After finishing building the vessel all that remained was the installation of the portable 40 horsepower tiller engine, and the boat was ready to be launched on the final day of class.
“Morale was high that day”, Adam recalled. The final day of class consisted of transporting the newly finished boat down the street where it would be launched into Bogue Sound. After that, the class would together take a celebratory ride to commemorate the abundance of hard work put in over the duration of the schoolyear. Despite challenges the class faced along the way, the finished vessel turned out to be fully functional and something everyone was proud of. As planned, a student from the class had first dibs to purchase the vessel at cost of materials, which would ultimately go back into the program to be used for the next semester. This would mark the first time in program’s history a boat was built in the program and sold.
When asked his final thoughts on the semester, Adam had this quote come to mind.
“If you want to build a boat, do not instruct the men to saw wood, stitch the sails, prepare the tools and organize the work, but make them long for setting sail and travel to distant lands.”
-Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
“I don’t want to hand them the blueprints” he said, “I want to give them the passion”. To Adam, that’s the difference between a laborer and a craftsman. Adam made a point to instill this way of thinking into his students, and many are already reaping the benefits. Some are landing jobs in local boatyards, others being promoted in their current jobs, and many coming back to take other classes offered by the college. As for Adam, he looks forward to teaching this summer as well as coming back in the fall and hopes to stay with the college for a long time.