Our Team
Isabella Feracci
Executive Director
Bella grew up in Vermont, lived in New York City where she studied and worked in urban planning, and then found her way to the Apprenticeshop because of a deep craving to learn to work with her hands and build things. On the advice that “if you learn to build a boat, you can build anything,” she took a leap into the unknown and enrolled in the two-year apprenticeship. She quickly became captivated by the process of coordinating her physical effort with complex visualized intentions to manifest beautiful and functional objects. After a decade of building and teaching how to build, Bella is honored to be entrusted with leadership of the organization that taught her how risk and perseverance can transform.
Kevin Carney
Boatbuilder/Instructor
Kevin first discovered boats during college by spending summer weekends racing log canoes on the Chesapeake Bay. After graduating from Virginia Tech with a degree in design, he discovered The Apprenticeshop and decided to do an internship at the ‘Shop, which was located in Bath at that time. Taken by the experiential teaching style, the craftsmanship, and the sense of community at the ‘Shop, Kevin remained there for the next year and a half as an apprentice. In between his apprenticeship and his return to the shop in 1989 as an instructor, Kevin spent time oystering on Skipjacks in the Chesapeake and working as a professional boatbuilder in Boothbay. Over the last 30 years, he has seen more than 200 boats launched and has shepherded countless apprentices, intensive students, and volunteers through the process of building a boat.
Matt Dirr
Boatbuilder/Instructor
Matt has always enjoyed making things. He briefly studied art, architecture, and welding, before arriving at The Apprenticeshop with a desire to bend wood. It was overlooking Rockland Harbor that he discovered a love of the sea and the community surrounding wooden boatbuilding. After graduating from The Apprenticeshop in 2013, he has worked with wood in many forms, from boatbuilding to timberframing. Along the way, teaching became an increasing focus and he has been fortunate to find opportunities to share his knowledge as a boatbuilding instructor. After working as an instructor for The Ilen Project in Ireland, Albaola in The Basque Country, and The Carpenter's Boatshop in Pemaquid, Maine, he is happy to return to The Apprenticeshop to continue sharing, making boats, and building community.
Jenny Gold
Boatbuilder/Instructor
Jenny grew up exploring the mountains and rivers of western Massachusetts, where she developed a love for working with her hands. Her passion for craftsmanship began as an apprentice to a fine furnituremaker and deepened when she built her own kayak in high school. That experience led her to the Apprenticeshop, where she completed a two-year boatbuilding apprenticeship. Today, Jenny shares her skills and enthusiasm as an instructor in boatbuilding and seamanship for local youth. When she’s not in the shop, she’s exploring the woods of midcoast Maine or on the water sailing and rowing. Jenny is also a volunteer at the Owls Head Transportation Museum, where she is learning to maintain and fly vintage airplanes, and is a driver and navigator for the museum’s Great Race team.
KC Heyniger
Community Waterfront Director
KC Heyniger brings an extensive background in teaching youth and adult sailing, knowledge and experience with traditional and modern sailboats, ocean voyaging, boat maintenance, and boatyard operations. A University of Wisconsin-Madison alumnus with an undergraduate and master’s degrees in science writing, Heyniger has combined academic training, teaching skills, practical experience, and a love of learning all things nautical throughout his life. His endeavors include teaching zoology at the University of Wisconsin, sailing instruction at UW’s 1,200 member Hoofer Sailing Club, writing for the Wisconsin State Journal and UW Agricultural Press Service, and accruing 60,000 miles of ocean sailing in the Atlantic and Pacific. Locally, KC has worked for Prock Marine Construction in Rockland, the WindowDressers organization making energy-saving window inserts, and as a Behavioral Health Professional/Ed Tech with Atlantic Academy in Camden. From 2001-13, he helped the Apprenticeshop grow and diversify its sailing and waterfront operations.
Caitlin Sackville
Program Director
Caitlin grew up on the coast of Southern Maine. She first tried sailing in middle school, but found it to be scary, uncomfortable and difficult. While studying art history and journalism in college, she tried sailing again, racing dinghies in the summer with friends among the Casco Bay islands in Portland. Before joining The Apprenticeshop, she crewed on charter boats, worked in boatyards and ran a floral design business. Caitlin loves her role at The Apprenticeshop; developing programs that provide people of all ages opportunities to connect with wooden boats on and off the water.
Liz Sullivan
Administration & Developlment
Liz grew up in Connecticut and moved to New York City after studying art history in college. While in New York, she worked for Sotheby’s Auction House until she started to tire of the bustle of the city. Having spent vacation time in the summers on Lake St. George, Maine seemed to be calling her. First landing in Portland, Liz worked in retail and fell in love with the quality of life Maine had to offer. After meeting her husband, they decided to move to the midcoast area. As a part of The Apprenticeshop, she gets to participate in a close-knit community and continue learning. She is in her “happy place.”
João Strout-Bentes
Boatbuilder/Instructor and Break The Anchor Project Leader
João grew up in Setúbal, Portugal and studied and practiced architecture before finding out about the Apprenticeshop while volunteering at Albaola in the Basque Country, Spain. He completed a two year apprenticeship and later went on to work as the Shop Manager at the Wooden Boat School in Brooklin, Maine. He returned to the Apprenticeshop to engage school-aged students in boatbuilding and seamanship, developing a youth program around the build of a Portuguese Sailing Sardine Carrier.
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Steve Anderson, Chair
Steve’s family has been in MidCoast Maine for generations. He joined the Coast Guard after high school and made a career in banking for over 30 years. Steve’s current focus is in investment real estate at a community bank in Massachusetts. He splits his time between central Massachusetts and Owls Head, where he and his wife plan to retire. Steve is passionate about serving the Apprenticeshop because of the positive effect it had on his own son as an apprentice over a decade ago.
Julia Carleton, Secretary
Julia grew up spending summers in Camden, where she developed a love of the ocean & sailing. After earning a B.S. in Electrical Engineering she did a 3 year stint as an engineer before realizing she needed to spend more time on the water. She left the office and spent the next decade and a half leading sailing expeditions and semesters at sea on traditional boats for organizations such as Hurricane Island Outward Bound School and Ocean Classroom Foundation. She also spent seven seasons working with the US Antarctica Program as a marine technician. Currently, Julia is Operations Manager and Partner at OceanPlanet Energy, a marine energy systems consulting firm, and is pursuing a Master of Science in Project Management.
Whitney Files, Treasurer
Whitney is a passionate advocate for building inclusive communities and creating programs that support children and families, ensuring all young people have access to enriching opportunities that help them thrive. Since 2022, she has served as the Chief Executive Officer of the Penobscot Bay YMCA, with branches in Rockport and Rockland. Previously, she was the Chief Operating Officer of Homeworthy (formerly the Knox County Homeless Coalition) in Rockport. Before moving to the Midcoast, Whitney was the COO of Harlem Grown, a youth development organization in New York City focused on urban farming and hands-on education. She spent her childhood visiting her grandfather in Thomaston and Tenants Harbor and sailing with her father throughout Penobscot Bay. Whitney holds an MBA from Bard College, earned her B.A. from New York University, and served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Mali.
Frank Blair
Frank served in the U.S. Navy for five years as a fighter pilot flying single-seat fighters off of carriers in the Mediterranean and the Western Pacific, receiving five Air Medals for low-level reconnaissance over North Vietnam. Flying skills honed sailing skills: radio, navigation, meteorology and appreciation for Bernoulli's Principle. His love of sailing began in childhood and he worked Hurricane Island Outward Bound School for 20 years teaching seamanship. He became a Shellback en route to Australia from Vietnam and has served as a stand-in for Neptune twice since. Frank is the author of The Schooner Maggie B: A Southern Ocean Circumnavigation. He lives in Maine and on his new schooner, Farfarer.
David Cockey
David’s interest in traditional boats and boatbuilding began as a teenager in Maryland. Influences include books by Howard Chapelle, the columns in National Fisherman by John Gardner, and later the writings of Lance Lee. David has degrees in mechanical engineering, naval architecture, and aerospace engineering. Following a career in automotive research and engineering, David and his wife moved to Rockport several years ago. His current activities focus around boat design and documenting historic boats. Other interests include boating on Penobscot Bay, woodworking, photography, travel and history.
Robert Johnston
Robert made his first sailing cruise to the MidCoast from New York in 1981, where he discovered beautiful “Good Wooden Boats” on the Camden docks. He returned every year after, cruising the Maine Coast from York Harbor to the St. John River, admiring Maine wooden boats wherever he found them, then retired from the United Nations in 2005 and bought a house in Rockland and a racing sailboat, so he could try his hand at racing. He now divides his time with his partner between Rockland and Long Island City, NY.
Silas Rogers
Silas attended the Apprenticeshop after high school, and continues on to work in and around boats in the Midcoast Maine area after completing the two year boatbuilding program. He now lives in Rockland and earns a living as an independent marine contractor and USCG licensed captain, offering a broad spectrum of boatwork solutions. He has worked in all corners of Penobscot Bay, including at Island Transporter, Equinox Island Transit, Penobscot Bay and River Pilots Association, and Hurricane Island Center for Science and Leadership. Silas is passionate about the power of hands-on learning and experiential education on the water, especially in small boats.
Leigh Williams
With an entrepreneurial spirit with no shortage of ideas, Leigh is always dreaming up creative ventures while striving to enjoy the simple beauty offered in every moment. She loves learning and being outdoors, building and creating things that brings joy to others alongside like-minded mentors and community. As a recent graduate of our 12-week Apprenticeship program, she has this to say about her experience: “My time at the ‘Shop taught me patience and that I can do anything. It taught me to slow down and appreciate the process and that by thoughtfully adding elements you can achieve incredible things.”