BOATHOUSE 4 EXHIBITION

After a major refurbishment, Boathouse 4 is now home to the International Boatbuilding
College Portsmouth and Solent Marine Academy; two colleges who are training a new generation of students in the techniques of traditional boatbuilding and other related skills that are still very much required today to build and conserve wooden boats.

Built within this magnificent historical building, overlooking the boat building college is an opportunity for visitors to come and discover the fascinating world of small boats which were the backbone of the Royal Navy. Ships such as HMS Victory, HMS Warrior and The Mary Rose that you can see today on the Historic Dockyard, would not have received the success they did had it not have been for the small craft ferrying their food supplies and troops from the docks.

This exciting new exhibition tells the story of small craft from wooden cutters that ferried Lord Nelson to and from his flagship, to powerful motorboats that helped to win WW1. The exhibition features a range of innovative interactive exhibits which bring these small craft to life! You can take a seat in our activity boat and see if you can row in time with the other sailors. Test your strength on
‘lift yourself’ and learn about how different weight distributions can make lifting even the heaviest of boats the easiest of tasks for man. Enter our boat theatre and learn the heroic exploits of the Coastal Forces and daring missions of the WW2 motor boats. For those visitors feeling extra courageous, you can put your wits to the test by scaling our amazing ‘Mast & Rigging’ experience to see if you got what it takes to make it to the top of the crow’s nest! (small extra fee applies)

A mezzanine floor area, overlooking the college trainees busy at work, offers the opportunity for visitors of all ages to explore the UK’s largest collection of small Royal Naval craft and find out about their role at the sharp end of naval operations. The unique exhibition space offers a mix of hands on interactive displays, such as testing your rowing skills in our homebuilt boat.

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See and Do

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