For almost three decades I have been studying & documenting the craft of japanese boatbuilding.
I Build boats for both private clients and museum exhibitions
I offer workshops to craft schools, as well as college courses, sharing my expertise and research.
I specialize in building traditional American, Japanese, and European wooden boats. I have built replicas for museums and new wooden boats for private clients. I also provide guidance on wooden boat design, lofting (a technique used to draw a full-size boat before construction), and traditional construction methods. I teach classes from the secondary through university level as well as public boatbuilding workshops, lectures, and demonstrations. I have five books on Japanese boatbuilding and regularly publish articles in magazines such as WoodenBoat, Mortise & Tenon, KAZI (Japan) among others.douglas Brooks Boatbuilding
Boatbuilding Publications
Purchase signed copies of my boatbuilding books here.
I have published six books to date sharing my expertise on boatbuilding. Some of my books are only available through my site here and 100% of the proceeds support my continued research.
Workshops, lectures & exhibits
Interested in having me speak at your school or organization?
I am available to assist with custom boatbuilding exhibits at your museum or organization, come to your school or university as a visiting lecturer, and I also offer workshops on lofting, Japanese and Western style boatbuilding, among other classes.
Lofting, Lines-taking
& custom projects
In addition to teaching lofting I also loft boats for private clients, providing full-size drawings and patterns builders can then use to produce molds for their boatbuilding projects. I have also measured boats (lines-taking) for museums and private clients. Learn more about lofting & lines-taking.
