News from the Northwest Maritime Center >>

As most readers know, 48° North has been published by the Northwest Maritime Center (NWMC) since 2018. We are continually amazed by the inspiring and important work of our colleagues and organization, and are excited to dedicate this page to sharing a bit about it with you. This page affirms that 48° North is part of something bigger, and that we think the missionminded efforts of our organization matter to our readers, and are good for this community and publication.

It's pretty amazing that an organization and facility that trains professional pilots on a simulator, hosts the continent's largest wooden boat festival, and facilitates immensely popular adventure races, can also provide exceptional summer camp fun and education for young people. Recently, registration for nine weeks of summer day camps in Port Townsend opened for the 2023 season. But what are these camps all about?

For the younger kids, it begins with play. All offerings for ages 5 to 10 years old are "Messing About in Boats" camps, and they are every bit as worthwhile as the Water Rat would suggest.

Lil Scuppers is NWMC's maritime summer camp for the youngest campers, ages 5–7. Kids start with a morning circle, reading or singing. Afterward, they get out on the boats (weather permitting). They might row, sail, or drive a power boat. It's a joy to see a 6-year-old's face light up when they realize they are the one steering the boat! Campers also explore the area beaches and enjoy scavenger hunts.

For young people between 7 and 10 years of age, the Junior Discoverers camps provide a multitude of ways to experience maritime life in a fun, hands-on way. They enter the maritime world by exploring the beach, heading out to sea in rowboats, powerboats, and sailboats, and learning about the creatures that live in and around the sea — they even get to spend one day at the Marine Science Center. It's not your typical summer camp!

For older kids, the pathway is more structured with the goal of learning to sail, but it's just as fun! These camps broaden in

EVENTS CALENDAR » www.nwmaritime.org/events

R2AK TAILGATE PARTY

Feb. 4

901 Occidental Ave S, Seattle

RADAR AND COLLISION AVOIDANCE

Feb. 18

Northwest Maritime Center

their offerings, helping different ages and families experience the rich rewards of sailing. Three skill tiers — beginner, intermediate, and advanced — help kids enjoy and understand the process of progression and skill development. Within these levels, camps are offered as partial days or "intensive" full-days, and there are some learn to sail camps just for girls. Learn to sail camps get kids sailing in Optimist and/ or Flying Junior dinghies, with the chance to try out 420 dinghies as they advance.

NWMC is proud to offer scholarships to those facing financial barriers, youth service organizations, schools and underserved youth, so everyone can have the opportunity to learn about the maritime world, regardless of financial circumstances. To apply for a scholarship, please complete the scholarship application form during the registration process. If you are in a position to pay more than the suggested price, additional funds will contribute directly to making youth programs more widely accessible.

» nwmaritime.org/programs/youth-programs/youth-summer/

NO IMPACT DOCKING Feb. 28 - March 1

Virtual Class

MARINE THRIFT SWAP MEET April 1

Marine Thrift 315B Haines Pl., Port Townsend

MARCH 11, 2023, 6 P.M.

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 beloved annual evening of sea stories, told by the women mariners who have lived them, inspires, empowers, and connects women from across all waters.

For the first time since 2019, She Tells Sea Tales will be held in person at Northwest Maritime Center in Port Townsend. Accordingly, tickets are limited, and they always sell out.

Six women will share their stories — they are seafarers, adventurers, maritime professionals, and business owners. All of them have known highs, humor, and hardships on and near the water, and have important and impactful tales to tell.

Keep an eye out for more details. Tickets, which are $30, go on sale soon.

» nwmaritime.org/shetells

Dear 48° North,

Thanks for running the article on the Foulweather Bluff race and protest. As one of the 20 protested and disqualified boats, I wanted to make a couple of observations.

First, I am in 100% agreement with the decision that all the protested boats be disqualified. I believe that it is critical that the yacht clubs and the racing community show the USCG that they take safety seriously, and that “bad behavior” will be penalized. (Even though some of the boats DSQed would have been clear of the shipping lane before the freighter would have got there if she had maintained speed and course.)

The big problem is that if any lesson was learned from the incident, it was the wrong lesson. The article mentioned “an unfortunate set of unpredictables.” The timing of the freighter was certainly unfortunate and unpredictable, but given the geometry of the race course, and the reverse start sequence, the outcome was absolutely predictable. If those circumstances were to occur again in a couple of years, exactly the same thing will happen — the fact that 20 boats were DSQed in 2022 will not change future outcomes.

There were two underlying problems. The first is that the boats were on a layline spinnaker reach from Foulweather Bluff to Scatchet Head, and that layline crossed the southbound lane at a pretty flat angle. The freighter was still several miles back when he bailed out and did a 360. Depending on his speed, it would have taken 10-15 minutes for him to overtake those 20 boats. To open the southbound VTS lane would have required all those boats to run dead down and/or jibe back towards Kingston and sail away from the mark for 10-15 minutes. Clearly that would never happen in the real world.

The second problem is that boats were densely packed together in the VTS lane. The complaint report from the bridge of the bulk carrier specifically stated that he was blocked by a solid wall of boats. He further stated that he looked for a hole, but there wasn’t one. I see this as the result of running a reverse start, which creates a denser pack of boats as the fast boats starting last sail through the slow boats that started first — the fleet effectively turns itself inside out and condenses while that happens. The same problem has occurred when a race is sailed around Blakely Rock using a reverse start. A solid wall of boats moves across the lane for the Winslow ferry, which in the past has blocked it and caused a ferry to come to a stop and wait for the fleet to pass.

Until and unless the local clubs stop using reverse starts, and stop setting courses that result in the fleet being on a layline running through a VTS lane at a flat angle, this problem will unfortunately occur again in the future.

Johnson Quest 30 Charlotte