HERITAGE

SUSTAINABILITY

Wooden Boatmaking Fellowship

AUTUMN on HVAR

On Hvar, the sea is livelihood, orientation, and calendar. The wooden boat tradition of the Adriatic is among the oldest in the Mediterranean. For centuries, the island's forests shaped its vessels — the gajeta, the leut, the topolino. Those craft configured the islander’s world: where to fish, the meaning of weather, danger and opportunity from across the water.

For these folkways to endure, it is essential to recenter wooden boatmaking in the island’s economic and recreational landscape. It is critical that children, especially, have access and exposure to these trades throughout their lives. This fellowship will contribute tangibly to the revival and preservation of Hvar’s priceless heritage.

Spend a season with us, working alongside children to build something that floats, teaches, and inspires.

The Fellowship

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    Role

    Field Fellows join our community as a participant — enrolling your own children in the program alongside other Field School families — and as a contributing expert, mentoring our faculty on boatmaking. You will be expected to contribute about 20 hours each week of organizing, problem-solving, and direct instruction.

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    Reciprocity

    In return, we offer a full scholarship covering your children's tuition for the term. We aren't able to cover travel or accommodation, so this works best for families who have the flexibility — whether that's a homeschooling lifestyle, a sabbatical year, or simply the appetite for an unconventional fall.

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    Storytelling

    We'd love to be part of your story if this experience moves you, and we ask for one long-form piece (a podcast episode, Substack essay, or video) within 90 days of your residency, provided that it feels like a natural fit.

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    Dates

    The fall session runs September 7 through November 28, 2026. A shorter summer session is available August 8–22 for those who can't commit to the full term.

THE PROJECT

A well-made vessel is a K-12 education in motion: geometry, physics, history, literature, and natural science — all wrapped up in fiberglass and wooden planks.

Working from a Fyne Boat, you will work with a full-time teacher to teach children basic carpentry and stages of producing a durable, functional vessel. Alongside the build, they'll study the traditional working boats of the Adriatic — what they were built for, how they were sailed, and what their forms reveal about the communities that made them.

The result is a boat the children built themselves, on an island that has lived by the sea for three thousand years.

WHO WE’RE LOOKING FOR

The right fellow is a practitioner — someone with a strong background in carpentry and an eagerness to share those skills with children and other adults. Boatbuilding experience is ideal, but we are also open to meeting engineers, carpenters, and experienced hobbyists. An important part of this project is piecing out steps to invite participation from total beginners - some as young as five - so patience and project-management skills are key.

Teaching With Small Boats Alliance members, WoodenBoat School instructors, and practitioners with youth programming backgrounds are warmly encouraged to apply.

NOMINATE

If someone comes to mind when you read this, please share this page or send us their name and a line about why you think they'd be a good fit. If this sounds like your kind of project, we'd love to hear from you directly.

There's no formal application — just reach out to Field School Director Carolyn or book a call.

Interested in a faculty role? We are also hiring a more generalist boat lover for our Summer Boats Guide position.