Girls are at the Helm!

Girls at the Helm has begun! At 10:00 this morning, 21 girls boarded Adventuress at the Center for Wooden Boats at South Lake Union. Stepping across onto the deck of the ship, they began a six-day journey of discovery on Puget Sound. After introductions and bunk selections, the girls were assigned to one of three Watch Groups and had their first challenge: choosing a Watch name! With a bit of brainstorming, they decided on the Brave Porpoises, the Sarcastic Sea Stars, and the Sea Cupcakes (an endangered species, it turns out). Groups were then led through orientations by their Watch Leaders, learning about line handling, on-deck safety, and below-decks life (including how to use the heads). Vegetarian enchiladas and salad for lunch were enjoyed before heading off the dock and motoring north on Lake Union to go through the Ballard Locks and out into Puget Sound. Watch Groups had activities and time for reflection before anchoring and a dinner of curry soup and ciabatta bread. Evening finds everyone gathered in the main cabin for the daily resource report (sharing how much fuel, water, and electricity were used today and how much waste was produced), a skit about the day's activities, and a game of Scattergories. Tomorrow we set sail!!