Adventuress Sailing Video!

This video was shot from the bowsprit of Adventuress during a Public Day Sail out of Everett, WA.

Sailing Through Deception Pass

By the Crew of the schooner Adventuress

It is a highlight for all mariners – passing through the ever-so-narrow Deception Pass. We experienced this ourselves on June 25th with a group of young participants from the Treehouse organization (www.treehouse4kids.org) onboard. We were travelling from Everett to the San Juan Islands.

The pass is known for its majestic towering cliffs on both sides and turbulent currents. We timed our passage at slack tide to avoid the worst of the currents. Additionally, we paid tribute to Ko Kwal Al Woot (aka the Maiden of Deception Pass) by sharing her story and paying tribute with a sacrificial brownie to ensure our safe passage. Our timing and sacrifice paid off as we motored safely through the narrow passageway. (Maiden photo comes from: http://www.stonebard.com/carving_the_maiden_of_deception.htm)

The story of the Ko Kwal Al Woot dates back to the time the Samish people lived in this area where they found plenty of food from the sea. The “Maiden” (as she is known) makes the ultimate sacrifice for her people by agreeing to marry a man living in the sea who had power over their food and water sources. The man used his power to persuade this beautiful maiden, who he had fallen in love with while watching her gather clams along the shore, to marry him. Initially, she returned to her village once each year to see her people. But in a short matter of time, she no longer wanted to leave her husband or the sea. So, she stopped coming back to the village. She had fallen in love with the sea. (A more complete story of Ko Kwal Al Woot can be found at exhibits.pacsci.org/puget_sound/Maiden.html.)

There was one additional highlight of our passage through Deception Pass. A couple of our newest Shipboard Volunteers were standing on the towering bluffs waving us on. One of them played the bagpipes as we passed by. We could feel their presence on the deck of the ship. It is always wonderful to see this kind of community support. Thanks Chiara, Rob and Danaan!

Fair winds,

The Crew of the schooner Adventuress

Two Days of Maintenance: Complete!

By Capt. Daniel Evans,

Howdy folks!

We just wrapped up two days of maintenance on Adventuress and you wouldn't believe how much we got done. I could keep it a secret, but decided I would enjoy it much less if I didn't get to share it with all the people who work so hard to keep her(and us) afloat. So here is a list, but keep in mind that for everything that was completed many other things had to happen: like moving deck boxes, walking every where except the deck, working out of Hefe, mixing, cleaning, coordinating, prepping, troubleshooting, buying, climbing, sanding and well...a little bit of guessing and just praying it will dry in time.

So here we go:

1. Scraped the entire deck for paint, etc. and slushed the whole deck
2. Scrubbed down and Osphod the entire hull
3. Sanded and Painted both rubrails
4. Popped paint bubbles on the entire hull, then faired and painted all bare spots (2 coats)
5. Slushed not just the standing rigging, but the backstays, head rig and jib and staysail stays
6. Cut down all the troublesome bolt ends in the focsle that have been bopping people in the head, arms and feet
7. End for ended both the throat and peak halyards on the fore (anything to give them some life!)
8. Painted beautiful bunk numbers on the new focsle bunks
9. Had a thorough cleaning of the belowdecks (field day)
10. Replaced bad shackles aloft - bad shackles! Bad Shackles!
11. Inspected and cleaned 'suspect' blocks aloft
12. Pinned or double nutted every bolt that wasn't already done in the standing rigging
13. Applied sodium borate not just to the lazarette, but to the main cabin and focsle bilges
14. Killed bad mosses that were actually growing aloft in our trestletrees! Bad moss! Bad moss!
15. Finished the servings on the head rig
16. Traced down the issue with the fire pump that was not allowing us to use more than one fire hose (long story, but it was an air leak in the heads)
17. And finally, pulled out all the sole boards in the main cabin, sanded them down and painted on a beautiful coat of Varathane.

It was tremendous work by our Chief Mate Sarah and this eager crew. They worked hard, completed tasks well and were still cheerful at the end of the day. Kacie worked the first day even though it was her day off and Merilee stopped cooking long enough to slush the fore shrouds. Adventuress was in need of some love and she got it in these two days.

Thanks!
Daniel