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PROGRAMS & ACTIVITIES

From sailing to rowing, family boat building to marine trades, you'll find year-round activities to connect with people, boats and the sea. Check out our sailing lessons, youth and adult sailing camps, corporate team building workshops, voyages, boat charters and tours in Port Townsend, Puget Sound and the San Juan Islands.

Quick links:

2010 Youth Program Guide

2010 Adult Program Guide

2010 Registration Form

Scholarship Application Form

Class Availability As of July 12, 2010

(Updated weekly)

Visiting Port Townsend?

Charters and Tours Sail. Row. Experience.
Join our captain-instructors for a few hours, an afternoon, or an entire day on the water aboard one of our contemporary or historic sailing vessels, longboats, or a classic powerboat. We'll help you select the right boat and itinerary for an incredible boating experince.

Read more: Visit PT Brochure
Or call Rob 360 385-3628 x103 Email

Youth Programs

Messing About in Boats

Experience the sea! Now in its sixth year, Messing About in Boats offers a multitude of ways for kids to experience maritime life in a fun, hands-on way. From our home in Point Hudson, young sailors enter the maritime world by meeting real captains, crew, and shipwrights in their element, heading out to sea in rowboats, powerboats and sailboats, and learning what it takes to live on and by the sea.

Fun while learning. All themes focus on fundamental skills: knot tying, basic weather, boat types and parts. Also include field trips to meet local shipwrights, sail makers, riggers, fisherman, and other salty dogs.

Read More Register
360 385-3628 x103 Email

Learn to Sail

Learn. New boats, US Sailing certified instructors, a year-round windy bay, and a beautiful waterfront location at the Northwest Maritime Center dock combine to make our learn-to-sail program one of the best in the region. Diverse, challenging waters and excellent instructors teach competent sailing for all conditions. The perfect place to introduce your child to sailing or take their skills ot the next level. We also offer a girls only sailing week.

Have fun. Since the early 1990s, our sailing instructors have taught hundreds of people to sail on Port Townsend Bay. In 2006, NWMC and Jefferson County YMCA expanded the fleet to offer new Optimist Dighies, the most popular learning dinghy in the world, and Vanguard 15s, two-person planing hull dinghies. These boats are safe, fast, and fun!

Sailing Intensive. This class gives your child maximum time on the water, allowing your child to put their skills to the test by day tripping to destinations around PT Bay or learning to race around the course.

Read more Register
360 385-3628 x103 Email

Voyaging & Exploring

Business team building Overnight Adventures. Join us for 3 to 10 day maritime voyages for ages 11-18. Explore local Port Townsend waters, circumnavigate Marrowstone Island, or sign on for a San Juan Islands expedition. Outdoor leadership and maritime training is a core part of this program.

Choose your vessel, or experience both. Voyage aboard a replica wooden rowing and sailing 26-foot longboat that Capt. Vancouver used to survey the Puget Sound in 1792 or sail fast aboard a 26-foot Thunderbird sloop. We provide the Captains and Educators as well as all safety gear and food.

Read More Register
360 385-3628 x103 Email

Schooner Martha

Youth, Adult & Family Trips

Sail Training Take the helm. Go sailing and learn on one of the fastest and most beautiful schooners in the Pacific Northwest. Your experienced crew and teachers are Capt. Rober D'Arcy and first mate Holly who maintain, teach, and voyage aboard Martha year round. Schooner Martha turns 103 years old this year and has been meticulously maintained. She is a race car in a steady breeze. This is truly a voyage that you or your child will never forget.

Chart Your Course. On board, you'll be an integral part of the crew, from listening to the morning weather report and planning the day's destination, to hoisting sails and taking the helm. No more than six guests are on board at a time, so you'll have plenty of space to relax around the large main salon table or in the comfortable cockpit. Having only six also means the maximum attention from crew for lessons and safety. Early lights out and rising times allow guests to get plenty of rest for the full, active days. Owned by the Schooner Martha Foundation and built in 1907, at the famous W. F. Stone boatyard in San Francisco, Martha is an 84 foot B. B. Crowenshield staysail schooner, fully equipped for cruising Northwest waters, and is as picturesque as they come.

School Group & Corporate Team Building Programs

Maritime Discovery for Schools

Our Maritime Discovery program is an innovative combination of on-the-water, hands-on maritime experience and classroom-based lessons. Students participate in activities aboard our replica longboats, learning traditional and contemporary maritime skills, team building, and leadership. Guided by our licensed captain-instructors and mates, students rotate through postitions in rowing, coxswain, helmsman, navigator and bow watch. Lessons in rowing, sailing, navigation and other skills provide new learning opprotunities. Students also participate in marine trades business tours, visiting our local sail lofts and boat building businesses.

Please contact us if you are interested in getting your school out on the water with us.

Spirit of Crew

Build a team, build a dream. Experience the Spirit of Crew. Our longboats are where business and professional groups develop leadership skills. Single and multi-day corporate and business team building workshops available.

Please contact us if you are interested in getting your business or group out on the water with us.

Adult & Family Programs

Learn to Sail

Learn. Our US Sailing certified instructors, a year round windy bay and a beautiful waterfront location combine to make our learn to sail program one of the best in the region. Experience sailing for the first time or take your skills to the next level!

Choose your fun.

Beginner classes: perfect for first time sailors or those wishing to refresh their basic sailing skills.

Intermediate Classes: Build on your basic skills. Focus on sailing competence and independence.

Advanced Classes: Become a competent skipper. Sail upwind confidently and go where you want to go.

Cruising Classes: Spend all weekend underway, learning and practicing cruising techniques: navigating, destination sailing, anchoring, and much more.

Anchoring Only: Weigh it, back on it, hang on it, hoist it, and do it again! Master the art of anchoring to expand your cruising grounds.

Docking Only: They say you can sail across the ocean, but you still might hit the dock on the other side! This class focuses exclusively on docking, so that you can "park" your boat safely and with confidence.

Family Class: Sailing classes for you and your children or grandchildren.

Private Lessons: This class is designed around what YOU want to learn and can be any length (2 hour minimum).

Sea Scouts

Co-educational maritime scouting activities for ages 14-21.

360-385-3628 or Email

High School Sailing Team

High School Sailing Team Co-ed racing team that competes regionally and nationally.

: Read More Register
360 385-3628 x103 Email

Store your vessel in the Keeley Boathouse

Stage two boathouse racks have been installed. Reserve your space now for your kayak, canoe, wherry, or shell. Great rates and amenities. For details, you can click here or contact Rob Sanderson

The Pocock Project

Read about the Pocock Project. We're keeping the legacy alive with the help of a remarkable shipwright and some generous donors.

The Northwest Maritime Center is a registered 501(c)(3) charitable organization

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