News
10/11/11The Guillemot design is named Lach a'Bhlair
The Iain Oughtred designed Guillemot has been completed and was successfully launched in Plockton in…
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18/2/11
First stage of construction finished
The team have been working hard on the keel, hog, apron and sternpost of the…
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21/1/11
Learning and Teaching Scotland film Am Bata for entrepreneurial learning website
The boatbuilders and staff were filmed yesterday, 20th January by Alsion Mitchell and a film…
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Welcome to Am Bàta!
Welcome to the website of Am Bàta, the exciting traditional boat building project set up in Plockton in Ross-shire in North West Scotland, to celebrate Highland 2007. The project is teaching traditional boat building skills to young people at Plockton High School and to members of the community in evening classes and is now in its third year. The project is nearing the end of its initial 3 years of funding, so we're now actively looking for new sources of funding to continue developing Am Bata into the future. We are planning to setup as a company limited by guarantee, and held a public meeting on Thursday 18th February to set up a group to take these plans forward. Watch the News section for regular updates on our progress with this.
In this site you will find a wealth of information about the traditional boats of the area - how they are built, how they were used in the past and how they continue to be used by the Plockton Small Boat Sailing Club. Have a look at the webcam in the boatshed, photographs covering the construction techniques and events and an online museum about the heritage surrounding traditional boats of the area. As the project progresses, this will be added to and include photographs, archives, audio clips and oral tradition about boats and boat use.
Come back often and have a look at the latest developments.
Become a friend of Am Bàta and help support traditional boat building.
Featured news article: Superb repair to Seonag
Seonag, one of the regulars in the Local Boat races at the PSBSC, has come in for some repairs including a new plank. Her owner, Kenneth MacKay, requested that the plank be in one piece, like the original so that Seonag would still not have any scarf joints. This year’s new team of 6 have made a great job of this task. The team have also nearly completed work on a boat that used to belong to Sorley Maclean, the famous Gaelic…
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Featured news article: Restored Rana dinghy for sale
The Rana dinghy that was generously donated to Am Bata by Evander MacRae has been restored by the boatbuilding students and is now for sale. The classic dinghy would make an ideal tender for a classic yacht, or for inland water use.
Offers in the region of £950 are invited.
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