PORT TOWNSEND — A waterborne National Historic Landmark is back on land again, its crew looking toward a brighter spring.
The schooner Adventuress, shaped something like a white whale in its winter wrapping, was hauled out of the Boat Haven Marina and onto hard ground Monday morning for its routine U.S. Coast Guard hull inspection — and to prepare for another highly unusual season.
“We’re going to be announcing public programs at the end of February,” said Catherine Collins, executive director of Sound Experience, the nonprofit organization that owns Adventuress. “That includes public sails, which we’ll be doing in a COVID-responsible way.”
Information about the 1913 tall ship and its “we are all shipmates” philosophy can be found at Soundexp.org, while the Port Townsend office can be reached at 360-379-0438.
Adventuress Capt. Katelinn Shaw, who debarked Monday with co-Capt. Nate Seward and their small crew, will give a free online Dock Talk on Feb. 20. In her 10 a.m. presentation at soundexp.org/docktalks, Shaw will take a virtual walk around the ship to look at the bottom paint, propeller shaft, stuffing box, sea strainers and chain locker: things that keep the ship afloat.
After two weeks on the hard, the 133-foot vessel will return to Port Townsend Bay so its crew can prepare to welcome community groups, students, families and what Collins calls “learning pods”: sailors who have taken precautions for voyaging together.
State guidelines, the vaccine rollout and coronavirus-testing technology will shape the season, Collins said.
Prior to the pandemic, more than 1,000 youngsters sailed aboard the Adventuress during the course of a year. Day and overnight programs, from Port Townsend to Bellingham to Seattle and back, are designed to inspire stewardship of the Salish Sea.
Sound Experience’s annual budget was $800,000; staffing a voyage costs $6,000 to $10,000 per week, Collins noted.
Then came 2020.
“Last spring was bleak,” she said, as “all of our schools canceled,” leaving Adventuress docked and offering virtual programs.
The coming season depends on county-by-county conditions, vaccinations for the crew and the possibility of rapid COVID-19 testing for those coming aboard.
“It’s a puzzle of ensuring we’re responding to local conditions,” Collins said.
“This is a time for being flexible and dealing with what’s in front of you.”
Starting in April, Adventuress is poised to crisscross Puget Sound, among Jefferson, King, Snohomish and Whatcom counties, she said; where to sail “will be determined by the community-based organizations and schools who want us.”
The ship is in the best shape of its 108 years, Collins added, thanks to a decade-long restoration led by Port Townsend’s Haven Boatworks. The $2.3 million project wrapped in June 2019.
In 2021, “we are still here because the public’s giving last year,” she said.
“We’re a nonprofit, and people gave generously.”
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Jefferson County senior reporter Diane Urbani de la Paz can be reached at 360-417-3509 or durbanidelapaz@peninsuladailynews.com.
