Open Boat Expedition

This is a five-day course.

For the sailor ready to take seamanship to the next level, the Open Boat Expedition offers a third module in our Open Boat series of courses. This course offers a week of hands-on voyaging, logistical challenges, and exploration under sail and oar. You’ll spend the week aboard the new 20′ ketch-rigged Calendar Islands Ketch—WoodenBoat Edition, designed by Clint Chase, and built at the school. Osprey is perfectly suited for camp-cruising the rugged, island-studded waters of the Maine coast.

The course begins on campus with an introduction to the vessel and a detailed review of expedition planning, equipment, provisions, and safety procedures. Day one focuses on risk management, rigging, and sail-handling practice in the harbor before setting out on an extended small-boat expedition. Over the following days, you and your shipmates will work as a team to voyage through Eggemoggin Reach, Jericho Bay, and Blue Hill Bay—using paper charts and compass to navigate among the spruce-covered granite islands that make this coastline legendary for small-boat cruising.

Each evening, the crew will go ashore to camp on public Maine Island Trail Association islands, sleeping on the ground in tents you bring and pitch yourselves. You’ll learn practical camp-cruising techniques: selecting a safe landing, rolling the boat with fenders on land above high-tide, unloading and reloading gear in tidal conditions, setting up camp in all weather, cooking efficiently, and breaking camp with minimal impact. Leave No Trace ethics are a core part of this experience—students will learn how to travel responsibly, preserving the sensitive ecology and wild beauty of Maine’s unspoiled coastal islands.

Throughout the week, you’ll work as a team with your shipmates to practice advanced small-boat seamanship: coastal navigation, weather awareness, expedition judgement, anchoring, and the constant balance of sail trim, crew safety, and cooperation. A support motorboat will accompany the expedition to deliver food and camping gear, assist with logistics, and provide emergency backup if needed—allowing the sailing crew to focus fully on the skills and teamwork required for open-boat voyaging.

This is a serious and physically demanding course. Students must be prepared for exposure to the elements for long periods of time, heavy lifting, rowing long distances, reefing, and managing life aboard a moving open boat in all weather (sun, rain, fog, etc.). Expect wet decks, variable winds, and the deep satisfaction that comes from working as a team to master traditional small-boat seamanship under sail and oar. This course includes the Leave No Trace ethics of waste management, “Pack it in, pack it out.” Students will learn how to manage privacy and human waste safely and without the availability of established bathrooms.  Students must also be prepared to be “un-plugged” and technology free for the week while voyaging outside the range of cell phone towers and wifi connections. All meals will be provided by Wooden Boat School. Campsite will be available for students Sunday, Monday and Friday evenings.

The expedition returns to campus on Friday afternoon with time to clean and de-rig the boat, stow gear, and join classmates for the school’s traditional lobster bake at 6 p.m.—a fitting close to a week of saltwater, teamwork, and adventure.

Prerequisites: Students must be prepared for this course with a love of adventure, the outdoors and willingness to work in a team and stay flexible in physically and mentally challenging situations. Advanced sailing experience and comfort in physically demanding conditions are required. Participants must have completed one of these Wooden Boat School courses or the equivalent: Craft of Sail, Open Boat, Elements II, or Traditional Sailing and Seamanship aboard Petrel. Students must be able to tie the following knots: square, slippery square, figure-eight, bowline, clove hitch, and rolling hitch; lift 50 lbs; and work safely in tight, moving, and slippery spaces. Students must also be in good physical health and free from any preexisting medical conditions that could endanger themselves or others in a remote, wilderness setting.

The Expedition Schedule is flexible due to wind, weather, and tide