Women who answer the call of the sea

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When Caitlin Miller returned from her 58-day, 5-hour and 6-minute row across the Atlantic, she had a hard time adjusting to life on land.

“I really thought I would figure everything out when I was on the row,” she said. “I didn’t. I felt really lost and not sure where I wanted to end up.”

So, she wrote a poem about her experience.

She’s set to read that poem in the place where she’s happy to have ended up – Port Townsend. Her reading is part of the March 10 “She Tells Sea Tales,” an event celebrating women in the maritime industry, which is now in its fifth year of benefiting the Girls Boat Project.

Miller grew up far away from the ocean, in Minnesota, but recalls going camping and hiking on the water with her family

“I think one of my earliest memories of the beach is a trip to the ocean with my grandparents.” she said. “I’ve loved the ocean my whole life.”

When Miller went to college in Nebraska, she joined the rowing team, which she ended up coaching, and later became its president.

Near the end of her college years, she and a friend watched a video on YouTube about four guys who had rowed across the Atlantic.

“It just looked so cool!” Miller said.

In December 2015, the friends started their own 3,000-mile journey as part of a race that included 26 other teams. They rowed as Team Cranial Quest on a 23-foot boat built by the Port Townsend–based company Spindrift Ocean Rowing.

“It kind of still doesn’t feel real,” she said.

Miller said the journey was a simple endeavor for the most part. “All you had to do was eat, sleep and row,” she said. “It was pretty relaxing.” Well – not always, she added. “It was nice not having any distraction from the real world,” she said. “We saw some amazing things that most people won’t ever get to see. I think my favorites were the sunrises and sunsets. And, just the stars were incredible. And lots of wildlife.”

And the bioluminescence. “That was super cool,” she said. “We actually both thought we were hallucinating.”

IN PORT TOWNSEND

Two months ago, Miller came from Montana to Port Townsend to work for the very company that built her boat for crossing the Atlantic – Spindrift. The company is owned by Sonya Baumstein, who attempted to row across the Pacific Ocean in 2015 before weather interfered.

“They convinced me to come work with them,” she said, laughing.

Next up, she’s hoping to row the Race to Alaska this year and also is planning for a Pacific rowing adventure.

But first on the new-to–Port Townsend agenda is telling her tale at “She Tells Sea Tales.” Miller is one of seven women working in the maritime industry who are to share their stories at the event, which “celebrates the joys and frustrations of being a minority in a male-dominated endeavor,” according to Kelley Watson, Port Townsend High School maritime career and technical education teacher.

Miller said her experience of being a woman in the maritime industry has been a positive one, though she noted customers are often surprised when they find out that Spindrift is a female-run company. “Most people don’t think I’m the one that rowed across the Atlantic,” she said. “[But] they’re really willing to learn and listen.”

And what advice would she give to young girls wanting to pursue a maritime career? “I would tell them to definitely go for it,” she said. “If you like being on the water, that’s what you should do.”