How to build a wooden boat with students
Choosing a design such as Bevin’s Skiff, materials, tools, safety and the steps to build a rowing boat with a class.
- Length
- 3,85 m
- Beam
- 1,15 m
- Crew
- 4 kids
- Propulsion
- 1 pair of oars
- Source
- La Nación, 30 May 2023
Bote al Agua: wooden boat building workshops for kids in Tigre, Argentina
Logbook entries
- Year we set sail2018TEDx Tigre 2022 · La Troncal
- Kids on board+100La Nación · 30 May 2023
- Boats built~20La Nación · 30 May 2023
- Classes per boat9–12La Nación 2023 · P. Enquin 2023
Chapter 01
The workshop
A shed in Tigre · near the San Fernando canal
Bote al Agua (“Boat in the Water”) is a non-profit founded in 2018 by Daniel Helft, a journalist and communicator whose love of the Delta and of rowing led him to train in wooden boat building and to share it with school-age kids. Tigre is a river town about 30 km north of Buenos Aires, at the gateway to the Paraná Delta, a maze of rivers and islands.
We work with Project-Based Learning (PBL): kids step out of the traditional teacher–student relationship and take ownership of a project they care about. What they learn in the workshop reinforces what they learn at school.
The project also keeps a fading craft alive: traditional wooden boat building, the know-how the Delta's riverside rowing clubs once relied on to build and maintain their wooden boats.
“Cuando los chicos se sienten protagonistas del proyecto incorporan conocimientos más rápido.” (“When kids feel the project is theirs, they learn faster.” — our translation)
- Hands-on maths measuring, angles, symmetry, geometry and trigonometry
- Physics buoyancy and Archimedes' principle
- Hand tools saw, plane, chisels, hammer, glues
- Planning setting goals and reaching them
- Teamwork nobody builds a boat alone
- Caring for the river responsible use of wood and respect for nature
Chapter 02
From plank to river
Groups of about 12 kids, one two-hour session a week, 9 to 12 sessions: roughly three months from the first cut to the launch.
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Step 01 / 06 · Boatyard
The scale model
The first task is a miniature boat loaded with screws and coins. The load weighs far more than the boat, yet it floats: that is how Archimedes' principle is explained.
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Step 02 / 06 · Boatyard
Measure and mark out
Measuring, angles, symmetry and a little trigonometry: every piece has to sit perpendicular or parallel to the next.
Photo: Bote al Agua -
Step 03 / 06 · Boatyard
Build the hull
The kit of pre-cut parts is assembled: gluing, nailing, screwing and sawing. Power tools stay in the hands of the instructors.
Photo: Bote al Agua -
Step 04 / 06 · Boatyard
Plane and sand
With hand planes, chisels and sandpaper, always with protective gear. Caring for the wood is part of the lesson.
Photo: Bote al Agua -
Step 05 / 06 · Boatyard
Paint and a name
Seats, oarlocks and paint. Finally, the group votes on the boat's name.
Photo: Bote al Agua -
Step 06 / 06 · River
Boat in the water!
Launch day: the boat goes into the river and the group rows it, with families invited to celebrate. For many kids it is their first time rowing.
Photo: Bote al Agua
Chapter 03
The fleet
Boat register
| Nº | Name | Entry |
|---|---|---|
| 001 | La Clota | The workshop's first boat. |
| — | Ruperta | A bigger boat with an engine; it has sailed the Delta since 2020. |
| — | Fideo Alegría | Named by the kids of Los Biguaes school, on the Carapachay river. |
Many of the workshop's boats have been sold or exchanged for donations, helping to fund future workshops. One, built by students of Colegio Michael Ham, was donated to the municipal rowing school of Vicente López.
Sources: P. Enquin 26 Feb 2023 · La Nación 30 May 2023 · InfoBAN 25 Nov 2021
Chapter 04
Course
Route 2018 → 2026
- 2018
Setting sail
Daniel Helft founds the non-profit, inspired by organisations that have taught with boats for over 20 years in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom.
- Feb 2019
First boats from the Nueva Esperanza neighbourhood
The Tigre municipal government joins the presentation of two boats built by local kids; the national newspaper La Nación reports on how algebra is taught in the workshop.
- Aug 2019
On educational TV
Argentina's public children's channel Pakapaka devotes an episode of “Paka Data” to the workshop.
- 2021
Eight workshops and a new partner
Some 70 kids from Nueva Esperanza have been through the workshop. Fourth-year students of Colegio Michael Ham build their boat as part of Vicente López's STEAM network.
- Dec 2022
Río de la Plata and TEDx
Students from Colegio Michael Ham and the technical school EEST Nº 3 row their boat off the Vicente López shore of the Río de la Plata. Daniel Helft speaks at TEDx Tigre.
- 2023
Delta schools and over 100 kids
Los Biguaes, a school on the Carapachay river, builds its boat. La Nación counts more than 100 kids and about 20 boats in four years.
- 2024
On Telenoche
The eltrece TV news programme features the non-profit and how it reinforces school learning.
- 2026
New sessions
Sessions with 6th-grade kids from Escuela Municipal Malvinas Argentinas.
Chapter 05
Ports of call
Schools and communities
- TGS
Barrio Nueva Esperanza, Tigre Sur
Kids from the neighbourhood next to the workshop, and third-year groups from a nearby public school as part of their curriculum.
- CRP
Los Biguaes school, Carapachay river
A self-managed school in the Delta: pupils finishing primary school built their own boat.
- VLP
Colegio Michael Ham and EEST Nº 3
Projects with secondary students in Vicente López, launched on the Río de la Plata.
- MLV
Escuela Municipal Malvinas Argentinas
Sessions with 6th-grade kids.
- UB
Universidad de Belgrano
“The Boat Building Workshop”: an intensive course for university students in a Tigre Delta woodshop, together with Bote al Agua.
Chapter 06
Postcards
Chapter 07
Press clippings
Selection · 14 entries in total, 2019 → 2024 · headlines in the original Spanish
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La Nación · Article
Pequeños carpinteros: chicos de Tigre construyen un bote para entender el principio de Arquímedes (opens in a new tab)
Over 100 kids and about 20 boats in four years: the workshop that also keeps traditional boat building alive.
Photo: Bote al Agua -
TEDxTigre (TED.com) · Talk
Aprender haciendo (opens in a new tab)
Daniel Helft's TEDxTigre talk (December 2022, “Learning by doing”) on project-based learning, with boat building as the starting point.
Photo: Bote al Agua -
Crónicas de Buenos Aires (Philippe Enquin) · Chronicle
Bote al agua (opens in a new tab)
A visit to the workshop with the kids of Los Biguaes, a Delta school, and the story of the boats La Clota, Ruperta and Fideo Alegría.
Photo: Bote al Agua -
PRESENTE RSE · Interview
Bote al Agua: educar para construir (opens in a new tab)
Daniel Helft explains how the non-profit began, what a class looks like, and the dream of replicating the model anywhere in Argentina near water.
Photo: Bote al Agua -
La Nación · Article
A través de un taller de construcción de botes, enseña álgebra y trigonometría a chicos en Tigre (opens in a new tab)
The first neighbourhood groups, in a shed in Tigre Sur: free workshops where algebra is used to check that every piece is parallel or perpendicular.
Photo: Bote al Agua
Ship's log
News (in Spanish)
Latest from the workshop
We post news in Spanish. Read the latest from the workshop on our News (in Spanish) page, or follow us on Instagram and Facebook.
Logbook notes
Guides
What we have learned, with sources
Project-based learning through boat building
The seven elements of PBL applied to a boat workshop, what the research says and how to start at your school.
Visiting Tigre and the Paraná Delta
How to get there from Buenos Aires, what to do in the Paraná Delta and how to row or kayak safely.
River safety for kids
Life jackets, adults on board, staying near the shore and what to do if you capsize, from official Argentine guidance.
Chapter 08
There's room in the boat
Three ways to come aboard
- A
Schools
Public and private schools have already built their boat with us. Would you like your class to be next? Tell us about your school.
Workshops for schools - B
Donations and companies
The workshops are funded by donations, boat sales and courses for private schools. Your support helps more kids reach the water.
Support us - C
Buy a boat
Every boat built in the workshop is a real rowing boat, tested on the river. Its sale funds the next workshops.
Buy a boat
Are you an adult who wants to build your own boat? See the wooden boat building course for adults.
Frequently asked questions
Who can take part?
School-age kids. We work with neighbourhoods in Tigre, with public schools and with private schools.
Do kids need woodworking experience?
No. In the workshop they learn to use saws, planes, measuring tools, chisels, hammers and glues. Power tools are used by the instructors.
How long is a workshop?
Between 9 and 12 two-hour sessions, one a week: about three months from the first cut to the launch.
How can my school join?
Message us on Instagram or Facebook with your school, the year group and the number of students, and we'll plan the workshop together.
Chapter 09
Signals
Contact
For schools, donors, press or anyone who wants to get involved, the fastest way to reach us is a direct message on social media.
- @botealagua on Instagram (opens in a new tab)
- BoteAlAguaARGENTINA on Facebook (opens in a new tab)
- A shed in Tigre, near the San Fernando canal, Buenos Aires province, Argentina