PORT TOWNSEND — The history, current realities and future outlook for women in the marine trades will be the focus of a panel discussion later this month.
The discussion will be from 9:30 p.m. to 11:30 a.m. Saturday, Jan. 16 at the Elks Lodge, 555 Otto St.
The program, hosted by the Port Townsend branch of the American Association of University Women and its affiliate, the University Women’s Foundation of Jefferson County, is free and open to the public.
Four panelists will share their experiences and perspectives.
They are:
■ Sandy Bendixen, who works in navigation instruction, simulation development and simulator based assessments.
She served as captain of yachts and passenger vessels prior to attending Maine Maritime Academy.
She has sailed as master aboard heavy cargo ships and as ice pilot and captain for Arctic and Antarctic voyages.
She has transitioned ashore as manager of Marine Compliance for Crowley Maritime Corporation.
■ Betsy Davis, who is the executive director of the Northwest School of Wooden Boatbuilding in Port Hadlock.
Before taking that post, she served for more than a decade as executive director of The Center for Wooden Boats, in Seattle, a hands-on maritime museum.
She also has experience in corporate management, entrepreneurship, small business ownership, and nonprofit and fundraising leadership.
■ Carol Hasse, who is a founding member of the Port Townsend Wooden Boat Festival, has owned Hasse & Company Port Townsend Sails Inc., since 1978.
Hasse has logged more than 45,000 miles at sea.
■ Christine Jacobson earned a bachelor’s in music history from Lewis and Clark College in 2005 before finding her true work was boat-building.
In 2011, she discovered the Northwest School of Wooden Boatbuilding, and now works with a boat-building crew in the Boat Haven in Port Townsend.
For more information on AAUW projects and membership, visit www.pt-wa.aauw.net or contact Anne Englander at 360-390-5896.
