Port Townsend is many things. A time capsule of architecture, a vibrant arts community, all wrapped in some of the most breathtaking scenery one could hope for. We are all of those things. While they are all incredible, invaluable parts of the rich tapestry of this community, the same can be said for a number of other incredible communities around the country. What we are singularly “best” at is our maritime side — and I stand by that despite my obvious bias as a boat nerd in my personal life and head cheerleader for our maritime culture in my professional one. There is simply nowhere with the talent density of our community — and I’ve looked! 

There are communities that have boat building schools, boat yards, marinas, talented craftspeople, boat designers, fabrication shops, sail makers, riggers, rare wood emporiums, foundries, wooden boat festivals, adventure races, school programs—there are places that have one, some might even have two, but there is no other place where all of that happens within a 10 mile radius, let alone with people who are widely regarded as subject matter experts but quite literally wrote the book; Emiliano’s Marino’s “Sail Maker’s Apprentice” sits on shelves the world over right next to the late “Brion Toss’s Rigger’s Apprentice.” If this was baseball, Port Townsend is as close as you can get to Cooperstown; hall of famers are working in our boatyard everyday. 

It’s no accident that the Maritime Center was built here. We grew out of the Wooden Boat Festival’s success and impact, now the largest annual wooden boat festival in Northern America (and I daresay most fun!) Over the years we’ve continued to celebrate and cheerlead for our community’s maritime character, and engage our youth in the kinds of experiences that lead them to not just understand but potentially join the ranks of the functional artists that keep our waterfront humming and, according to the last economic impact report, support 20% of the jobs in our county. 

The education that Northwest Maritime has pioneered in Port Townsend is working. Five years in and graduates from the Port Townsend Maritime Academy’s high school program are working around the world and here at home in high demand jobs. We are increasingly being asked to help other communities adopt and execute the program approach created here in Port Townsend’s maritime culture; from our state’s first standalone 4 year maritime high school near Seattle, to a community-wide effort to create more maritime opportunities for young people in Whatcom County, all the way to the state of Maine where Maine Maritime Academy has approached us to help them catalyze community programming in support of what many consider to be the leading maritime university in the country. All of that, because of who we are and what we have done as a community. Pretty darn cool. 

So walk tall, row hard, and sail better — you live in a salty town we can all be proud of, so we should be!

Jake Beattie is chief executive officer of Northwest Maritime Center in Port Townsend.