There has been the first fall of snow out in Newport, which has melted, but there will be more soon. It's heads down in IYRS. The first years are working on their Beetlecats, here is Ivor and Matts boat they built last year.
The Chris Craft, one of the second year restoration projects, is coming along and you can follow the progress on the IYRS blog at http://iyrs.org/EducationalPrograms/InsideIYRSBlog/tabid/552/Default.aspx
Newport is a long way from home, and although I found it very challenging to let my youngest son go to school so very far away, I was sure that IYRS would be crucial in his education. This has been borne out in his commitment and achievements in boatbuilding. He may have many GCSE's and three A levels, but he is finding his hidden talent - he has always wanted to build boats.
Each one of us have inate gifts - it's important to find out what they are. Our education system sometimes enables that discovery, and sometimes misses it by miles. If you are dyslexic, your talents will often be broad, but sometimes hidden. One teacher I encountered as our boys were growing up, was a specialist dyslexic tutor. His belief was that dyslexics are very bright, some are brilliant, they just think in a different way. He had a saying - Dyslexics Change the World. They have an inate ability to think outside the box.
When I was at school, my dyslexia was unnamed. I was regarded as average, and the word blindness made it terrifying for me. Eventually as I left I was told to marry well, and advised that my limited achievements meant I shouldn't go onto further education. Twenty years later, when computers were an essential tool in the dyslexics armoury, I was accepted at Theological College! I had married well, raised a family and then with so much behind me I had courage to step out.
Two years of training at the IYRS in Newport RI has finally come to fruition. Patience in abundance, hours of fun and loads of new skills have been honed. Today this pretty Lawley Tender has been blessed and launched. Ivor and his current workmate Beattie have put in four or five hundred hours from March to today. 
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