Thursday night we sailed on the Adventuress. We found out a co-worker was on the board of directors for 'Sound Experience', the non-profit that owns the Adventuress and she invited Jodi and I on a sail aboard the ship.
I sailed aboard her before, but it was over 4 decades ago as a part of a cub scout outing.
More recently in 2011 we had an encounter with Adventuress that must have been a result of a higher power. I still don't think I can adequately describe it, but you can read about it here.
Adventures is a fixture on the sound and while I don't think I take her for granted (especially after August 2011), she's always been 'there'. Sailing up and down the sound, you never know when you will encounter her, but it's always a thrill to see her sailing -- sailing as she did 100 years ago with her traditional schooner rig and her 4,000 and something square feet of sail.
Stepping aboard with the group on Thursday night offered a different glimpse of the boat. She's 101 years old and just completed a $700K refit including replanking much of her hull over the winter. She serves as a platform for a broad educational outreach. Youth, many of whom are disadvantaged, are provided opportunities to sail on her, learn about Puget Sound and the environment. Adults use the ship for retreats to learn and grow. The vessel has a small professional crew supported by legions of volunteers.
One program they had just completed was taking 40 at risk youth, giving them a sailing experience while at the same time giving them a tutorial of marine related jobs. Tugs, freighters, ferries, and all the support functions require a wide spectrum of jobs, many of which are good jobs with advancement potential that don't require a college education.
We were sailing with the group that made it all happen. As the night unfolded, it was clear that Adventuress's ongoing existence was due to an amazing amount of effort put forth by folks we were sailing with. Their energy and passion was equaled by their collective abilities to 'make it happen'. Fund raising, maintenance, staffing, educational programs, scheduling, accounting -- it's not so much a sailing vessel as a floating antique serving as a school and business.
I got the sense that while Adventuress, for the moment, is in fine shape, it wasn't always so. After the sail we went for dinner with some of the present board members and learned there were pivotal times in the vessels history when hope was thinned by the realities of rot and maintaining an old wooden vessel. Grit, determination, energy and hard to find cash made the difference.
The Adventuress is a tribute to the wide spectrum of folks who support her.
At least half, perhaps more, of the invitees had done some serious sailing with many round the world veterans along with many who had sailed the South Pacific. A very able group.
We boarded the boat at Elliot bay and sailed up and down the Seattle waterfront. The wind was 12-15 knots and provided a good breeze for the old girl.
The lighting was pretty good and we met Betsy's "Glorybe" out in the bay.
All and all a good night on the sound.
Everything is done by hand. No winches.
No comments:
Post a Comment