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Schooner Adventuress

 

Sound Experience provides hands-on environmental education and leadership experiences for all ages. On our voyages aboard the historic schooner Adventuress, participants learn about the majesty and vulnerability of our region’s definitive resource, Puget Sound.

The environmental message is emphasized by the ship herself. Adventuress is a metaphor for our planet: a closed system requiring understanding and care—which sails best when all aboard are working together. The leadership message is modeled by the crew, including volunteers, as they work and learn with participants.

History

In 1913, John Borden II of Chicago, founder of the Yellow Cab Company, took possession of the luxury schooner Adventuress. Yacht designer B.B. Crowninshield had watched over her construction and the slender-hulled, gaff-rigged schooner was launched at the Rice Brothers' Yard in East Boothbay Maine. On her first trip, she sailed all the way down to and through the Straits of Magellan and then up to arctic waters so Borden and his companions could hunt - unsuccessfully - for bowhead whales. 

1915 marked the beginning of Adventuress' career as a working boat. For 35 years, she plied the rough, treacherous waters off the Farrallones. The work was hard. Transferring pilots to the massive ships entering the bay, scrapes, bumps, and full-on collisions were as common as a smooth ride.

In 1951, the pilots bought themselves a more sturdy ship - a war surplus minesweeper - and let the old schooner go. Never exactly common, yachts of her size had become rare, almost extinct, by 1950. That fate almost fell to Adventuress. She was beached for ten years near Sausalito where negligent party-goers caused a serious fire. Adventuress' stern had been chopped off in an accident and she still had the cut-down San Francisco rig. To add insult to injury, there was a house about the size and shape of a trolley car sitting aft of the mainmast, running nearly to the stern. The main boom was well above the house set more like a giant flag than a sail. Whomever steered had to look through three sets of windows to see forward. Still, she was the stuff of which dreams are made.

In 1962, the late Ernestine Bennett came with a pack of Girl Scouts to Seattle to sail. She was looking for a challenge and she found one.    Mrs. Bennett became involved in the management of the sail-training program. In time her love for the boat grew. In 1974 she became the head of Youth Adventure and the financial steward of Adventuress. As a result of that stewardship and with many volunteer hands, the was boat restored to nearly all her original lines. In 1988 she began serving as a floating classroom for the environmental education leadership program, Sound Experience. In 1989, Adventuress was named a National Historic Landmark.

Sound Experience, a non-profit organization based out of Port Townsend, currently sails Adventuress to ports throughout the Puget Sound. The ship provides programs April through October. Approximately 3,000 youth and adults board her each year to learn her history and the ways we can work together to protect the environment in which she sails. The program is actively supported by hundreds of volunteers who help crew for school groups, public day sails, week long trips and continue the work of historic preservation and restoration.

 Accomodations

Shipboard accommodations are in the style of the old days of sail. There are upper and lower bunks located in the front of the ship called the fo'c'sle and the main part of the ship (salon).  There are three marine heads (bathrooms) onboard. 

Three savory home cooked meals are served buffet style daily, featuring fresh northwest ingredients. Afternoon snacks with soft drinks, tea and coffee are always available.  All meals are vegetarian and there is a strict no-alcohol policy onboard.

Licensed Captains and an experienced crew

The Adventuress has a large crew of captains, deck hands, mates, educators and galley coordinators.  Each and every one of the crew is certified to work with youth.  The safety of everyone onboard is first and foremost!