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The Wooden Boat Centre, (formerly known as The Shipwrights Point School of Wooden Boat Building) is a community-owned, not-for-profit organization that teaches wooden boatbuilding. It was established in 1991 by John and Ruth Young and is located in, a town to the south of , Tasmania, Australia.

Description
Shipwright's Point School of Wooden Boatbuilding began in August 1991, as a business partnership between John and Ruth Young at the boatshed and slipway formerly owned by Athol Walter at Shipwright's Point. At that time there were very few wooden boat builders offering apprenticeships, with the likely outcome that traditional wooden boatbuilding would not continue as a skill into the next generation. The original intention behind the School was to keep those skills alive by hiring existing boat builders to teach short courses in aspects of the trade, with the ultimate aim of devising an accredited course in wooden boatbuilding for professional boat builders.

Athol Walter built about 50 boats in the shed and it was hard for him to leave it, so he turned up every few days and so did all his old mates from Port Huon and his family, who came because they always used to and nothing much changed there, except everyone stayed longer because of the newly installed wood heater. There was a happy atmosphere. Many Port Huon people helped with information, introductions, conflicting advice and physical labour, helping to repair the slipways.

The School advertised a programme of short courses early in 1992, including a "Build Your own Clinker Dinghy" course, with Adrian Dean as the teacher. As the Shipwright's Point shed was being used for a Skillshare course in clinker dinghy building, the School rented part of the Port Huon Wharf shed, owned by the Marine Board of Hobart, for the "Build Your Own" course. It was a freezing place. The only warm thing there was someone's dog, who was the subject of endless and inexplicable (to him) hugs and cuddles. The six boats built at the wharf shed were later launched together in Franklin, behind what is now Petty Sessions restaurant, at a joyful mini wooden boat Festival which included rowing, sailing and swimming races.

By the middle of 1993, after several attempts, it became clear that expansion of the School at Shipwright's Point was impossible. Part of Athol's shed had been built on his freehold land, part on a Crown lease and most of the back corner was nestled on land belonging to the neighbour, Don Fairless. The space around the shed was territory whose ownership was a matter of dispute between the Shipwright's Point Regatta Association and Esperance Council. If a professional course was to be offered, the School needed additional and larger facilities. In Franklin on the other hand, Crown Land was available for lease on the western side of the Huon River, south of Price's Creek, formerly the site of Peacock's jam factory.

The School leased this land and purchased a large wooden shed, the welding shed at the Hydro town of Tarraleah. The shed was carefully dismantled at Tarraleah by a 21-year old and transported in sections to Franklin. While this shed was being re-erected, short courses continued at Shipwright's Point and a Diploma in Wooden Boatbuilding course was devised. The course was finally accredited nationally after a year of writing, discussions, revisions and consultation with wooden boat builders and the Tasmanian education authorities. One copy of the hand-signed curriculum was available for public perusal the day before the School's big chance to recruit students for the first Australian Diploma in Wooden Boatbuilding, at the first Australian Wooden Boat Festival, held in Hobart in November 1994.

The 1995-6 Diploma course began in Franklin with a group of eight very different students, one of whom was American, which involved a whole new and panic stricken process of applying to the Federal Government for registration as a provider of education to overseas students. Franklin people were very supportive of the School and gradually began to join in the BBQs the students insisted on having every Friday night. The Shipwright's Point shed and particularly the slipway, enabled the School to provide Diploma students with an array of repair work on boats of different sizes and continued in use for recreational courses. Students built five boats during the course, learning boat design, clinker, carvel and hard chine construction in the process. Their final project, the 30 footer Lady Franklin, designed by New Zealander H.E. Cox, was launched by crane from Franklin wharf behind the Evaporators at the end of 1996. In spite of the fact that Peter Laidlaw played his bagpipes (he hadn't played for a while), the launch attracted hundreds of people from the Huon Valley and elsewhere.

Although the School rarely advertised, it was inundated with visitors from all over the world, many of who spread the word by mouth. Many photographers and journalists began to take an interest and write articles about their visits to the School in an array of magazines. When applications opened for the 1997-8 Diploma course, there were far too many to interview, let alone accept. Nine students from WA, SA, Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, Tasmania and Japan began their course in February 1997. By 1999, two women were accepted as students and there were more than a hundred people on a waiting list for the next course. The tourism potential of the School was immense, but difficult to manage whilst students were working towards a professional qualification. A mezzanine floor was added, with an external stairway, so that visitors could view the work as it happened from above, rather than in amongst the students.

Several of the graduates of the School are still working as wooden boat builders more than 20 years later. The School's students were all brave and adventurous people, who put their faith, their money and two years of their lives into what was an experimental venture. In some cases, they and their partners gave up jobs and they were uprooted to live in a small town with few facilities and a low standard of accommodation. In some cases, the students were separated from their families for long periods. Their course of study was physically and mentally arduous. But they all made the best of their circumstances. Many joined Franklin's clubs and associations and worked for Franklin businesses in their holidays. Some of their partners with young children re-started the Franklin Playgroup in the old Courthouse. They injected new life into the town of Franklin, with all its quirks and foibles, contributing as much as they had of skill, community spirit and friendship and Franklin people reciprocated with great kindness.

The School was sold to Southern Tasmania Employment and Training Solutions (STEPS) at the end of 2000. In 2010 it was sold to Andy Gamlin, a co-founder of the Australian Wooden Boat Festival. The centre delivered recreational boatbuilding and a shipwright courses and was re-named the Wooden Boat Centre Tasmania. In 2014 the accrediation was not renewed and the wooden boat centre was sold again to a new organisation, Franklin Working Waterfront Association Inc in October 2014. the Wooden Boat Centre. The centre has been community-owned and operated ever since.