over the last month, we remodeled the old Italian restaurant in Fishermans Wharf. We can now manage 4 boat building programs simultaneously in nearly 2500 sq feet of shop space. Effectively we can now quadruple the number of youth in the community we can affect with positive change.” Sherr has 57 years of boat  repair and boat building experience.

The Grand Opening and Ribbon Cutting Ceremony for the American Tall Ship Institute’s Small Boat Center is set for Thursday, January 24 at 5pm in the new facility at 2721 South Victoria Blvd., Oxnard, CA, 93035. The public is welcomed.

To find out more about these programs or how you can get involved, contact ATSI at 805-901-0585.