Welcome to the Silva Bay Shipyard School, Canada's only full-time traditional wooden boatbuilding school, on Gabriola Island, British Columbia. Here, every April, our Boatbuilding students, working in teams of three or four, launch the small traditional wooden boats they have built over the winter.
At the launching, our little island has a festival to celebrate with the students what they have achieved; a few beautiful, finely crafted small boats that go out into the water and the world to give years of use and enjoyment, and that keep alive, through the sheer pleasure of everyone who sees them, the art of wooden boats.
The Silva Bay Shipyard School is proud to contibute to the tradition and craft of wooden boatbuilding, maintaining the art of the wooden boat.
Most students rent a place on Gabriola Island. We keep a list of accommodations available to students. Some students have lived on their boats which means their neighbours are otters and eagles and their commute is a two minute walk up from the docks.
When classes are in session, visitors are welcome to drop-in every Friday afternoon from 2:00 pm to 4:00 pm to view the works-in-progress. Prospective students should make an appointment to tour the school and meet with staff, faculty and students.
There is a demand for skilled woodworkers in the boat building, restoration and ship's cabinetry industries. The skills taught here can also lead to employment in the field of custom cabinetmaking for homes.
There are restaurants (one beside the school), pubs with live music including weekly jam nights, theatre, outdoor sports and enough going on to occupy you every night of the week after school. There is a laundromat and liquor store next to the school, gas station, credit union, medical centre and more amenities than you would expect in a community of roughly 5000 souls.
We have had students from France, Korea, Norway, Japan, the United States and other countries.
Prospective students should make an appointment to tour the school and meet with staff, faculty and students.
There are no more than 16 students to a class.
