WASHINGTON, N.C. — Boat building is an old tradition in North Carolina, and the state has a reputation for producing some of the finest boats on the water.
What You Need To Know
Boat building is a $6 million industry in North Carolina
Ken Adams is a third-generation boat builder
He teaches a high school class on carpentry and boat building
There are many boat manufacturing companies in eastern N.C. that are looking for skilled employees
According to Carteret Community College, boat building is a $6 million industry that employs over 2,200 people in the state. And that industry is constantly growing.
Ken Adams is a carpentry and boat building teacher at Washington High School, who is inspiring the next generation of boat builders.
Piece by piece, Adams and his high school students are building a boat from scratch. It's not just so they can go out on the water.
Adams is a third-generation boat builder, so he grew up learning these skills. It's his passion.
“It's fulfilling,” Adams said. “It makes you feel good when you go home. Not every student wants to do this. That's fine as long as they take away useful skills for their careers.”
When he transitioned to teaching, Adams wanted his students to learn the basics needed to go into such an important industry in North Carolina.
“It's really getting those skills to these folks so they can go and, you know, help these companies out,” Adams said.
Adams says our state has a rich history in boat building. There are at least 10 boat manufacturers in Beaufort County alone. That's why this class is so important to him.
“It doesn't matter the material,” Adams said. “It's the skills. It's the measuring, finding the center mark, understanding when you run into a wall and you're not quite sure how to work your way out of that. Those kinds of skills, the problem-solving skills.”
He says the program is meant to benefit not, only the students but the manufacturers and the community as well. Washington High School built this workshop from scratch when Adams decided to put his passion into action. He currently offers two boat-building classes and wants to add more in the future.
After his students graduate, he hopes to see them contribute to North Carolina's growing boat-building industry.