(Note: even though it says "Written by Tom" up top... it's not! That's just an artifact of our software. Sorry Beth!)
My name is Beth Burlingame, and I am a student in the IYRS Marine Systems program in Bristol, RI. I’m going to be posting to this blog over the next few months, hoping to give readers a sense of the place and the program from a student’s perspective. Feel free to post questions and I will do my best to answer.
Most of the current class comes from Connecticut, Massachusetts and Rhode Island. We have a couple of guys from California and one international student. Some were in the military, some are just out ofschool, and some are career changers. It’s a good mix. I am the only woman in this year’s class and the second woman to take the course. I’m here because I have always loved boats, sailing, and salt water. I also like working with my hands, but I didn’t have anyone to teach me how to work on boats. I’ve read every book you can imagine on boats and boat repair. I’ve done a lot of projects, with adequate but not stellar results. There are too many things you can’t learn from a book; I needed training.
IYRS is justly known for its wooden boatbuilding program, but I am not a wooden boat person. There, I’ve said it. Wooden boats are beautiful, but give me fiberglass any day – I want to own the boat, not the other way around. On the other hand, the instructors here know a LOT about working with wood, and I have learned some very useful things. I now feel a lot more confident that I can install things in a nice teak plywood panel and have the boat end up looking better than it did before I touched it.