The Watercraft Center will be closed Wednesday, Nov. 24, through Sunday, Nov. 28, for the Thanksgiving holiday. We will reopen on our regular schedule Monday, Nov. 29. The N.C. Maritime Museum will be closed  Nov. 25 but will otherwise operate on its regular schedule....

With the summer season gearing up, the Harvey W. Smith Watercraft Center will expand its operating hours to accommodate our region's residents and visitors. The Watercraft Center and the N.C. Maritime Museum in Beaufort will be open to the public Monday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. starting June 18. This change gives visitors an extra hour to explore our sites. Starting June 27, the watercraft center and the museum will resume Sunday operations. Both sites will be open from noon to 5 p.m. to wrap up the weekend....

BEAUFORT, N.C. – The Harvey W. Smith Watercraft Center will close to visitors until at least March 4. Due to a recent exposure to COVID-19, the facilities will be thoroughly cleaned and sanitized, and site employees with potential exposure to the virus will self-quarantine for 14 days following N.C. Dept. of Health and Human Services and CDC guidelines. Because the watercraft center has only a few full-time employees, the site will be closed until employees are able to return to work. The Lift Half-Model Making Course scheduled for March 6 and 7 at the site has subsequently been canceled. The Harvey W. Smith Watercraft Center is part of the N.C. Maritime Museum in Beaufort. The museum remains open to the public. Any needed contact tracing will be managed by the Carteret County Health Department....

The 2020 raffle boat is a traditionally built dinghy called a “Catspaw,” and the plans are available from Wooden Boat Magazine. It was built at the Harvey W. Smith Watercraft Center, across the street from the North Carolina Maritime Museum, by the volunteers and staff of the museum. The 13-foot rowing/sailboat was originally drawn and built by Nat Herreshoff and updated by Joel White. We built the boat in the traditional style using white oak for the backbone and steam-bent frames, Atlantic white cedar (aka Juniper) for the lapstrake planking and mahogany for the sheer plank, transom and seats and thwarts. The boat also comes with a beautiful set of handmade fir oars. The mast and sprit are also fir. This is a sweet boat that would be perfect for rowing or sailing and could also be fitted with a small outboard. Raffle tickets for the boat are available for $5 at the Museum Store...

It's been way too long since I last wrote about what is happening in the Watercraft Center. So I thought I'd update what's been happening. 2020 Raffle Boat We've completed and installed our new 2020 raffle boat, and tickets are on sale for $5 at the museum gift shop. The new boat is a traditionally built dinghy called a "Catspaw," and the plans are available from Wooden Boat Magazine. The 13-foot rowing/sailboat was originally drawn and built by Nat Herreshoff and updated by Joel White. We built the boat in the traditional style using white oak for the backbone and steam-bent frames, Atlantic white cedar (aka Juniper} for the lapstrake planking and mahogany for the sheer plank, transom and seats and thwarts. The boat also comes with a beautiful set of handmade fir oars. The mast and sprit are also fir. This is a sweet boat that would be perfect for rowing or sailing...

So we're fully engulfed in the summer season here at the Watercraft Center. Aside from trying to keep cool, we are also working on several projects. We have been developing a new mini sharpie that can be a child's row boat, a beer cooler for the backyard barbecue when filled with Ice or even a raw bar for serving oysters and shrimp. Or maybe a yard planter or even a book shelf. This 7-foot-8-inch row boat is the product of my "Introduction to Boat Building Class" which I run every month. In this weekend-long, two-day class we learn about building boats in the stitch and glue method; and we put together these mini sharpies. After the class is over, our volunteers and staff finish and paint these boats off as small boats or bookshelves; and we are offering them up for sale at the annual Boat Shop Bash in November — or sooner...

We're into the summer season in the Watercraft Center and starting up our "Summer Programs." This summer we'll be featuring classes both old and new. On Saturday, June 8, we'll be running our first monthly "Boat In a Day" class. in this class participants build a 12' Canoe/Kayak Hybrid that weighs in at around 30 pounds in just one day! This program is great for families or friends or individuals who want to build a great little car topper boat. We offer this class two more times this summer: July 13 and Aug. 17. There is room for four teams per class, and it has been very popular. So don't dawdle if you think this is something you and your family would enjoy. We also offer several classes "on demand," which means if we have time in our schedule we can run it when you have time to participate. These classes include...

Work continues on the 1937 Barbour work boat. We are completing the caulking of the seams on the planking and putting paint on the boat. This week we lowered the boat a bit and began work on replacing the original deck with a new Plywood and Dynel deck, which will make the boat much stiffer. The first step is to remove the old deck and reinforce the deck beam structure. Once that is complete, we will be cutting out and applying a half-inch marine grade fir plywood and then covering that with Dynel, a material treated just like Fiberglass but when complete will appear to be a canvas covered deck. This material should only be applied over plywood, which is stable enough and won't move or swell. Once the deck is on we will be moving on to construction of the deck house. Meanwhile, we have arranged with a new volunteer to...

If you haven't yet, make sure to check out our new raffle boat in the lobby of the museum. This year our Friends group is offering a sailboat called a Moth. This 11-foot racer promises to be a real rocket. The Classic Moth is a developmental class that was started right here in N.C. in the 1920s by a sea captain and a boat builder in Washington, N.C. In this class there are just a few parameters which make it a Moth: The boat must be 11-feet long and have a beam of 5 feet. It can't weigh less then 75 pounds and must carry 72 square feet of sail. Other then that a Moth can look any way the designed/builder chooses. This boat meets all these requirements and was designed by our volunteers and staff at the Watercraft Center. She's really hot, and worth checking out — and buying a...

Like any nonprofit, we could not accomplish nearly all that we do without the help of a team of dedicated volunteers. All those awesome boat building projects? Completed with the help of our skilled volunteers. Our ability to showcase a working watercraft center? Impossible without the volunteers here working on projects. Even the plaques we gave out today to recognize the Volunteers of the Year from the Watercraft Center, Maritime Museum, our Friends group, the Junior Sailing Program and Bonehenge Whale Center? Built by a volunteer — a volunteer who, coincidentally, was our top volunteer of the year. William Shrader was named the Watercraft Center Volunteer of the Year. He was recognized by center Manager Grant Caraway for not just helping out but helping out on the less glamorous parts of boat building and restorations: painting and scraping and sharpening tools. Congratulations, Will! A second volunteer was recognized with an award specific to...