Hello friends!
I’m not sure about your family’s traditions at this time of year. For me, it’s a time of connecting with family, avoiding fruitcake, then pouring a hot toddy and smiling nostalgically at the year we’ve just had. It’s been a great year here at Northwest Maritime, and rounding out my 13th year at the helm I’m more clear on why this place matters: what we do, how we do it, and who we are.
What we did in 2024 was a bit of a highlight reel that panned across the full swath of our activity. Here are some of them.
- Summer classes had a record year.
- Port Townsend Maritime Academy (our half-day, year-long high school program) had its largest class ever, one student coming all the way from Gig Harbor.
- 53 boats were built with students in our boatshop. The boatshop that now has a full set of brand new tools thanks to a generous sponsorship from Grizzly Industrial.
- Maritime High School is in its fourth year. While we won’t graduate our inaugural class until June, we have two students accepted into Cal Maritime, the West Coast’s hometown 4-year maritime university.
- At Pacific Marine Expo a MHS student beat a field of seasoned mariners in timed competitions for knot tying and other maritime skills—glory, credibility, and $500!
- Our Port Townsend campus christened and opened the Welcome Center to better introduce people to both our programs and the deep history of Port Townsend’s maritime character. (If you haven’t seen it you owe it to yourself to make the visit. C’mon by!)
- Wooden Boat Festival was incredible as always, but even more so because of maybe my favorite festival moment ever: a two-hour round table we orchestrated to connect Port Townsend’s sailmaking brain trust with Haida weavers and carvers trying to reconnect with their sailing traditions. Their goal is to make sails from what is available on Haida Gwaii like they had for thousands of years before colonization.
- Race to Alaska offered a last hurrah before moving to an every other year format. My favorite part: the three teams of mostly high school students who crossed the finish line.
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That was some of the “whats” making me satisfied/proud; the how and the who are, too. There’s a lot that wasn’t great about 2024. I recently read an article exploring the role of nonprofits, regardless of mission, in these times of division and rancor. How can any organization help the greater good in a world where information is increasingly designed and targeted to create divisions and manipulate the world?
Their three-part conclusion was as rudimentary as validating:
- Act with integrity.
- Build authentic relationships.
- Create and strengthen communities.
Our mission and programs are maritime in nature, but how we do it is in community, with authentic relationships, built on integrity. It’s about who we are and how we do things. So as much as I’m looking back with pride/satisfaction in who and how we were in 2024, I feel resolved and encouraged about what this means for the future to come.
Whether you participate in our programs, attend our events, volunteer, or just visit—thank you. Thank you for helping our mission and programs, and for being part of the work to create integrity, relationships, and community. Have a hot toddy with me.
Happy 2024 to you and yours. I can’t wait to share with you what we have in store for 2025.
Happy holidays!
Jake
