PORT TOWNSEND – “Now, my men, we have begun a long voyage. If we get along well together, we shall have a comfortable time.
“If we don’t, we shall have hell afloat.”
With their captain’s words hanging over them, the crew of Pilgrim set sail from Boston Harbor in 1834, a voyage recorded by Richard Henry Dana in the classic tale, Two Years Before the Mast.
These are also the words Stan Cummings used to launch his report on his first eight months as the director of Port Townsend’s combined Wooden Boat Foundation and Northwest Maritime Center.
Presented at the recent Wooden Boat Festival, Cummings’ talk highlighted the course the center is heading – one that started before he took the helm in January.
“I felt like this ship already left the dock and I had to make a running leap to get aboard,” Cummings said.
