Monday, July 13 – A DAY OF REST & RELAXATION.......yeah, right! Our intentions were to have a relative low key day of relaxation here in Hessel, Michigan. We stopped at the tiny town market for a cup of coffee and a muffin which was a good start for being casual.
From there, we headed to the Great Lakes Boat Building School in Cedarville, MI. This small 2-year college offers an degree in boat building. This is a non-profit educational center teaching the art and craft of traditional and contemporary wooden boat building.
They provide a comprehensive course of study in the methods, materials, and professionalism required of today's wooden boat builders. The first year prepares the student for a career in the wooden boat industry. The second year is geared to advanced boat building and the construction involved in a modern yacht. They have been in existence since 2006 and have over 90% job placement. They actually don't have enough students to fill the job opportunities. This upcoming fall they already have 20 of the 24 slots filled, three being girls and one guy coming all the way from France.
Two boats they just finished this past term.
Marsha makes sure the job was done right.
The first projects that the students work on is making a stool and a tool chest. Paul is admiring the wonderful work this student did.
State of the art workshop.
Paul is drooling. He would love to have a shop like this.
Marsha couldn’t get over all the 100’s of clamps they had.
One of the old wooden boats.
They also offer workshops in metal casting, building your own Northeaster Dory, Paddle Making, Pram building, building a Dinghy, Knots & Rigging, Kayak building, Marine Finishes, Photography and building your own paddle board. So if you're looking for a way to spend several weeks this summer, come on UP North and build yourself a boat! If you can’t build one, at least take the tour. It is very informative.
On the way home, we stopped at a couple gift shops, a Northern Spruce furniture store, a saw mill, and decided on taking a hike in the William B. Derby Nature Preserve. So much for a casual day of rest and relaxation.
The Derby Nature Preserve is a 200-acre preserve located right in Cedarville, MI. It includes a 3.5-mile loop trail that travels along the inner Les Cheneaux channel shore. This trail is a beautiful hike through fairly level terrain. It loops through a dense forest of predominately Northern Spruce trees. The trail is made up of the spongy material left over from falling spruce needles and is nice to hike upon but be careful of the Michigan limestone sticking up through the needles and especially the Spruce roots that frequently reach out to trip you.
This delicate fern grew all along the forest floor.
After that casual morning, we eventually returned to the RV to relax for the remainder of the day. On Tuesday, we head north to Saulte Ste Marie, MI, so stop back and travel along with us.
Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see y’all back real soon. Have a great day!
I thought this sounded like a nice relaxing paced day:) The boat building school sounds so interesting. I immediately thought of Paul drooling, also:) What a beautiful place for a nice little hike. A very nice day:)
ReplyDeleteI thought this sounded like a nice relaxing paced day:) The boat building school sounds so interesting. I immediately thought of Paul drooling, also:) What a beautiful place for a nice little hike. A very nice day:)
ReplyDeleteAfter a long walk down memory lane a day of rest and relaxation is probably in order. A tip for Paul, you could do what I did while living in Indiana, befriend the local high school shop teacher. They have a lot of really nice tools that sit idle in the summer.
ReplyDeleteLooks like you had a great relaxing day and a nice hike..
ReplyDeleteI'm with Paul though about having a shop like that. I did have dozens of clamps of different types but didn't realize it until we sold our home. Our son finally organized them on a wall rack.
Be Safe and Enjoy!
It's about time.
A boat building school, who would have thunk it.
ReplyDeleteCraftsmen are becoming a thing of the past.
ReplyDeleteLoved learning about the boat college. I can envision my Paul looking at that workshop with his eyes glazed over while drooling. LOL
ReplyDeleteWe visited a boat building company on the East Coast. They turned their boats upside down and poured paint from the can right on them. What a colorful (and lumpy) floor! Thanks for the reminder of that fascinating visit.
ReplyDeleteNow thats a shop!
ReplyDeleteThat wasn't too busy. You had to do something and it looked like you did it leisurely and slow. You couldn't just sit in the RV if you were taking a vacation. Enjoy!
ReplyDeleteI showed Jim some of the pictures and drool is running down his chin. Jim and his Dad built their first boat.
ReplyDeleteyou two aren't planning on building a boat now are you?
ReplyDeleteI see a new hobby for Paul.
ReplyDeleteWe are in Port Townsend and just toured the Northwest Mariners Center where they teach people to build boats and kayaks. It was so interesting. We love Michigan.
ReplyDeleteWhere's the 'rest' in this day? And you call that relaxing? You guys have NO idea how to rest and relax!
ReplyDeleteNot a bad day of R&R and the hiking was the bonus to top it off.
ReplyDelete