Joining the Marine Trades With Spaulding Apprenticeships

As we head into Labor Day weekend, we thought it was a good time to welcome aboard the Spaulding Marine Center apprenticeship class of 2024. When we stopped by a couple of weeks ago to make arrangements for our Fall Crew List party on September 7, we learned it was the first day for the Center’s third class of Boatworks 101 participants.

The apprenticeship program is a 12-month paid apprenticeship that trains participants for a career in the marine trades. The best thing about the program is that when you graduate, you’re on your way to one of the best careers anyone could ask for. You’ll be working on the waterfront with a fantastic community of coworkers and with a challenging, interesting array of projects on boats and the waterfront.

Working with your hands to restore, manage, build or care for boats attracts many for the career opportunity, and others as a passionate hobby. The September issue of Latitude 38, being delivered today, has the story of Karl Joost restoring the Bear Boat Trigger, and Allen Gross’s decades of care for the cutter Folly, built in San Francisco in 1889.

And while Spaulding’s new apprentices enjoy a long weekend, we’re sure many Bay Area boaters will take the opportunity to sail, and/or to spend their weekend practicing a bit of the marine trades on their own boat. And that’s just fine with us.

Welcome aboard to the Boatworks 101 Class of 2024. We look forward to seeing you at the Crew Party next week, and at a boatyard nearby after graduation.