PORT TOWNSEND — The Spring Boating Symposium at the Northwest Maritime Center is about the nuts and bolts of sailing.
“The people who come to the symposium will gain experience they can really use,” said Northwest Maritime Center Festival and Events Director Barb Trailer. “This isn’t the kind of symposium where there are 500 people, and you don’t get individual attention.
“Here, you really get to know them and interact with them on a meaningful level.”
The symposium takes place today through Sunday at the Northwest Maritime Center, 431 Water St., Port Townsend.
Space still available
Registration is limited to about 200 people, according to the website at www.nwmaritime.org/symposium.
Space is still available, though attending is not a last-minute decision.
Those who pay the fee — $275 for members of the maritime center and the Wooden Boat Foundation and $295 for nonmembers — are serious about boats and eager to learn new techniques.
All of the activities are open only to participants, with the sole exception of a presentation called “Happy Hour with Cap’n Fatty Goodlander” from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday in the maritime center’s upstairs space.
For $10, members of the public can listen to tales told by Goodlander, a prolific author and sailor with a worldwide reputation.
Goodlander, 59, has lived on boats all his life save seven years and will talk about his adventures circumnavigating the globe twice as well as how he raised a daughter onboard the vessel.
His talk is all about passion — for the sea, sailing, cruising, traveling, writing, his family and personal freedom.
More than 25 top boating experts will present information in what is described as “an innovative blend of interactive lectures, panel discussions, hands-on workshops and opportunities to network with other boaters and experts.”
The attendees at the symposium are specialists.
“The experience level is high,” Trailer said.
“There are people who are planning to sail around the world and those who have sailed around the world.”
Trailer said the symposium represents “the future of what we’d like to do at the maritime center.”
For more information, visit www.nwmaritime.org/symposium.
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Jefferson County Reporter Charlie Bermant can be reached at 360-385-2335 or at charlie.bermant@peninsuladailynews.com.