Tiverton Youth Launch New Boat

TIVERTON, RI— Teens age 14 to 16 built a boat and launched it Aug. 3 at the Tiverton Boat Launch. The Tiverton launch is just one of several scheduled for Rhode Island during August. The Youth Summer Boatbuilding Program coordinated by the Rhode Island Marine Trades Association, is running five boat building programs statewide. In Tiverton, under the guidance of instructor Jim Gauch, students have built an 8-foot Eastport Pram. The six-week boatbuilding course these students attended, according to the association, incorporates hands-on skill building, marine-trades career exploration, leadership development and adult mentoring.

RIMTA’s Youth Summer Boatbuilding Program started out with one program; with support from Real Jobs Rhode Island and the Governor’s Workforce Board, RIMTA was able to work with area schools this summer and expand into five programs, run in North Providence (two programs), Newport, Bristol and Tiverton.

That program growth illustrates the momentum RIMTA is gaining in their efforts to expose more young Rhode Islanders to careers in the marine trades and to ultimately cultivate the workforce needed to fuel the state’s marine industry.

Trends such as a graying manufacturing workforce and fewer students gravitating to hands-on careers have impacted the marine-trades workforce throughout the entire country—a trend that RIMTA is rectifying with this program and others run for different age groups and skill areas.

Students in each of the summer programs get hands-on experience building boats, and each program has opted to build a different type of watercraft.

Courtesy Photo: RIMTA