Our Mission
The Apprenticeshop is a community that cultivates thinkers, makers, and doers through traditional boatbuilding and seamanship to navigate an ever-changing world.
Our Vision
Anchored in Maine’s maritime heritage, we envision a world enriched by creative, collaborative, self-reliant, and thoughtful makers who explore and engage with the intersection of traditional craft and contemporary culture.
Our Values
Human Potential
We are all capable of building and sailing boats. By navigating challenges within a supportive community we come to understand what we are capable of, and build resilience, self-confidence, and resourcefulness in the process.
Learning by Doing
Through repeated, hands-on practice, we accumulate knowledge, develop skills, inform our judgment, and expand our creativity. As we encounter problems, we innovate toward solutions. This way of learning demands patience and requires us to take an active role in our own education.
Collective Experience
Our community is inclusive, non-judgmental and welcomes people of all races, genders, ethnicities, religious affiliations, socioeconomic circumstances, sexual orientations, ages, and past experiences. We build and sail together. Shared work fosters trust, cultivates accountability, and pushes us to develop a personal stake in the execution of communal goals.
Cultural Exchange
Boats have been powerful vehicles for connection and exchange throughout history. We continue to use boats as platforms for exchanging ideas, advancing knowledge, and encouraging all people to find common ground.
Stewardship
We celebrate, preserve, and strive to engage diverse people with maritime culture so traditions can be reinvigorated with new perspectives. The techniques we teach provide foundational skills that can then be applied to contemporary practices.
Sustainability
We take a mindful approach to our use of materials and environmental resources. We care for our tools, the building we occupy, and our boats so they will last. This attitude of care extends to the land and waterfront we inhabit as we strive to preserve it for future generations.