ABOARD THE ADVENTURESS — A breezy day in the sun on Port Townsend Bay was the setting for an educational experience, one in which Sequim-area students sailed away with new knowledge and fond memories.
It was one of seven such voyages for retiring teacher Molly Christianson, who has taken her fourth-graders and many of their parents on seven Adventuress field trips.
This being her last, she was savoring the moments with her students aboard the 1917 schooner that she calls “the most fantastic field trip available.”
“The children just talk about it for so long afterward,” she said Tuesday afternoon as students and parents moved from one learning station to the next above and below deck.
“They learn about the water, marine animals or navigation. The kids just learn so much.”
Because they live on the North Olympic Peninsula and are in such proximity to it, “They need to know about the water,” she said.
About 25 students in Christianson’s Greywolf Elementary School fourth-grade class and their parents learned about the Adventuress, a National Historic Landmark based at Port Townsend Boat Haven.
Students and parents were welcomed aboard by crew members and the fiddle sea chanteys of Walt Tilsdale and his 5-year-old daughter, Maya.
Students learned from Capt. George Hill and his Adventuress crew members, who hail form all over the United States, each with intimate knowledge of the workings of the vessel, marine science, leadership and the environment.
Crew members patiently worked with students, teaching them everything from what is plankton to knot-tying to reading sea charts.
Crew members have fun, too, leading students in singing sea chanteys while they hoist a sail together. They even performed a skit on deck that explains in simple terms that natural resources are limited and must be conserved.
Aboard Adventuress, the nonprofit Sound Experience organization provides hands-on environmental education and leadership experiences for youths and adults.