ABOUT ACORN TO ARABELLA
“If people aren’t laughing at your goals, your goals are too small.”
Since 2016, Stephen Denette has been building a 38’ wooden sailboat from scratch, sourcing the lumber from trees that his great, great grandfather planted on their family’s property generations ago.
The boat, which will be named Arabella, will be a William Atkin design from 1934, the Ingrid.
Once launched, Arabella will sail to the furthest-flung corners of the world.
The process of building Arabella has been documented in a series of weekly videos, published every Friday on YouTube. The project gained popularity quickly, and—in no time—Acorn to Arabella had nearly 200,000 YouTube subscribers…and counting!
Arabella is expected to launch in 2023.
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Granby, MA - Acorn to Arabella announced today that their popular YouTube channel has been presented with a silver Creator Award from YouTube. Channels become eligible for this award after reaching 100,000 subscribers. Currently, Acorn to Arabella has more than 160,000 subscribers.
Acorn to Arabella follows the progress of a 38’ wooden sailboat being built from scratch by founder, Stephen Denette, a 5th generation farmer located in Granby, MA. Work began in 2016, when Denette felled and milled the trees from his family’s property—many of which had been planted by his great, great grandfather generations ago. Almost 100% of the lumber used to build Arabella was harvested from Denette’s family farm. In addition, Denette foraged for and handled more than 12,000 lbs. of scrap lead for the boat’s ballast keel.
“If you had told me 6-years ago that I would end up running a YouTube channel with almost 200,000 followers, I would have said you were bonkers,” says Denette of his success. “I hope that what we’re doing here inspires at least a few people to follow their dreams, no matter how ridiculous those dreams may seem.” This is Denette’s first experience with boat building.
ABOUT ACORN TO ARABELLA
Acorn to Arabella is a YouTube channel following the progress of a 38’ wooden sailboat being built from scratch. New videos are posted every week on Friday morning at 7am ET. There are more than 200 videos documenting each step of the project, from felling the trees and milling the lumber to pouring the ballast keel and building out the boat’s interior. Visit www.youtube.com/acorntoarabella to watch more.
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WHAT: Acorn to Arabella will host a free open house event, inviting fans and followers of the project to visit the 38’ wooden sailboat being built from scratch on a farm in Granby, MA. About 300 guests are expected, many of whom will travel from out-of-state to attend. In addition to viewing Arabella, guests will have the opportunity to engage one-on-one with the shipwrights, and enjoy food, music, and other festivities. This is an outdoor event, and guests are encouraged to bring picnic blankets and/or lawn chairs.
WHEN: Saturday, May 7 + Sunday, May 8, 2022 • 10am-4pm ET
WHERE: 291 Batchelor Street, Granby, MA
WHO: This event is open to the public. There is no fee to attend. About 300 guests are expected to attend throughout the course of the weekend.
ABOUT: Established by Stephen Denette in 2016, Acorn to Arabella is a YouTube channel following the progress of a 38’ wooden sailboat being built from scratch on his farm in Granby, MA, using trees planted by his great, great grandfather generations ago. Acorn to Arabella releases a new video each Friday. To date, there are more than 200 videos documenting the build of Arabella, and more than 160,000 subscribers.
