By Tracy Thompson, NWM Volunteer Coordinator VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES Volunteer at the 48th Wooden Boat Festival! Join us in celebrating the 48th Wooden Boat Festival by volunteering during the first week of September! Shifts are available Thursday–Sunday, September 4–7, 2025. Festival highlights include a special screening of Women & the Wind—a documentary about three Australian women
By the time you read this, Team MZEE and Let Loose The Goose have probably already hit the beach in Port Townsend, high-fiving strangers and ringing any bell they can find. Or maybe they’re still dueling it out in Admiralty Inlet, battling one last legendary foul current. Either way, the finish line is firmly in
“For whatever we lose (like a you or a me), it’s always ourselves we find in the sea.” – e. e. cummings Guys, it’s the final push!! Transformative maritime experiences are happening right before our eyes! If we’ve said it once, we’ve said it a thousand times: it’s These People against THEMSELVES. Tracker Nation may
Most adventure chasers can recall their first big journey with crystal clarity—the one that left the weekend warrioring, even the full week funfest, bobbing in the wake of this escapade’s scale. Being out for 10-plus days is a long trip, no matter your make-up or method of travel. That’s where our six teams are now;
When I first saw that Liam Pareis (aka Team Fairly Fleabag II) was entering a Sid Skiff in this year’s WA360, I did a double take. The sleek 13-foot open boat—designed by my friend Ray Speck—is a nimble sailer and efficient rower, but it’s also just as tender as you’d expect from an open 13-foot
Humans are adaptation machines. On multi-day journeys, especially physically demanding ones, there’s a threshold beyond which that unusual thing you’re doing starts to feel normal, like you were made to do it. Day One: This is new and exciting. Day Two: This is harder than I envisioned. Day Three: Um, my body is not ok. Day Four: Ugh,
Tis the season of “who knows what will happen” weather, and Tuesday decided that gale warnings should be on the menu across the Strait of Juan de Fuca, creating a decision point for teams heading south after the Point Roberts mark. Team Shaka anchored early on the east side of James Island, opting for the
Three days on the water, two nights under the stars, and one unforgettable adventure. This year, Team Longboat journeyed from Quilcene to Dabob Bay—eleven students, three adults, and two charismatic parrot mascots —returning stronger, more connected, and in awe of the wild beauty just beyond home. We launched from Quilcene Marina with high spirits and
In every human endeavor, there is an unspoken but understood threshold where things go from clenched-jaw “fine” to real. Yes, desperation-driven cannibalism, but also the WA360. What do we mean? May 1846, the Donners were a nice family heading west in a wagon. November 1846, snowbound and hungry in the Sierra Nevadas? Different story. As
After months of hand-wringing and gear-fondling, WA360 2.0 cannonballed off the dock yesterday. 84 teams shoved off from Port Townsend on their 360-mile lap of Puget Sound and the Salish Sea, powered by hope, biceps, and a breeze that was more than many had believed would manifest. Compared to the 2021 drift-fest, it was practically