Student Boatbuilders

For more than 10 years, an organization called Brooklyn Boatworks has been teaching kids how to build boats. It transforms classrooms into workshops. Students saw, drill, and mold pieces of wood to make a boat. 

Dana and her classmates built a model of boat called an Optimist Pram, or Opti for short. They met once a week after school.

Students cut each piece of the Opti from plywood sheets. The team assembled the pieces. Then adults waterproofed the boat. After eight months of effort, every student who worked on the boat sailed it — after some sailing lessons, of course!

Pizza Sail wasn’t Dana’s first boat project, and it won’t be her last. “Once you start building, you’ll learn more and more,” she says. “It’s amazing seeing what you can accomplish.”

An organization called Brooklyn Boatworks teaches kids how to build boats. The program has existed for more than 10 years. It transforms classrooms into workshops. Students saw and drill pieces of wood. Then they mold the pieces to make a boat.

Dana and her classmates built a specific model of boat. That model is called an Optimist Pram. It’s also called an Opti. The classmates met after school. They met once a week.

Students cut each piece of the Opti from plywood sheets. The team assembled the pieces. Then adults waterproofed the boat. It took eight months of effort. Every student who worked on the boat sailed it —after some sailing lessons, of course!

Pizza Sail wasn’t Dana’s first boat project. It won’t be her last. “Once you start building, you’ll learn more and more,” she says. “It’s amazing seeing what you can accomplish.”