<p>Ed Steve uses a chisel and a carpenter's mallet to carve out dovetail joints on a sea chest at the Barbey Maritime Center for Research and Industry. Steve said he would give the chest to his grandson if it turned out OK.</p>

Bang, bang, whirl and grind the rhythm throbs through you from head to toe and rings in your ears. Nope, its not the latest music craze. This syncopated beat resonates from hammers, drills and chisels that make their own music as a full schedule of traditional maritime classes unfurl. It all takes place at the Columbia River Maritime Museums (CRMM) Barbey Maritime Center for Research and Industry, the renovated historic train depot in Astoria, fondly known as the depot.

The Barbey Maritime Center

The depot, built in 1925, operated in Astoria as a passenger and freight train station for the next 27 years. In 1952 it became a freight-only depot, and in 1987 the Spokane, Portland and Seattle (SP&S) Railway gave it to the museum. It sat lifeless, each year adding to its sad state of disrepair.

The Barbey family was building its own place in Astorias history in the early 1900s when Henry Barbey leased a cannery in Astoria. A short time later he expanded his territory by leasing a Warrenton site. In 1962, a small number of Astorians, including Henry Barbeys son, Graham Barbey, and his close friend, Rolf Kelp, founded CRMM.

Fast forward to 1989. There must have been star-dust in the air or at least saw-dust and a glimmer of something in CRMM director (and avid small boat builder) Sam Johnsons eye, when he visited a small group, led by Dave Green, that had gathered in one of the depots cold, damp warehouse-like rooms to build a replica gillnet boat. From then on, Johnson had a dream: restore the rundown depot with a focus on creating a hands-on center for maritime skills.

The Barbey family agreed with Johnson, getting behind the project with both its wholehearted energy and a healthy donation. Our familys involvement started when the plans for the depot restoration were getting underway, Helena Barbey Lankton said. According to Lankton, Johnsons enthusiasm and vision were contagious, and the project seemed like a wonderful way to support the community. As you can imagine, our whole family is incredibly excited about the Barbey Maritime Center and the benefits that will flow to the museum and the community for having such a beautiful, large, multi-use space, Lankton said.

Renovations began in 2011 and were completed in 2012 (six months ahead of schedule). The Barbey family and the old depot were once again united the CRMM board voted to name the depot after the family.

We know our Dad would have loved to see his name in big, bold, gold letters. It makes me smile every time I drive by, Lankton said. The list of classes being offered is just fantastic. I just wish I could spend more time in Astoria, as I too would love to sign up for several of them.

The classes

Dedicated to the preservation of traditional maritime skills, the classes and workshops at the Barbey Maritime Center got underway in early May and will continue through the fall. Classes include everything from beginning woodworking, knot tying and net making to wooden boat building, bronze casting and Northwest Native American crafts and skills. You can view the course schedule, class descriptions, experience levels and prices online at www.crmm.org/barbey-maritime-center. You can register online or by calling CRMM at 503-325-2323.

Many of the classes require only that you show up on time ready to learn. All equipment, materials and even lunch are part of the package unless otherwise noted. Classes run from one day to seven days, with most being two full 8-hour days. Cost for a two-day course runs anywhere from $290 to around $500, but classes are small, with no more than 10 students admitted per course.

The first class of the season was instructor Darrin Fiskums two-day Beginning Woodworking course. From 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. May 4 and 5, happy woodworkers or woodworker-wanna-bes gathered to build, or learn to build, a sea chest. No experience was required. Students learned dovetailing, joinery, gluing, clamping and to use boat builder and woodworker hand tools. Mike Soderberg, who attended the class, found dovetailing challenging but instructor Fiskums instruction excellent. Now he wants to learn all things connected with boat building and woodworking. I didnt know anything about the teacher before the class, but he was very good. I think the depot and its courses are going to be very popular, Soderberg said. The doors to the workshop were open and people out on the (Astoria) Riverwalk wandered in to see what was going on. There was always something going on. A couple of the lookers even paused to have a cup of coffee with us.

Misty OBrien has been messing around in boats most of her life, achieving the rank of quartermaster in Sea Explorers (which best translates to being an Eagle Scout on land). She is living proof that gender has nothing to do with skill. Happening by the first woodworking class at the Barbey Maritime Center, she found the class busy making wooden sea chests. It was just beautiful to see the tools and the skills at work and walk on the shavings that had fallen to the floor, she said. The building was so alive. OBrien is currently in the middle of teaching a Needle and Palm Work class, where students will make a canvas ditty bag, a small version of the seamans larger duffel, which can hold sewing tools and other items used in canvas, leather and rope work. Making them by hand teaches the skills needed to repair canvas or repair sails. You use the same stitching, but this way we practice on something non-vital, she said. The two-day class concludes Saturday, June 1, but OBrien will teach the same class in October.

There always seems to be something going on at the depot, even when a class isnt in session. Recently, Hampton Scudder, CRMM facilities manager, and Darren OBrien, CRMM facilities worker, were busy pounding nails, drilling and scooting around through sawdust. They were building a replacement ticket booth for the museums Lightship Columbia WLV-604, which is scheduled to reopen for tours this summer. The old one had been there for 30-plus years. It was time to replace it, Darren OBrien said. Both men looked happy to be a hands-on part of the project.

The Barbey Maritime Center has once again become a viable and valuable part of a community. And the beat goes on.