the lofting to create patterns in the wood that can be cut and put together with hand tools. Most boats, Mr. Castro says, take 300 to 500 hours to build. At the Wooden Boat Factory, the teenagers make three or four boats a year. The organization uses them in camps, in environmental programs, and—soon—in sailing competitions. Mr. Castro hadn’t originally thought about a career in boatbuilding. Although he enjoyed woodworking in high school, he went to college to become a mental health therapist. “Boats found me rather than I found boats,” he says. After college, he took a job in Camden, New Jersey, teaching children to build houses in an organization that also was teaching kids to build boats. That experience did it for him. “I fell in love” with it, he says. He soon enrolled in a traditional boatbuilding school in Maine. Building boats is challenging, Mr. Castro says: “It was hard to learn, and it is still hard.” Because it is difficult, he says, boatbuilding offers a lot of lessons for children. “Growing up is hard,” he says. “Figuring out who we are in our city and our neighborhood can be particularly hard.” Jesus Castro Learning you can go anywhere Jesus Castro can build almost anything, from furniture to houses. But boatbuilding is his passion. “Furniture and houses are challeng- ing and worthwhile to make,” he says. “But they lack a sense of voyage and adventure.” He says most people are excited around boats because they can take you somewhere. “Once you start learning that you can go somewhere,” Mr. Castro says, “you figure out you can go anywhere.” And you can do anything if you work hard and put your mind to it. He brings that message to his work at the Wooden Boat Factory, where he directs the youth boatbuilding program. Every weekday afternoon, he guides about 20 teenagers through the many steps of building a sailboat, canoe, kayak, or another type of wooden boat. They start by studying plans and creating a full-scale illustration of the boat called a “lofting,” marking what the exact length and other dimensions should be. Then they use 10