Volunteer Year Round for Northwest Maritime

We have many volunteer opportunities for a variety of interests, skills, and schedules. Do you want to live out your dream of bartending in a lively atmosphere? Or, bring your eye for detail to our office? How about lending your carving and varnishing skills in our Boatshop? We’ve got you covered on all of these and so much more!

Take a look below at the volunteer opportunities we have going year-round; then fill out a volunteer application to let us know how you want to be involved.

Welcome Center

The Northwest Maritime Welcome Center houses exciting exhibits, interesting & interactive learning experiences, and retail wonders! If you’d enjoy engaging with visitors and locals in a fun environment and/or want to share your knowledge of our historic region, the sea, or boating in general, this is your spot. This is a slightly different type of volunteer experience! The Welcome Center will be open 7 days a week and is seeking smiling faces to regularly fill morning and/or afternoon shifts each day of the week.

Office Assistance

Office volunteers help keep us organized, responsive, and professional. You might bring great office experience or may be looking to build your skills. Examples of office administration tasks:

• Greeting the public and answering the main phone line
• Making calls to recruit volunteers
• Sharing general NWM information with office visitors
• Archiving NWM photos & documents
• Assisting staff with projects
• Managing the main email inbox

Docents

Volunteers who engage our visitors to help connect them with the sea are essential to our mission. This takes many shapes. You might share about our programs in the new Welcome Center, demonstrate our state-of-the-art ship simulator, or act as a guide on Admiral Jack boat tours. We are seeking folks to represent NWM from various backgrounds, experiences, and knowledge bases.

Boatshop

Get hands-on experience in wooden boat maintenance, restoration, and all the things that go with it, while helping to maintain the Wooden Boat Foundation and Northwest Maritime boats. Opportunities involve everything from painting boats to tool maintenance and shop cleanup.

Leadership

Many of our volunteers and volunteer teams are trained, managed, and supported by volunteer leaders. These roles allow you to flex your skill and expertise in fun and novel scenarios such as R2AK or the Wooden Boat Festival. Hone your leadership skills by taking on one of our Captain positions. Getting to work closely with NWM staff as an active planner, decision-maker, and valuable insider is a peak opportunity.

Year-Round Event Support

NWM hosts various community and fundraising events throughout the year that rely on the help of our volunteers. Our current events include She Tells Sea Tales, Maritime Career Expo, Marine Thrift Swap Meet, Navigator Night Out, and Tow Boat Golf Classic. Examples of volunteer opportunities are:

• Event set-up and tear down
• Bartending, concessions, and ticket-taking
• Shuttling racers and A/V tech support
• Distributing outreach materials throughout the region

Building & Docks Maintenance

You don’t have to have a captain’s license to help us maintain our facility, fleet, and docks! If you love a good day of hard work and enjoy all things boat-related, we could use your help! Facility maintenance tasks include painting, sanding, refurbishing, and more! Boat and dock maintenance tasks include haul-outs, cleaning, and painting, to name a few! Any necessary training, tools, and safety equipment will be provided.

On-the-Water

We sometimes need folks with extensive boating experience to help us out with various on-the-water jobs. This could mean help with moving or transporting boats, guiding boaters during the Wooden Boat Festival, or safety during the Race to Alaska.

Audio/Visual Tech Team

Each year, our events—such as the Wooden Boat Festival—draw thousands of people from all over the world. Event presenters and panelists know Northwest Maritime is a great venue with a state-of-the-art A/V system. Participants rely on the A/V Tech Team to provide for events; from simple PowerPoint presentations to feature movie presentations and multi-media panel discussions. To join, a basic knowledge of and comfort using A/V equipment and computer tech is needed. An interest in A/V & tech and a willingness to learn is required! NWM is fortunate to have an A/V Tech Captain who maintains a well-instructed and supported team.

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