Contact:
Skip Burdon at ABYC
(410)
990-4460, x25
sburdon@abycinc.org
Contact:
Caryn Vinson at The Boat School
(207)
853-2518
vinsonc@husson.edu

Westlawn Institute Moves
to Eastport, Maine!
Design School and Boatbuilding School Move Closer
January 25, 2010,
Annapolis, MD and Eastport, ME:
The Westlawn Institute of Marine Technology
and The Boat School are
pleased to announce that Westlawn Institute has moved its office to a new
location in The Boat School, on Deep Cove Road, in Eastport, Maine. The new
Westlawn Institute address is:
Westlawn Institute of Marine
Technology
16 Deep Cove Rd.
Eastport, ME 04631
Tel: 207-853-6600
Fax: 207-853-6605
Email: info@westlawn.edu
Web: www.westlawn.edu
Westlawn
Institute is looking forward to exciting new opportunities created by this
move, including working closely with The Boat School, which specializes in
teaching boatbuilding, and which is the oldest school of boatbuilding in the
United States. The Boat School is an affiliate of Husson University.
An amazing
number of connections made this move to Eastport, Maine almost inevitable:
Westlawn’s
parent company is The American Boat &
Yacht Council (ABYC). ABYC created the Marine League of Schools to improve
marine education, and The Boat School has just become a member of The Marine
League of Schools. ABYC is also a training partner in Maine’s North Star Alliance. The
director of the boat school, Bob Turcotte, is a Westlawn Institute alumnus.
And, The Boat School is the only school, other than Westlawn, to use the Yacht
Design Institute (YDI) curriculum as part of its program. The Maine-based YDI
was created by Westlawn alumnus Ted Brewer and Maine resident Bob Wallstrom, to
teach boat design via distance learning. Westlawn Institute acquired YDI in
2007 both to support YDI alumni and to further enhance Westlawn’s curriculum.
Westlawn Institute’s move onto The Boat School campus brings this all full
circle. (Click
Here to read more about YDI and Westlawn Institute.)

Faculty and staff in The Boat School
front office. From left to right: Brian Moore, Boat School instructor, Caryn
Vinson, Boat School office manager, Bob Turcotte, Boat School director, Dave
Gerr, Westlawn director, Brian Duffy, Boat School instructor, Pete Hilyard,
Boat School Instructor.
Even a bit
of history links Westlawn and ABYC with Eastport, Maine. ABYC is located in the
Eastport section of Annapolis, Maryland. According to Eastport, Maine city
manager George “Bud” Finch:
“Eastport, Maryland was named by Charles J. Murphy,
(c.1839-1898) and after his home town and place of birth, Eastport, Maine.
Charles served in the U.S. Navy for 40 years and retired as a Boatswain. Murphy
is credited with building "Murphy's Row," a row of attached brick
houses off First Street, supposedly used to house glass factory workers.
(Although old timers in Eastport remember the workers boarding in other houses
and paying with glass.) Murphy's Row is now Jeremy's Way.
One of the principal incorporators of the Annapolis Glass
Company was Charles J. Murphy who formed the company to make china, glass, and
pottery. It was located in the block between Severn Avenue and the water
between present Second and Third streets. The Annapolis Glass Works later
became the Severn Glass Company operating until 1902.”

Westlawn director, Dave Gerr, giving a
seminar at The Boat School
Dave Gerr,
director of Westlawn Institute, commented that, “All the connections between
Westlawn, The Boat School and Eastport, Maine are remarkable. We’re looking
forward to working in The Boat School buildings and to developing future
programs with Husson University and The Boat School. These connections will
further enhance the learning process and offer even better service to the
boating industry.”
Boat
School director, Bob Turcotte, said, “Bringing Westlawn Institute into The Boat
School campus in Eastport, Maine and working closely together will further
strengthen our curriculum and our training capabilities. We’re enthusiastic
about welcoming Westlawn Institute to our campus.”
Maintaining the Mystic Seaport Connection
“The incredible resources and the extraordinary staff at
Mystic Seaport (Westlawn’s former location) are simply too valuable to loose,”
noted Westlawn Institute director Dave Gerr. “Though our Mystic school office
is closed we are maintaining the ABYC/Westlawn Research Center at Mystic
Seaport. This will continue Westlawn and ABYC’s close affiliation with the
Seaport, which is absolutely invaluable to Westlawn Institute and to ABYC.”
Founded in
1930, the Westlawn Institute of Marine
Technology is the only nationally accredited distance-learning school of
small-craft design in the United States. As the not-for-profit educational
affiliate of the American Boat and Yacht Council,
the mission of the Westlawn Institute of Marine Technology is threefold:
■ To provide our students with
the skills and knowledge required to build a rewarding career in the profession
of yacht and small-craft naval architecture.
■ To support continued growth of
the recreational and small-craft marine community through the development of
well-trained, safety-oriented, boat designers developing better products for
the benefit of the boating public.
■ To provide continuing
education to marine-industry professionals.
To learn
more about Westlawn, please call (207) 853-6600 or visit the Westlawn website
at: www.westlawn.edu.