Persons between ages 18 and 30 who are interested in learning the art of boat building are invited to apply for the Wooden Boat Building Techniques and Repairs course.
It is being offered by the Fisheries Division of the Ministry of the Environment and National Beautification. Application forms may be collected from the Fisheries Division, Princess Alice Highway, Bridgetown, between 9:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m. Applications close on Thursday, January 19.
Candidates will be selected for the 16-week course via an interview process. They should also have completed formal training in carpentry and joinery from the Samuel Jackman Prescod Institution of Technology (SJPI), or the Barbados Vocational Training Board (BVTB), and be preferably unemployed.
The course will run five days per week, with one day of theory and four days in the field using tools and working on the construction of boats. Participants will be assigned to shipwrights who are trained in boat building.
Chief Fisheries Officer, Dr. Shelly-Ann Cox, explained that BVTB’s role was to evaluate and inspect work done under the pilot project to develop a curriculum in boat building.
Dr. Cox said the areas identified for boat building under the pilot project were the Berinda Cox Fish Market, Oistins, Christ Church; the Bridgetown Fisheries Complex, Princess Alice Highway, Bridgetown; the Shallow Draught, Bridgetown, and Six Men’s, St. Peter.