Six receive maritime scholarships

PORT TOWNSEND — The Port Townsend Yacht Club is awarding six scholarships this year that total $7,500.

The six recipients are Peter Dragula, Alex Guevara, Ella Ashford — second-time recipient — Eric Berg, Olivia Nivison and Zoe Page.

The scholarships are awarded to people pursuing studies in boat building, marine trades and marine sciences — sometimes as a second career.

The club has awarded these scholarships annually for more than 30 years.

“Our yacht club members have demonstrated their generosity for and commitment to this scholarship program, even without our regular fundraising events,” said Paul Eisenhardt, chairman of the Port Townsend Yacht Club Scholarship Committee.

“Each of our recipients possess a passion for the maritime industry, either in boat building, marine systems or marine ecology.”

Said Commodore Jim Gorski: “The scholarship program is our primary vehicle for supporting the breadth of maritime specialties in the Port Townsend/Jefferson County area.

“We are particularly proud to be able to contribute to this very important economic engine for our community.”

Dragula is a former special education teacher with a maritime background as an avid sailor and seaman, according to Elizabeth Eisenhardt, treasurer, in a press release.

His decision to change careers led him to the Northwest School of Wooden Boatbuilding marine systems program.

After graduation, he plans to work to help boaters troubleshoot their boat challenges.

Guevara is a life-long boat enthusiast. During summers she is a river guide, leading rafting groups through sometimes-treacherous currents and rapids.

Now enrolled at the Northwest School of Wooden Boatbuilding, she is learning the boatbuilding trade.

After graduation, she plans to work at Boat Haven with shipwrights.

Ashford is a voice for equitable marine and environmental policy, Elizabeth Eisenhardt said, adding that she is pursuing interdisciplinary study at Willamette University, focusing on a connecting technology, marine science and earth systems.

“Look for her to be playing a role in setting maritime policy,” Elizabeth Eisenhardt said.

Berg brings his artistic talent to the world of wooden boatbuilding in the traditional boatbuilding program at the Northwest School of Wooden Boatbuilding, according to the press release.

He intends to become a skilled shipwright.

Nivison is learning boatbuilding as a way to blend a passion for woodworking with a love of the sea, the press release said.

She is enrolled in the traditional boatbuilding program at the Northwest School of Wooden Boatbuilding. Her goal is to turn shipwright experience into education for low-income youth, especially young women.

Page wants to see the world through boats, the press release said. After graduating from the traditional boatbuilding program at the Northwest School of Wooden Boatbuilding, the plan is to build boats that will sail the Mediterranean, Caribbean and across the Atlantic.

She wants to work as part of the Adventuress team and the Community Boatbuilding Project.

The Port Townsend Yacht Club is planning fundraising events for its 2023 scholarship awards.