By Rolf Boone The Daily Olympian
EDITOR’S NOTE — A familiar fixture to North Olympic Peninsula residents, the Adventuress is in Olympia this week.
Here’s what they are saying about this Port Townsend-based sailing ship and floating maritime school.
OLYMPIA – The Adventuress, a 138-foot double-masted ship used for Puget Sound environmental education, will be docked at Olympia’s Percival Landing through Tuesday, when it will leave for Seattle.
Officially a 96-year-old pilot schooner, the vessel is known for cruising the waters of Puget Sound, taking people of all ages out onto the Sound so they can better understand its ecosystem.
“We want to connect people with the Sound,” Captain Joshua Berger said Saturday.
He was one of 15 crew members aboard the ship.
“It’s a beautiful place, but we take it for granted.”
The Adventuress is owned and operated by the nonprofit Sound Experience.
The ship’s home port is Port Townsend, but it spends much of the sailing season from March to October visiting ports from Bellingham to Olympia.
On Saturday morning, it took about 40 students from Hansen Elementary School in Olympia on a three-hour Sound Studies excursion, Berger said.
Once aboard, the students helped raise the 3,000-pound mainsail and then separated into several groups.
Some studied marine life, others plankton and still others worked on their nautical skills, Berger said.
The ship also can tailor its Sound Studies courses to meet a school’s curriculum goals.
Bunks for 37
In the case of Hansen, Saturday’s excursion emphasized salmon and Puget Sound watersheds, Berger said.
The ship has bunks for 37 people, three heads (toilets), no showers, a full galley (kitchen) and dining quarters.
It also offers longer courses called Sound Explorations in which students or adults become part of the crew, helping to navigate the ship, tie knots and swab decks.
In the offseason, the ship returns to Port Townsend and is hauled out of the water for seasonal repairs, Berger said.
The Adventuress receives money from its classes, membership dues, corporate sponsors and donations, he said.
Most of the crew members are paid, and captains receive a salary.
The Adventuress also relies on a network of volunteers throughout Western Washington.
Wendy Sonnemann of Tacoma, a volunteer marketing and outreach coordinator, said Saturday that legislation recently was introduced that would help to preserve historic maritime vessels.
“We want to keep everybody floating,” she said.
Good memories
Tom Condon of Olympia said he encouraged his son Sam to take part in Saturday’s trip after Tom spent time on the ship a couple of years ago in the Port Townsend area.
During Tom’s trip, he studied plankton, pulled up shrimp pots, learned the lore of maritime history, sang sea chanteys and participated in team-building exercises, such as working with others to raise the ship’s sails.
“Everybody has a role,” he said.
Sam also enjoyed studying Puget Sound plankton and got a chance to skipper the ship.
“He had a great time — even in the rain,” Tom said.
For information about the ship and Sound Experience, go to www.soundexp.org or phone 360-379-0438.
