Thomas "Thomas the Pirate" Gregory, manages line aboard the schooner Red Jacket during the Adventuress Cup.

Leader photo by Nick Twietmeyer

While thick smoke from massive wildfires in Oregon, California and Washington filled the region, things looked rather bleak for the first ever Adventuress Cup regatta.

But as luck would have it, the clouds parted ahead of the event on Sunday and the participating boats had near-perfect weather for the race.

Well, they would have anyway — if there had been any wind.

Shilshole Bay was dead calm for nearly the entirety of the event, but the ghosts of any gusts did little to shake the spirit of Adventuress’ crew. As the boats on the bay milled about, some attempted what could only be described as anemic tacks and limp jibes while they patiently awaited any signal from the organizers of the race. Adventuress, meanwhile, kept spirits high by approaching the other participating boats, her crew calling out to them before breaking into spontaneous fits of dance.

Ultimately, a small band of pressure from south whet the appetites of those aboard the schooner Red Jacket — based out of Poulsbo’s Liberty Bay — but vanished much faster than it had approached.

Some 15 minutes later, the call went out over VHF radio channel for the event: “Race abandoned.”

While the event ultimately didn’t see two grand old schooners — Red Jacket and Adventuress — engaging in a much anticipated game of cat-and-mouse on the water, according to Adventuress Cup organizer Catherine Collins, the event was still a solid success.      

“The community responded just amazingly,” Collins said. “It was really humbling for us.”

“Adventuress is such a lucky ship; it was 10 days of smoke, then a day before the race, about mid-day, the smoke clears,” Collins added.

Nate Seward served as helm for the Adventuress Sunday along with a crack team of returning Adventuress alums who, Collins said, brought their significant maritime skills to the deck. Adventuress on the other hand, Collins said, didn’t come to the party empty-handed, either.   

“When you sail Adventuress, it brings energy, it brings energy to the place and the people on board, and hopefully to the people that sailed by, as well,” she explained. “I sense that there was a lot of fun; on the radio people were telling jokes and they were having a great time waiting for the wind.”

As of Monday, the event had raised some $84,000 for Sound Experience — the nonprofit that operates Adventuress as a sort of waterborne classroom, promoting traditional maritime skills and encouraging environmental stewardship among its participants.

While the Adventuress Cup proved a significant
fundraising milestone
for 2020, it is still a far cry from Sound Experience’s usual $150,000 windfall seen in recent years at their annual fundraising gala. 

“Certainly we still need funds, although people were extraordinarily generous in giving through the boats online,” said Collins, who also serves as executive director for Sound Experience. “It just shows that people who sail the boats really care about Adventuress too.”

Participants who are still feeling the pangs of competitive spirit following the canceled race will likely have a chance to sate their hunger in the days to come, said Rusty Lhamon, race boss for the Adventuress Cup.

“We’re hoping that we’ll gather responses from the participants here in the next
24 hours,” Lhamon said, adding that a rematch could be slated for a weekend between this week and mid-October.

Lhamon noted that anyone who found out late about the Adventuress Cup is more than welcome to participate in the rescheduled race. For more information on the Adventuress Cup or to learn how to participate, visit www.soundexp.org/AdventuressCup/.