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| Elizabeth (right) and a crew member check the staysail. |
Elizabeth Hejtmancik has
a clear connection to Sound Experience: her uncle, Gordon Sims, returned a few
years ago as one of Adventuress’ primary Captains. While Gordon was home visiting his mother, Elizabeth heard him
mention the inaugural 4-day Women at the Helm (WATH) trip, which set out for
the first time in the summer of 2015. She was hooked.
The program tempted her
for many reasons. It was a chance to step aboard the ship her uncle loves; a
chance to explore the wildness and beauty of the Puget Sound region alongside
other women; and a chance to gain experience that would inform her trilogy of
novels, the first of which deals with sailing in the 19th century.
Although Adventuress belongs to a
different era—she turns 104 years old this February—Elizabeth knew
that living and learning aboard a tall ship would help her gain a deeper
understanding of what her characters might have experienced. Says Elizabeth, “Four days is realistically not enough time
to learn the language of boats and the maritime world. But it does give you a
sense of how it feels. You can’t really imagine what it’s like until you’re out
on the water and away from land.”
The trip was such a
success that she returned for WATH in 2016, making her one of a handful of
women to participate in both iterations. Says
Elizabeth, “I was so happy and amazed by my first experience that I came back just to make sure that it was real.”
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| Elizabeth aloft! |
Together, these two trip
offer Elizabeth an array of firsts and favorites. Climbing aloft still stands
out, but she also recalls special moments that were a bit more down-to-earth. “On my second trip,” she says, “I had one
of the last Anchor Watches before Morning Wake Up. I still remember that. There
was absolute peace and quiet with the sun coming up on the water and an eagle
flying past.” Elizabeth now resides in Nashville; although she grew up on
the Chesapeake Bay and has a sense of living on the water, she was still
stunned by the beauty of Puget Sound: “Everything
feels bigger and more vividly alive. The trees are bigger. The sky is bigger.
The water is bigger. I just love this place so much.”
One of the things she
couldn’t have imagined before WATH was the community that sprang up so quickly
on Adventuress. Says Elizabeth, “Stepping aboard for the first time, you
see that everyone is there for a different reason and coming from a different
background. Over the course of the trip, people start to fit together. By the
end, there wasn’t anyone who didn’t feel like part of the group, which is
really an achievement considering the length of the trip.” She still
remembers the Closing Circle on the last morning of the first trip, during
which the women exchanged “blue sheets”—certificates of recognition signed by
crew and participants—and shared gratitude and favorite moments. “I think we
were all weeping by the end,” recalls Elizabeth.
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| Elizabeth (center) poses with her Watch. |
Before WATH, Elizabeth
had never participated in any type of women-centered trip. “It really blew my mind,” she says. “All of these outside pressures
were gone—some of which I wasn’t even aware existed until we’d left the dock.
Women almost always make way for the men in their lives. All of a sudden, it
was just us… I would describe it as a confidence-building experience. I came
away really energized and exhilarated.” After WATH, Elizabeth sees these
types of programs as some of Adventuress’
most important work. “I have a personal affinity now for women and girls’
trips,” she explains.
As a writer, Elizabeth
also draws a connection between the everyday work of sailing a tall ship and
what it can teach us about improving our lives on land: “In some sense, being on Adventuress
makes elemental forces visible. I can see the wind in the sails. I can feel the
boat moving beneath my feet. In life, sometimes these big unseen forces—whether
they’re natural, personal, or emotional—inevitably come up. And I feel like
sometimes we’re trained to step back. On Adventuress,
we’re trained to recognize and harness these forces, because when you’re out on
the water you have to be strong and competent in knowing how to react correctly
to your environment. The experience of sailing is a great way to come to terms
with circumstances that may at first seem outside of your control.”
Of course, there is some
irony in traveling from Tennessee to Washington to take part in a trip that is
literally guaranteed not to include your uncle as Captain. But lest you think
that Elizabeth’s time on WATH was totally Gordon-less, she has one last anecdote. On her second trip,
her husband Andy joined her in the Puget Sound region and went on his own
adventures with Gordon. On the first day of WATH, a sailboat buzzed past Adventuress several times. It was Gordon
and Andy, cheering her on.
*****
Women at the Helm is
back! Each year we try to offer women a new experience aboard Adventuress. For our 2017 trip, June
21-25, women are invited to join us for a 5-day voyage from Seattle to
Bellingham that will feature a stop in Port Townsend for a special evening
reception with Catherine Collins, our very own Executive Director. In 2017, the
wonderful and accomplished Rachael Slattery will also serve as Captain. We
strive for a large number of female crew on WATH, but participants may also
be joined by our friendly and supportive male crew members.
This
trip offers women 18 and over the chance to join together with our crew of
shipboard educators to sail Adventuress, explore the San Juan Islands, and learn about the marine
environment. Join us for fun, camaraderie, community, and incredible learning. More information
can be found by clicking here.
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