Woman of the Wind

Gwendolyn Tracy: Custom interior boat cushions

2010-02-10T23:09:18Z

PAX has new main cabin cushions thanks to Port Townsend interior designer, Gwendolyn Tracy with Fine Yacht Interiors.

Gwendolyn has been sewing since she was in her teens, and it shows. Her custom canvas shop above the Blue Moose Cafe in Port Townsend's "big boat" shipyard is organized with that mix of artistic verve and production room stations neatly sequenced from her decades of experience. Fabric rolls, cushion materials, sample and swatch books are snuggly tucked into functional spaces around the center piece, the giant cutting table. Sewing machines are at one end, where she can see the road the 300 ton haulout takes as it brings her often very large clients to and from their work sites with one of a variety of boatbuilder or repair businessses. Townsend Bay Marine is next door, as is Haven Boatworks. Gwendolyn designs cushions, interiors, covers, you name it. She has done huge projects like the latest mega yacht from TBM to major historic boat restorations done by a variety of shipwright shops in Puget Sound. In between the big boat and big budget projects, she manages to squeeze in smaller projects like PAX.

We needed custom settee cushions, forpeak bedding, and some creative seat pillows for the bulkhead transition. The transition pieces will expand comfortable seating options in the main cabin when we're doing tours aboard the boat, seminars and charters. For a look at the first phase of the project, the Port settee seats, take a look at the photo galley. Gwendolyn can be reached at 360-379-0661.

Podcast interview on MadMariner now live

2010-01-13T18:42:38Z

MadMariner.com is a fantastic online magazine for boaters from circumnavigators to local building and racing scenes. This past week, the editor interviewed me for their Women in Sailing podcast series. As you'll see from the interview, I see the industry's focus on women, elevating the still too invisible role women have in boat ownership and decisions as being one of the greatest opportunities to grow the industry. While the economy may make it more urgent, the reality makes it the best long term investment as well. Here's hoping more women will express their opinions, their leadership, their own-her-ship in boating around the world!

Women of the Wind Adventure Sail

2010-01-08T23:00:00Z

Experience PAX (latin for peace) on Port Townsend Bay! Join Kaci Cronkhite, circumnavigator, sailor, writer, Wooden Boat Festival Director and owner of the classic wooden boat - PAX - for a 2 hour afternoon sail on Port Townsend Bay. Sail starts in Point Hudson at center dock and depending on winds, will include waterfront tour, lower Hadlock, Marrowstone Island and Point Wilson cruise. Aboard, it's your choice of inspiration: quietly sit back, enjoying the sail and soaking up the sounds of wood on water, the scenery, the motion of the boat... and/or stories of world sailing adventure, tales of the writing life, history and details of the boat or our wooden boat community.

Cost: $100 per person (3 people max depending on experience)

Available May-October, weather dependent.

To schedule a charter, contact kaci@womanofthewind.com.

To see other charter options in Port Townsend, contact Rob Sanderson, Waterfront Programs manager at Northwest Maritime Center.

Brazilian woman's view on wooden boats

2009-12-19T17:15:24Z

Helga Leal was there in the beginning. First introduced to me by email as "Peaze's wife", Helga interjected herself into a sequence of correspondence I was having with her husband (Luis Peaze' wooden boat builder, community culture advocate and author) regarding his ambitious and at first, highly impossible idea to build a wooden boat, have it transported to USA and then, himself come to Port Townsend and participate in the Wooden Boat Festival. Like many women behind the scenes of boat ownership, sailing and building, Helga's first comments were to thank me and other people helping make her husband's dream come true. She was gracious, warm, as committed to his happiness as he was to the boat and travel dream. Daring the cultural divide between myself as an American and her as a Brazilian, I wrote back and asked to know more about her involvement. Here is our exchange:

KC: "Tell me what you like most about wooden boats."

Helga Leal: "The wooden boats send me farway into the past. They bring me a sense of conection with nature, a sense of pertaining to a harmonic environment -- a rescue of an oral art tradition from our ancestors in the nowadays world that seems to spin too fast. Beyond that regardless of their designs, colors, lines and perfomance, it feels so good to just admire a wooden boat."

KC: "How did you become involved building wooden boats?"

HL: "It happened when Peazê invited me to share with him his dream of building a wooden yacht. Coincidentally my father used to nourish the same dream but unfortunately he didn´t have time to accomplish it. Standing by Peazê I could live through a special moment while helping him in the building of the boat, then living aboard and sailing in a world until then wholly unknown to me, but in a real world, a world where nature is the main actor and where we are simply supporting players."

KC: I look forward to meeting you in person someday, either here or there!

Women Leaders of Festival and Foundation

2009-10-08T15:20:00Z

As Director of the Wooden Boat Festival in Port Townsend since 2002, eight festivals and counting, I am but one in a long line of women who've held the role. Anne Greer (whose husband Jay Greer is a well known writer on WoodenBoat Forum), was WBF Coordinator from 1995-2000. Other festival coordinators included Mary Dietz McCurdy, Ellen Falconer, Kerri Bourke (from Australia), Marybelle Kern, Marsha Rasmussen, Libby Palmer and Kathleen Rousch. In all, 26 festivals were coordinated by women, 8 by men. While leadership of this highly successful cultural event has a clear imprint of female leadership, the non-profit organization that sponsors it does not. Executive Directors of the Wooden Boat Foundation are more often men: 22 years to 12. Does it matter? Were women the executives in certain phases of development? Is there a pattern in organizations that is similar to the WBF? Are the culture, the success, the vision and operations different under male leadership? This isn't a question about who is "better", rather, a look at differences of approach and the results. Take a look at the months or years where Paula Calderon (1980), Kathleen Rousch (1982 & 83), Mary Dietz McCurdy (1984, 85 & 86), Aletia Alvarez (1995, 96, 97, 98 & 99), me (six months of 2004) served as Executive Director. Like many inquiries into the study of leaders and leadership, especially in organizational development, gender is one lense with which to analyze leaders in hindsite and to progressively define the values an organization hiring leaders for the innovative approaches necessary in our current economy. Food for thought.

Swedish women with wooden boats

2009-08-30T15:20:28Z

On a research trip to Denmark, I reconnected with circumnavigator friend Silvija Springis, whose first ocean trip across the Atlantic was in a wooden boat. She and her husband built a 50' fiberglass boat named Magnum Bonum for their circumnavigation, but she understands why I've migrated to wood for my own boat. In trying to track down Pax' history in Denmark (and Sweden, since these boats often cruise across the Oresund Sea to Sweden), I sent her photos of the boat and asked for her help. She recognized the detail of a wooden boat in her home sailing club, VSS (a club where more than half the members own wooden boats), owned by a Swiss/Swedish woman named Lotta. Lotta was described as "loving her wooden boat almost more than her daughters!" and "the most active sailor in our very active club." Lotta's boat, Agnete, is in fact a S30 spidsgatter, the "cover girl" of the only book published about Danish Spidsgatters. She has owned it for several years and is both restoring it and sailing it often! I flew to Stockholm for a day and sailed right into the heart of Stockholm harbor, then circumnavigated the first island of the famous Swedish archipelago with Lotta, her oldest daughter and my friend, Silvija. That day we met another woman boat owner, Helena Thorslund from Gotteberg (western Sweden). Helena was in Stockholm for the same reason I was. Researching her boat! Her boat was a "Laurin Koster" and she'd been corresponding with a man who owned a beautiful one and kept it at VSS. The name of her boat is Camara. Here's a little from my correspondence with Helena: "Camara is 50 years (there is a cotton-main sail in beautiful condition and the sailbag is marked with her number H6 S37 and year 1959). I have halfpart of her history. She is a "Laurin - koster" by Arvid Laurin. Enclose some pic's of Camara and also a small sailing boat from 1932 (constructors name Sven Thorell) wich one I have owned since I was ten years old. I only just bought her (nov 2008. Camara is still not launched. If we work hard, hopefully in 1-2 weeks she will be on water." To see photos of Helena's boat and progress, visit her website. Like me, Helena also rides horses and draws great solace from the wind.

Internships available for metal boat and wood construction

2009-08-30T15:07:24Z

Grace Harbor Marine in the Port of Port Townsend's Boat Haven, is considering offering an internship for metal boat building, including the wood interior and deck. Certification is possible. While primarily a welding service at this point, owners are also members in the Metal Boat Society. For information, call Michael at Grace Harbor Marine Service. 360-379-1940 or by email: pilgrim@olypen.com. Metal Boat Society recently held it's annual Festival in Port Angeles. To learn more about them, contact President, Candy Larrieau. She and her husband are building a metal boat and hoping to go cruising next year.

Walter Cronkite and his boats called Wyntje

2009-07-19T12:30:33Z

A friend dropped me a note today with a link to an article written years ago explaining why Walter Cronkite always named his boats Wyntje. I knew about the wooden yacht Wyntje. I'd heard about a Westsail. I'd seen photos of a variety of boats with Walter at the helm. "Wyntje was the first woman married to a Cronkite in the New World, so all my boats are named Wyntje", he said. While our first Cronkhite/Cronkite/Kranckheydt ancestor in what is now America was definitely married to Wyntje, they were Syboutzen at that point. None of us know for sure why or how we got this name in the New World. Wyntje's husband was a shipbuilder and it's been fun to cross paths with Cronkhite's all over the country who sail. Wish I could have sailed with Walter to discuss it.

Youngest sailor, youngest female to attempt solo circumnavigation

2009-06-26T14:33:25Z

Jessica Watson, a young woman sailor who cruised with her parents aboard their 50 foot boat and who has done more offshore preparation than many adults who set sail around the world, will set off on a solo circumnavigation this year. Inspired by Kay Cottee, fellow Aussie who was the first woman to sail around the world solo, non-stop and unassisted, much of Jessica's story rings familiar. Cottee, too, retrofitted a boat and was very involved with all aspects of the voyage. An experienced sailor, boat owner, maintenance whiz and savvy businesswoman, Kay Cottee had more experience than Jessica, but in this age of home learning options, the young sailor may not be as far behind her older peers as people assume. Her parents seem like savvy folks, are native New Zealanders (a huge genetic plus right there) and their preparation through example and prudent adventure are quite a contrast to other parents I've read about who "let" their kids go to sea. I'll be following Jessica's voyage with optimism and hope. Fair winds, young sailor and may the seas be kind teachers.

Denmark & Sweden spidsgatters

2009-05-29T15:14:27Z

On June 1, I head to Copenhagen where I'll get to see a fleet of Danish spidsgatters, still sailing out of the Svanemøllen harbor. We'll meet Bel Ami and Ursa, and hope to see many more. On June 8, I fly to Stockholm to sail at the VSS with the owner of Agnete, a D30 class boat built by the same designer and boatyard as Bel Ami, and possibly Pax. Tours to Roskilde Viking museum, the Kalundborg museum, Walsted yard and several pleasure craft museums will be part of the journey as we continue our search for Pax true origin. Follow the news here, on the blog. Skol!