Nautical museum doubles as shipyard

Coral Wilson

For the modern-day family, the thought of building a boat might seem

a bit strange and intimidating.

But boat building is hardly an impossible task -- people have been

doing it for thousands of years, said Glenn Zagoren, president of the

Newport Harbor Nautical Museum.

Over the weekend, 20 families took on the project of building a

9-foot boat in only two days. By Sunday afternoon, the boats were

near completion. With a little additional sanding and finishing, they

would be ready for the ultimate test -- water.

“I can swim,” Cory Darling, 11, said. “But I think it’s going to

float.”

Museums are meant to get people in touch with their roots, Zagoren

said. And Newport-Mesa has a strong heritage of boat building, he

said.

So when Wooden Boat Magazine pitched its vision of a family boat

building weekend to museums across the country, the nautical museum

jumped on board.

The Newport Beach event was the largest of these events, involving

20 boats, more than 100 participants and 20 volunteers, Zagoren said.

Next year, he said he hopes to expand the event to accommodate 50

families.

“Basically, they built these boats in a day and a half. It’s

amazing,” Zagoren said. “It’s shocking these boats look as good as

they do.”

Each team got a trophy for participating, and the teams could win

other fun trophies, such as for having the best intentions or the

most enthusiasm. . The spirit should be that of fun, not of

competition, Zagoren said.

“We wanted [families] to do something together that they could be

proud of later that doesn’t involve television or Nintendo,” he said.

The best part about the event for many families was coming

together and making new friends. Jane Runner of Balboa Island said

her team included 10 family members from three generations The

youngest was eight weeks old. Runner and her husband were the oldest,

at 71.

“We wanted this to be a family boat and a family boat project,”

she said.

Others learned helpful construction techniques.

“Measure twice, cut once,” Michael Jarvis of Corona del Mar said.

“And many mistakes can be fixed with epoxy putty.”

In the final stages, families added personality by painting

designs or naming their boats.

The same basic design was used for rowboats and sailboats. Paul

Brinkman attached an antique 1336 outboard engine, making his into a

motor boat.

One family said they would try it out in the swimming pool. Jarvis

said his boat might ultimately become a bookshelf.

The experience will be life-changing for many families, Zagoren

said. As for the boats, anything is possible.

“They make good flower pots,” he said.