HERITAGE

SUSTAINABILITY

Wooden Boatmaking Fellowship

SPRING on HVAR

A group of people working on a wooden surfboard or boat shape on a patio overlooking a body of water with mountains and trees in the background.

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.

People enjoying a day at a beach with clear water, some preparing to paddle in a small boat while others relax on loungers or swim in the background, surrounded by trees and hillside houses.
A wooden sailboat with a single sail docked at a marina on a sunny day, with other boats and green hills in the background.
A man and two boys are working together on a woodworking project at a table, using clamps to hold a piece of wood in place. The table is made from wooden pallets, and there are other children and adults in the background.
Children and adults building a wooden boat in a spacious indoor area, with toys and supplies scattered around.
Children sitting by a shallow water feature with paper boats and a balloon, some children are dipping their feet in the water, and others are releasing paper boats into the water, during an outdoor activity.

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.

  • Geometric drawing of an outline square with sections divided by vertical, horizontal, and diagonal lines.

    Dates

    The spring session runs March 13 - June 5, 2027. A shorter summer session is available August 8–22, 2026 for those who can't commit to the full term.

Group of children working together to assemble a wooden model, with one person using a cordless drill, on a sunny outdoor patio.
A red boat on a rocky beach with calm blue water and a few small boats in the distance, a wooden pier with a railing on the left, and a clear blue sky.
A group of people wearing gloves working together on a woodworking project, possibly applying a finish or paint to a piece of wood on a tarp-covered table in a room with wooden flooring.
Child holding a craft project resembling a small boat with a sail made from aluminum foil, a wooden base, and clothespins, in a room with other children in the background.
Crowd of people, including children, gathered along a narrow stone water channel in a sunny outdoor area with palm trees and residential buildings.
A harbor scene at sunset with boats docked, some covered, along the pier. Residential buildings line the waterfront, and mountains are visible in the background, with a partly cloudy sky overhead.

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.

A group of children and a woman are sitting on a boat, looking out at a sunset over the water with a distant shoreline and trees, with the Croatian flag flying in the background.
Sailboats and ships docked in a harbor on a sunny day with clear blue sky and mountains in the background.
Two women are working together on a project in a room with large windows and curtains. One woman is kneeling, holding a piece of material, while the other woman stands with gloves on, handling a small object. There is a couch with blue and gray blankets in the background.
Children and an adult engaging in woodworking activities on a rooftop patio with a modern building, trees, and a blue sky in the background.
A man sitting on the carpeted floor holding a plastic water bottle with chopsticks attached. Behind him is a blackboard with "Field School Regatta 2025" written on it, along with a drawing of sailboats. The setting appears to be indoors with a large window showing a body of water and boats outside.

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.

Four children working together in a room, wearing gloves, and handling a large object covered with white fabric, possibly involved in a craft or school project.
A calm body of water with a boat floating near a shoreline, birds are perched on the boat and floating nearby, with a hilly landscape in the background under a clear sky.
A metallic compass rose embedded in a concrete surface, showing the cardinal directions (N, E, S, W) and intermediate directions (NE, SE, SW, NW), with additional markers for other directions.
Group of people working together on a woodworking project outside a building with large glass windows and sliding doors, with mountains visible in the background.
Children jumping off a boat into turquoise water, with one child in a black wetsuit balancing on the edge, while others wait on the boat's deck, some in swimsuits, and an inflatable unicorn toy hanging from the boat's railing.
A man smiling and kneeling inside a wooden frame, wearing a protective gown and gloves, holding a container of red paint.

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.

Four people working on assembling a large wooden boat-shaped project on a tiled floor inside a house, with a couch and a sliding glass door in the background.
A person holding up a sketchbook with drawings of a lighthouse, a boat labeled 'keel', and a diagram of a boat's cross-section with parts labeled 'stem', 'keel', 'hull', and 'bow'.
Two men in a black boat on a calm blue lake, with three floating swimmers nearby, surrounded by green trees on the left and mountain ranges in the background under a clear blue sky.
People preparing a blue and white sailboat near the shore on a sunny day with a clear blue sky and distant mountains in the background.
Two women working on a craft project in a room with large windows and curtains. One woman with blonde hair tied back in a ponytail is sitting, and another with dark hair standing, both wearing gloves.