March 9, 2024 | 6 PM | Port Townsend, Washington

She Tells Sea Tales is an evening of sea stories told by women mariners in support of the Northwest Maritime Center and our maritime education programs centering women and girls.

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TICKETS SOLD OUT

Tickets go live February 14

Experience an evening of real sea stories, told by the women mariners who have lived them, in this beloved sell-out event that connects women from across all waters. Hilarious and heartbreaking, raw and brutally honest, She Tells Sea Tales offers an intimate glimpse into the lives of women in the maritime industry.

This live storytelling event provides a welcoming and safe space for all people who identify with the women’s community to share their unique connections to water. Folks of all gender identities are invited to attend. Proceeds support the Northwest Maritime Center and our maritime education programs centering women and girls. Seating is first-come, first-served and tickets sell out quick, so get them while they last!

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Do you or someone you know want to take the stage?
Apply to tell your story or nominate someone.
Storyteller Criteria
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TICKETS SOLD OUT

$30 | $20 for Students (under 18) | Doors open at 5 PM

Seating for ticket holders is first-come, first-serve.

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Cancellation policy

Tickets/Waitlist:
Tickets sales live February 14, 2024

Seating is extremely limited and tickets sell out fast! Seating is first come, first served and will be either a chair or a barstool. Doors open at 5:00 PM. Please check in by 5:45 PM, otherwise your seat will be resold. 

Doors will not open before 5:00 PM.

This event typically sells out in the first few weeks after going online.  There is no online waitlist; cancellation and no-show tickets will be resold at the door on the day of the event after 5:45 PM. We will start a first come, first serve waitlist for these tickets at 5:00 PM; please check in at the door to put your name down. We’ll call names in order, from the waitlist, after 5:45 PM.  There is no guarantee that we will have seats available. 

Designated wheelchair-accessible seating is available. 

photo by Ashlyn Brown

Meet McKayla Bower

McKayla Bower took up sailing four years ago and has since put over 7000 nautical miles under the keel. After completely rebuilding her 30-foot 1977 sailboat from mast to hull, she put it to the test by beginning a circumnavigation in August of 2023. An active member of the local sailing community, she's also racked up over 20 vessel rescues in the last three years, primarily unassisted. When she's not on the water, she's fighting for the rights of her fellow transgender siblings and cuddling with her cat.

Meet Julia Maynard

Boats were not part of Julia’s early life, and wooden boatbuilding, design, repair, yacht finishing, rowing, sailing, and running a 34-employee boat repair yard were not her aspirations. But, after four years in Evergreen State College’s Marine Studies programs (building five boats), a year apprenticing to John Gardner at Mystic Seaport (building two more), and building two boats in Port Townsend—wooden boats were woven into the fabric of her life and long-distance sailing in a boat she built herself became her dream.

Julia spent a few years as an itinerant boat worker before starting her own business, varnishing and painting boats. After moving the business to Port Townsend, she and her husband George designed and built Zulu, and in 1997 embarked on a nine-year voyage that took them south to Baja, off across the Pacific to Australia, and up and down the Great Barrier Reef. They returned to Port Townsend in 2006, sold Zulu in 2007, and by then ran Haven Boatworks—where Julia has shared her expertise in high-quality yacht finishes with countless individuals and managed a team for extensive repair projects.

Meet EmmyLou Reijnen

At seven years old, EmmyLou Reijnen has already had some incredible adventures. A member of the Cowlitz Indian Tribe residing on Bainbridge Island, EmmyLou grew up learning how to sail with her dad and Opa (grandpa), who lives next door to her. While she is currently a first-grader, she was only four years old when she decided she wanted to undertake the WA360—a 360-mile engineless, unsupported boat race circling Puget Sound.

Determined to prepare for this endeavor, EmmyLou struck a deal with her father. Every weekend, she committed to helping him work on the family boat, Amicus, and throughout the spring she honed her skills in the local Wednesday night beer can series to prepare for the race. EmmyLou can’t wait to share the story of her big adventure and the reasons behind her desire to complete WA360.

Meet Katelinn Shaw

Katelinn grew up sailing in Puget Sound where her introduction to traditional sailing took place aboard the beautiful Schooner Adventuress. After graduating from University, she chose a life at sea, and she is grateful for the myriad experiences garnered both in her wake and beyond the horizon. She’s learned so much from the intense navigation of the Great Lakes aboard the U.S. Brig Niagara, the challenge and raw beauty of the Antarctic aboard the BarkEuropa, and the permanent significance of a circumnavigation aboard the Barque Picton Castle. After earning a 1600-ton Ocean Masters License, returning to her first ship is a way to live out the expression “think globally, act locally.” When not at sea, she loves hiking and playing the violin.

Meet Tracy Landboe

Tracy Landboe, a devoted high school science teacher and mother of two, has spent over 30 years in competitive paddling, accumulating more than four decades of experience on the water. Raised in Washington State, Tracy's connection with the Puget Sound runs deep, as she grew up fishing, harvesting shellfish, clam digging, and crabbing. Beyond paddling, her aquatic pursuits include scuba diving, rowing, canoeing, kayaking, and her current venture into foiling on the Puget Sound. Tracy's favorite expeditions involve paddling from Seattle to Ketchikan, navigating the Columbia River system from Canada to the ocean, and exploring the Puget Sound Estuary.

Meet Karen Sullivan

Karen Sullivan, a former high-school science teacher and spokesperson for a federal agency, was one of the first female captains licensed by the US Coast Guard in New England back in 1980. During her graduate school studies in oceanography and marine biology, she not only absorbed the knowledge but also shared it by teaching aboard the various vessels she commanded. These ranged from a 66-foot engineless Chesapeake Bay Bugeye schooner to a 99-foot Rhodes ketch and her very own 55-foot stays'l schooner, navigating waters from New England to the Caribbean.

In 2001, she embarked on a noteworthy journey, sailing her Dana 24 from Puget Sound to Prince William Sound. Subsequently, between 2002 and 2005, Karen was part of a seabird research team in the Aleutians, conducting research aboard a 137-foot research ship. From 2011 to 2013, she and her husband Jim sailed Sockdolager, their Dana 24, from Port Townsend to New Zealand via Mexico and Polynesia.

Meet Susan Conrad

Susan Conrad feels blessed to live a life filled with adventure as an expedition kayaker and lover of all things wild. Long slow paddles in long skinny boats are her jam, having completed two approximately 1,200-mile solo through-paddles of the Inside Passage from Washington State to Southeast Alaska. She uses these expeditions, and her resulting life transformations, as a springboard for her work—focusing on inspiring people to reach their full potential. She’s authored three books about the Inside Passage and loves sharing her personal stories on the page and the stage, inspiring people and demonstrating the power of self-belief and tenacity.

Stay tuned for the 2021 CMR plan!

Classic Mariners' Regatta Criteria

We have opened up the criteria of Classic Mariners to expand the racing fleet beyond wooden boats!

The Classic Mariners’ Regatta is now open to yachts that have been built to a design or in the spirit of sailing yachts prior to 1967. There will be an acceptance committee that will determine if your boat meets this criteria. They will also consider boats that were built in the “Spirit of Tradition.”

Registration & Race Entry: $60

Registration for the Classic Mariners’ Regatta includes:

  • Entry for all three Classic Mariners' Regatta sailboat races
  • Welcome Gathering and Skippers' Meeting
  • Five beverage tickets (Yes, they're good for beers, too.)
  • Entry to the awards ceremony on Sunday afternoon

Please register in advance for the race; however if you're not arriving until late Friday night, please call 360.385.3628 x104 or email barb@nwmaritime.org and you can register at the skippers meeting on Saturday.

Moorage

If you would like to dock with the Classic Mariners group, which may mean rafting up, please call or email the Northwest Maritime Center office to add your name to the list for CMR raft-up. If you would like a more private dock, please call Point Hudson directly to reserve your own space. Either way, when you arrive at Point Hudson please proceed directly to the Point Hudson Marina office to pay for your moorage. Approximately 1.25 per foot.

Northwest Maritime Center Office: 360.385.3628, registrar@nwmaritime.org
Point Hudson Marina Office: 360.385.2828

A weekend of races!

This year the Classic Mariners' Regatta, SEVENTY48, and Race to Alaska are back to back in a weekend of epic fun and on-the-water adventure! So come on down to the Northwest Maritime Center and Pope Marine Park to watch and race in the regatta, cheer on SEVENTY48 racers as they arrive from Tacoma, take part in the R2AK madness on Sunday during the Ruckus, and see the R2AK teams set off on Monday.

Registration Coming Soon

Schedule

2021 schedule coming soon

All weekend events taken place in the Regatta Headquarters, upstairs at the Northwest Maritime Center

Monday, May 31

Last chance to purchase tickets to Saturday's dinner

Friday, June 4

5:00 PM
Welcome Gathering
• Eat, drink, and meet the other racers

Saturday, June 5

9:30 AM
Mandatory Skippers’ Meeting
• coffee and light snacks provided

12:00 PM
First Classic Mariners' Regatta Race Start; Second race starts immediately following first

5:00 PM
Classic Mariners' Regatta Dinner:
• Menu TBD; $12
• Located at Regatta Headquarters

Deadline for purchasing dinner tickets is Monday, May 31

Sunday, June 6

10:00 AM
Rowing Race

12:00 PM
Final Classic Mariners' Regatta Race Start

4:00 PM
Classic Mariners' Regatta Awards Party
• Located at Regatta Headquarters

"She Tells Sea Tales celebrates the successes and tribulations of working and traveling on the water. It celebrates the joys and frustrations of being a minority in a male-dominated endeavor."

– KELLY WATSON

Programs offered by Northwest Maritime Center include

Girls' Boat Project

The Girls' Boat Project is a program for middle school girls that creates an inclusive, supportive space for young women to work together and gain confidence through learning skills in boat building, woodworking, and sailing. The program is led and taught by an all-female staff of educators and professional mariners.

The Project meets every Wednesday afternoon from 1:30-4:30 throughout the school year and culminates with an journey on Port Townsend Bay in the spring. Women and girls’ programs at Northwest Maritime Center welcome those who identify as women and girls regardless of assignment at birth. These programs also welcome people who identify as non-binary or gender nonconforming and want to be in a women-centered environment.

Concessions will be available featuring women-owned, operated, and focused businesses.

Propolis
Fiddlehead Creamery
Bainbridge Vineyards

Childcare

Free childcare is available for children ages 5-11 during the event, please reach out to Courtney Stroming at courtney@nwmartime.org to make arrangements. 

Past She tells Sea Tales storytellers

Michelle Boroski
Hali Boyd
Nahja Chimenti
Kaci Cronkhite
Nancy Erley
Mary Jane Gibson
Katie Guiliano
Carol Hasse
Leslie Lincoln
Margie McDonald
Cait Miller
Robin Mills
Kat Murphy
Bonnie Obremski
Sue Schaeffer
Rachel Slattery
Kate Starling
Diana Talley
Barb Trailer
Ava Veitenhans
Kai Wallin
Joyce Gustafson
Shannon Ward
Allison Demmert
Sharon Albert
Maria Cook
Ebony Welborn
Ginny Wilson
Lara Edgeland
Meegan Corcoran
Savannah Smith
Susan Brittain
Ashlyn Brown
Inger Rankins
Sarah Kolbeck
Erica Lichty
Kathy Pool
Amanda Thieroff
McKayla Bower
Julia Maynard
EmmyLou Reijnen
Katelinn Shaw
Tracy Landboe
Karen Sullivan
Susan Conrad

Questions?

 Learn more about Give Like a Girl. For questions about donations contact Len Maranan-Goldstein at len@nwmaritime.org or 360.385.3628 x111.