PORT TOWNSEND — The schooner Adventuress’ service weekend, which coincided with the commemoration of Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday, was a great success, said organizers — but it represented only the beginning of the winter repair and renovation schedule.
“We have taken everything apart. Now we have to put it all back together,” said Capt. Joshua Berger, one of the tall ship’s two sailing captains.
Berger said 35 new volunteers worked all or part of the three-day weekend ending Monday.
The volunteers cleaned and refinished the masts and built winter storage structures.
This year’s construction work leads up to the vessel’s centennial in 2013 for which a series of commemorations is planned.
It is the fourth phase of the renovation that includes replacing the ship’s tail shaft and forward mast.
The first phase of the centennial renovation program began in early 2010. Phases two and three took place between November 2010 and March 2011.
While many of the weekend’s volunteers were from East Jefferson County, some came from as far as Vancouver, B.C., and Portland, Ore.
“We had a good showing,” Burger said.
“There were a lot of locals, while others came from all around Puget Sound in spite of the snow.”
Ten of the volunteers stayed overnight on the boat.
“What you learn here is more than how to renovate a historical ship,” Berger said.
“It’s also about learning to live and work together.”
“One of the most important things about working on a boat is learning people skills,” said volunteer Marcus Halsell-Vore, an 18-year-old high school student from Portland.
“You have to be comfortable working with other people.”
The Adventuress was built in 1913 by John Borden with the purpose of sailing to Alaska but was sold to the Port of San Francisco as a pilot ship a year later.
It was sold again in 1952 and moved to the Pacific Northwest.
It has been used for instructional purposes since, with the nonprofit Sound Experience, based in Port Townsend, operating the Adventuress since 1989.
The centennial renovation has cost about $600,000 so far, with another $300,000 or $400,000 needed, though “we are still determining how much we can accomplish, how much it will cost and how much we can raise,” Berger has said.
In recent years, an average of 5,000 people annually have participated in sailing programs on the Adventuress, with that many again visiting the ship in port.
For more information or to volunteer, phone 360-379-0438 or visit www.soundexp.org.
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Jefferson County Reporter Charlie Bermant can be reached at 360-385-2335 or at charlie.bermant@peninsuladailynews.com.
