Building the Fiddlehead Canoe:
Online Boatbuilding Apprenticeship Program
Learn real wooden boatbuilding. At your own pace. From the comfort of your own workshop. And with all the personal support you'll need to succeed.
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Mikkel Pagh
Hi I'm Mikkel, founder and boatbuilding instructor here at Small Boat School. I'm excited to help you grow your boatbuilding skills while you build your own beautiful, wooden canoe.
The Fiddlehead Canoe
In this program, you will build the lovely Fiddlehead double paddle canoe, designed by Harry Bryan:
The building process
The Fiddlehead build takes at least a few hundred hours. This summary video boils it down to 17 minutes:
The Apprenticeship Way of Learning
The Apprenticeship Way of Learning is a three-step learning loop that is at the core of everything I teach at Small Boat School.
It is designed to break down the complex process of learning boatbuilding into manageable, easy to learn tasks with built-in feedback and support.
Here's how it works:
- First, you watch a video that show how a given task in the boatbuilding process is done.
- Then you do the same job yourself in your own workshop.
- Last, you get feedback and help at the Apprentice Forum.
This learning loop is the exact same time-tested method that has been use for centuries in traditional boatbuilding apprenticeships and which provides proven results.
The only difference is that instead of working at your mentor's workshop, doing work for his customers, this apprenticeship is online based:
You do the work in your own workshop. You do it whenever suits your schedule. You do it at your own pace.
And - last but not least: You get to keep the boat you build.
The Fiddlehead Canoe Apprenticeship Program
What you will get:
I have created a program that gives new boatbuilders the exact things I would personally have wanted when I started out building wooden boats:
1: Access to comprehensive training video material
The Fiddlehead Canoe Boatbuilding Apprenticeship Program contains 13 hours of training video material, which is broken down into 40 bite-sized lessons.
The first section is called Mastering Basic Boatbuilding Skills. It consists of 10 lessons, which cover all the skills and preparations you need before you start building your boat.
The second section, called Building the Fiddlehead Canoe consists of 30 lessons, which in detail cover every step in the process of building your Fiddlehead Canoe.
Combined, these lessons cover everything you will need to know to build your boat.
2: Access to personal help and support
Personal support through the Apprentice Forum is at the core of Small Boat School.
Why? Because everyone who is learning boatbuilding needs help and support from time to time to stay on track.
The Apprentice Forum is an online community platform at Small Boat School where you can post your boatbuilding process and get help, encouragement and support.
Each lesson in the program has a Homework section with practical assignments that you will work on.
In the preliminary Mastering Basic Boatbuilding Skills course, these assignments are about sharpening, hand tool use, finding good boat wood or understanding boat plans, etcetera.
In the main Building the Fiddlehead Canoe course, the assignments are about building a small part of the actual boat.
After each assignment is completed, you will post photos, video or text to the Apprentice Forum to document your work.
I personally check up on your work to give feedback and to make sure that you on track and that you make no major mistakes.
If you have questions or if you run into unexpected problems, the Apprentice Forum is also the place to go.
Simply write a post with your question, and I'll be there to help you out.
3: Access to a community of boatbuilders
Building a wooden boat is load of fun. But it is also a huge endeavor, and the boatbuilding project will almost certainly be challenging - even frustrating - at times.
I know from personal experience that a key factor in keeping your motivation high throughout a boatbuilding project is to not feel alone.
It is critically important to have a supportive community around you. If you have family, neighbors or friends, who're rooting for you, you're already on a good track.
But community is also a central part of Small Boat School.
At the Apprentice Forum, you will meet other boat nuts from across the globe, who are on the exact same learning and building journey that you are.
You will share your own work and progress. And you will follow the work and progress of the other builders.
Everyone will learn from one another. You will share your challenges and problems. And you will celebrate your progress and your wins together.
In summary:
You will get everything you will need to succeed as a wooden boatbuilder:
So what does all this cost..?
To join a one-year program at a physical boatbuilding school, students usually pay $20,000 or more. And this doesn't include accommodation, food, your personal hand tools and other necessities. So the total costs usually end at $40,000 or more.
A short two-week summer course at a physical boatbuilding school is usually at least $1500, again, plus costs for materials, accommodation, food, transport, etcetera.
Also, these programs require you take the time off to meet their schedules and travel physically to their campuses.
I wanted to make this a no-brainer deal for you and truly accessible for anyone who wants to learn real wooden boatbuilding.
So you won't pay $20,000. You won't even pay $1,500.
Join the Fiddlehead Canoe Apprenticeship Program
Regardless which payment option you choose, the following is included:
- Access to 13+ hours of easy-to-follow video instructions, which covers everything you need to learn to build the Fiddlehead Canoe.
- Access to the Apprentice Forum, where you will get help, support and encouragement from me and from the other apprentices.
- A set of Fiddlehead Canoe paper plans shipped to your door.
It's important to me that your boatbuilding project is fun and stressless, so as soon as you have paid for the program you will have unlimited access to the video material and to my support for as long as you need to build your boat.
30 day money-back guarantee
And remember: It's completely risk free.
I believe the Fiddlehead Canoe Online Boatbuilding Apprenticeship Program is a perfect learning platform for new boatbuilders who want to learn real wooden boatbuilding without the frustrations, head-scratching or - worst case - ending up with an abandoned project.
But if you join and feel that after a month of being an apprentice it's just not a good fit, I'm giving you a 30-day full money-back guarantee.
That's right: Jump into the video training, start working on your boatbuilding project, dive into the Apprentice Forum. If you don't love it after 30 days of joining, send me an email and I'll refund you immediately.
No questions asked - no hard feelings.
If the Fiddlehead Canoe Apprenticeship Program doesn't work for you, I'd much rather that you take your money where you will be happier and get results.
What my students are saying:
"Being an engineer, I'm fascinated by wooden boat construction. Building a wooden boat is not easy, but with Mikkel's friendly guidance, each step in the process became simple and fun and the boat turned out beautiful."
Christian
"I'm out of a seaman's family and boats and boatbuilding has always fascinated me. At Mikkel's course I got deep into the fundamental wooden boatbuilding techniques, which has given me a number of skills that I now use in all sorts of creative work."
Freja
"When I enrolled to Mikkel's course, I was a carpentry apprentice, somewhat disillusioned by the current state of craftsmanship. In Mikkel's class, I leaned that real hand tool work still makes sense, and now I work full time as a boatbuilder."
Philip
"Taking Mikkel's boatbuilding course was my way of strengthening my inner renaissance man. It was the rare luxury of diving deep into an entirely new, fascinating subject. If you're an office worker like me, don't worry - with Mikkel at your side, you can do it!"
Michael
A few reasons why you would want to join:
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You get to build a gorgeous, heirloom wooden boat that will get you and your family on the water for decades to come.
- You get to work creatively on a big, challenging project - using your hands, your body and your mind.
- You get detailed, easy to follow step-by-step instructions, teaching you everything you will need to succeed with your build.
- You get all the support you need to avoid frustrations and secure your success.
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You get a brand new skill set that you can use in all sorts of future building projects.
- You get to work from the comfort of your home workshop.
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You get to work and learn at a pace that suits your schedule.
- You get to join a community of fellow boatbuilding enthusiasts.
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You help preserve boatbuilding skills for future generations.
- You get it all at a fraction of the cost of a comparable program at a physical boatbuilding school. You could even attend this program and fully fit out you shop with top quality tools and machinery and still pay much less than what a program at a physical school would cost.
Frequently Asked Questions
Learning boatbuilding through an online apprenticeship has some big advantages. But it also requires a few extra things from the apprentice.
The advantages of an online apprenticeship:
- You can work at your own pace.
- You can work whenever it suits your schedule.
- You can work out of your own workshop - no travel is required.
- You can review the instructions as often as you like.
- You will dive very deep into boatbuilding because you will do every step in the boatbuilding process yourself.
- The cost is much lower than comparable physical courses.
- You get to keep the boat you build.
The disadvantage of an online apprenticeship:
- You need to have access to your own workshop space
- You need to have access to your own tools.
- You don't have physical hands to guide you.
- You will need to do every step in the boatbuilding process yourself.
With an online apprenticeship, you will be working more independently. This can be a pro or a con, depending on your preferences.
An online apprenticeship will require more of you than most physical courses.
But I believe that this will help you learn all the (odd) steps in the boatbuilding process, making you much better prepared for future projects.
The Fiddlehead Canoe combines a lot of great features:
- Building it is a lot of fun. It's real wooden boatbuilding.
- The build is a challenge, but definitely within reach for a beginner.
- It's a small boat, so the project is not too overwhelming.
- The finished boat will be beautiful, versatile and easy to use.
I've made a video where I dive much deeper into why I love this boat so much.
The program is for anyone who has a desire to dive deep into traditional wooden boatbuilding.
You will have to be willing to spend several hundred hours on the course.
And you will need to have access to a suitable workshop and the necessary tools.
This is an advanced woodworking program, so previous woodworking experience is a plus.
But I will teach you all the skills you will need to build your boat, and provide personal support along the way.
So if you are willing to spend the time to learn everything from the ground up, previous experience is not a requirement.
I personally spent 300 hours building the canoe during the video recordings for the course. Depending on your level of experience and the level of finish you are aiming at, your build time most likely will be between 300 and 600 hours. The time you spend building your basic skills, setting up your workshop, acquiring tools and buying wood and materials will be added to this.
I believe that building your boat should be a stressless experience. And I feel that learning is done best in an environment where you can take the time to do the work right - and re-do it if necessary.
So there is no end date for the course.
You will have access to the course material and support as long as you need it.
For your project, you will need wood, fastenings, glue, a few brass fittings, varnish and paint.
For wood, the price can vary a lot, depending on your local availability. You might be able to buy good quality wood at a local boatbuilder for less than 500$/€. But at a lumberyard selling kiln-dried furniture-grade wood, you might have to at least double that figure. If you don't have a bandsaw and a thickness planer, the cost of having your wood milled will be added to that.
The cost of bronze fastenings, brass fittings, glues, varnish and paint should be between 400 and 500$/€.
The cost of setting up a workshop depends on the following:
- What tools and facilities you have available already
- Whether you will be buying new or used tools
- Whether you will buy machinery or have your wood milled elsewhere
So the cost could range all the way from almost nothing if you buy used hand tools at flea markets to perhaps 10.000$/€ if you want a full-featured workshop with brand new quality tools and machinery.
Yes, definitely. Building a boat together is a wonderful way of spending time with your family or friends, so I very much encourage this. You will, however, only have one login for the web site that you will need to share.
For a lot of people, spending six months or a full year on a physical boatbuilding school is not an option.
The Fiddlehead Canoe course will teach you many of the same basic boatbuilding skills that you would learn on a physical boatbuilding school, but at a fraction of the price.
Being a self-paced course, you can attend the course while working on the side. You can complete the lessons on evenings or week-ends if that suits your schedule best.
So if you consider a career as a boatbuilder, the course would be a good way for you to gain basic experience.
Yes. Once you have built your boat, I will send you a printable diploma which documents your completion of the program.
If there's anything you're unsure of, please don't hesitate to get in touch.
Just write me an email, and I'll get back to you as soon as I can.
Join the Fiddlehead Canoe Apprenticeship Program
