Fall arrives in many forms–one of those is our Thursday longboating class, known as Team Longboat. Middle and high school students from the OCEAN alternative program in Port Townsend School District come together for three and a half hours each week to build their maritime skills, share community, eat some snacks, and enjoy the simplicity of being on an open boat on the water.
The group has used the good weather to learn rowing skills, practice docking, take a turn at the helm, and give commands to complete crew-overboard drills. On not-so-nice days, we have taken time to learn how to read weather—using both digital sources and our physical senses—practice reefing sails, and trying on our orange exposure suits.
We even enjoyed some antics around Halloween—boating in costumes, rescuing a “pumpkin overboard,” and searching for a sticky substance in the bilge (rice krispy treats).
Every week is a fun adventure. Most of all, we cherish the time to slow down, focus on one thing, and put our minds into the small world of the longboat for a few hours.
