PORT TOWNSEND — The schooner Adventuress opens its sailing season this month with four new captains who will share the responsibility of bringing forth the vessel’s ecologically inclined educational mission.
Sound Experience, a Port Townsend-based nonprofit that owns and operates the 102-year-old tall ship, finished crew training last week and offered its first public sail of the season Saturday.
“The era of the old-school captain is done and gone — the person who comes onboard acting all macho and telling people what to do,” said Catherine Collins, executive director of Sound Experience.
“That’s not the culture we live in. Our captains are collaborative.”
For the past several years, the Adventuress has employed two captains who alternated services throughout the year.
Under the new structure, Rachael Slattery, Elizabeth McDonald and Gordon Sims will share the duties, serving two weeks as captain, followed by four weeks off.
These three “running captains” are supplemented by Korrie Griffith, serving as the organization’s first port captain with the purpose of providing administrative and logistical support to the other three.
The new captains replace Daniel Evans, now working as safety director for the Northwest Maritime Center’s upcoming Race to Alaska, and Joshua Berger, who is involved in statewide ecological issues.
McDonald and Slattery are new to the Adventuress, while Sims worked as captain from 2002 to 2005, followed by Griffith’s stint as captain from 2006 to 2009.
Slattery, who lives in Rhode Island, will go home during her weeks off.
She is currently serving as captain. Sims and McDonald have yet to arrive in Port Townsend.
“I always knew that I wanted to be involved in the maritime industry but had a problem with its environmental impact,” said Slattery, who is also a farmer and yoga teacher.
“With tons of fuel being dumped into the oceans, it was extremely wasteful, and I had found a passion that I couldn’t really agree with.
“But when I first came here, I saw them straining the dishwater before pouring it overboard. I said, ‘I’ve found my people; they talk the talk and walk the walk.’”
Collins said new Adventuress captains are encouraged to develop their own identities rather than attempting to emulate those who came before them.
“We encourage them to be the captains they want to be and to develop themselves,” Collins said.
“We want to hire captains who can become role models for the crew and the kids who sail with us because no matter when you sailed, you always remember the captain.”
Collins said McDonald, Slattery, Sims and Griffith “are reflections of what our values and missions are all about.”
“Once you have left the ship, you haven’t left the community,” she said.
“We hope people leave us with a way to get involved in sustainability and what the world will look like in the future.”
Sound Experience provides programs for children and adults that emphasize “environmental stewardship, leadership, community and historic preservation,” according to its website.
The Adventuress is supported by contributions and membership drives.
A campaign is underway now.
Memberships, available to individuals for $60 and households for $95, include the ability to sail for free during 20 public sails offered throughout Puget Sound.
The next public sail from Port Townsend will be May 9.
In past years, the vessel has offered public sails at the Wooden Boat Festival, which this year takes place Sept. 11-13.
Public sails from Port Townsend are also usually scheduled in October at the very end of the season.
The schooner was built in East Boothbay, Maine, in 1913 and sold a year later to the Port of San Francisco as a pilot ship.
In 1952, it was moved to the Pacific Northwest. Sound Experience has operated it since 1989.
In recent years, an average of 5,000 people have participated annually in its sailing programs.
For more information about public sails and other events aboard the Adventuress, go to www.soundexp.org.
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Jefferson County Editor Charlie Bermant can be reached at 360-385-2335 or cbermant@peninsuladailynews.com.
