Craft Boaters' Workshops

The east London-based narrowboat empowering boaters through skill-sharing workshops

Raph (left) and Adam – founders of Craft.

Launched just last August, Craft offers workshops aboard a narrowboat on the Lower Lea in London, designed to promote a sense of community as well as self-reliance. Run by Adam Termote and Raphael Haque, the young organisation aims to bring boaters and others together to learn from one another in an inclusive environment. Self-funded and reliant on donations, it’s proved popular, with waiting lists for some workshops, and Raph and Adam have ambitions to bring the concept to bigger audiences in the future.

Background

The idea for Craft came out of Adam’s experience renovating and working on boats over the last five years. “I don’t have an engineering background at all, so for me working on boats was a way of trying to learn more practical skills – skills that I could directly see the benefit of in the world around me,” says Adam. “Accessing and understanding skills around boats was quite hard and messy – chatting with people often ended up with them telling you one way of doing things, which can be very confusing if it conflicts with what someone else says.” Battling through the noise, Adam discovered that he eventually felt competent working on boats, not because he knew exactly how to do everything but that he approached each task in a problem-solving way. “That in itself is a really important skill and once you develop that way of thinking, you have the basis for being able to do anything else,” he explains. “It also makes you a lot more resilient and self-sufficient. For me it was very empowering.”

Now a BSS examiner, Adam felt that this sense of empowerment would be of benefit to others, especially in the capital where many liveaboards are new to boating. “A lot of people living on boats in London are doing so because it’s a form of affordable housing, and they don’t necessarily relate to what their boat is: a machine. But by not ignoring the mechanics, they can make sure that their boat is a comfortable home that stays that way.”

Boater Bonnie led beginner and intermediate electrics sessions.

Creating Craft

Adam’s current boat was bought with the idea of Craft in mind. At 60ft long, half of the narrowboat has been sectioned off to create a space into which he can invite people that’s separate from his living accommodation. “I actually purchased the boat several years ago, stripped out the bow end and started turning it into a workshop. Near the end of that process, I got in touch with Raph, who I’ve known for a while, and we decided to join up and launch Craft together.”

Raph’s background is in architecture, a closely related subject to engineering, and he also lives on a narrowboat. “My view of architecture is that it’s about bringing people together and making spaces that work for people,” he explains. “I’ve always wanted to be involved in an engagement project like this that actually has meaning – Craft is very much engaged with the people who want to use the space.

“When Adam told me he was converting his home into a workshop, it seemed like a genuinely important thing to do, and the success that we’ve had so far shows that there is a need for it, which is really quite beautiful.”

 

This is an extract of a feature that appears in the On The Cut section of the February 2025 issue of Waterways World, click here to read the full article. 

Find out more about Craft and book onto an upcoming workshop at craftworkshop.uk.