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Tour our campus

Watch the School video

Watch our 16 minute video - our campus, instructors and students in action.

Online photo tour

Here you will find a virtual online photo tour of our campus which is located on the beautiful Olympic Peninsula directly on Puget Sound in the state of Washington.

Guided Tours

Self Guided Tours are available to the public Monday-Friday from 10am-4pm.

Personal on-site tour

Whether you live in the area or are visiting the Pacific Northwest you are welcome to stop in for a first hand look. Just contact us to make an appointment for a personal on-site tour.

Prospective students should call and schedule a personal tour with the Student Services Administrator.

To set up your personal tour please contact us. We'd love to show you around!

Campus and facilities overview

The Northwest School of Wooden Boatbuilding is located along the waterfront of the six-acre Port Hadlock Heritage Campus. The boat school has been acquiring waterfront properties and restoring buildings for a number of years and school facilities currently include 14,500 square feet of covered space.

The historic, two-story, 7,500 square-foot Captain Westrem Building accommodates a lumber-milling room, two boatshops, the administration offices and the library. The library houses over 1,200 volumes on a wide variety of maritime subjects and several collections of periodicals. A computer station provides student access to the World Wide Web and personal email accounts. The library is open in the evenings four nights a week. Upstairs, the sail loft is equipped with a variety of power sewing machines and several hand-work benches. A master sailmaker both teaches workshops and supplemental courses for the school and conducts his sailmaking and canvas business from this busy loft.

Next door, the 3,500 square-foot fully restored Community Boathouse features a 60-person classroom/lunchroom, restrooms, a faculty office and a 2,000 square foot boatbuilding and cabinetry shop. Overhead skylights and south-facing windows flood the shop with natural light.

The school’s 5,000 square-foot salt-water pier provides moorage for vessels over 100 feet in length. It is slated to be rebuilt over the next several years and when restored will include a section open to the visiting public. Today the dock is open to students for picnicking and viewing.

The Heritage Campus blacksmith shop is equipped with several forges and anvils, welding equipment and other metalworking tools. The blacksmith shop can accommodate several students and is often busy in the evenings and on weekends.

Student parking is located on the upper campus about 300 yards from the waterfront. Air-dried lumber and larger boats are also stored on the upper campus in a 3,500 square-foot steel-framed fabric covered shelter.

The Port Hadlock Heritage Campus lies below a wooded bluff, above which is located the small commercial center of Port Hadlock. Here, students can purchase groceries, tools and supplies from local stores. There are a number of simple cafes, coffee shops and bars within walking distance of the campus.

Jefferson County Transit buses depart from the town center with routes to Port Townsend, other Olympic Peninsula towns, Seattle, and a variety of Puget Sound destinations. There is public transportation to and from the Seattle/Tacoma International Airport.