The Apprenticeshop, a school for traditional boatbuilding and seamanship on the Rockland waterfront, honored Kit Macchi, the most recent graduate of the school's two-year apprentice program, on December 14. Following the graduation ceremony, Macchi and her boatbuilding partner Brigit Jividen launched a new Grand Banks dory they had built as a commission by the Friends of Maine's Seabird Islands. The dory will be used in conjunction with the organization's efforts to protect Maine's seabird populations. The new dory was built to lines laid down by John Gardner in The Dory Book, published in 1987 by the Mystic Seaport Museum.
Also launched the same afternoon was a new 11' 6" Susan skiff rowing tender. The boat was built by apprentice Rachel Davis as part of her training. The Susan skiff is typically the first boat apprentices build before moving on to larger craft.