A group of six teens set sail from Whidbey Island’s Cornet Bay on the Cutty Sark Saturday. They were headed for a voyage under Deception Pass Bridge into the Strait of Juan de Fuca and the San Juan Islands.

The Cutty Sark is a gaff pilot ketch that measures 52 feet on the water and looks like it sailed off the coast during the Revolutionary War.

The young people are a group of 14- to 18-year-old military dependents whose parents have deployed several times to Iraq. The group was taking part in a Military Teen Adventure Camp.

The name means what it says as some who were off on this particular adventure attested.

“It’s a new sailing experience and something I cold use later on,” said Alex West, a 15-year-old who goes to North Thurston High School in Olympia, right before he cast off.

Carlos Martin-Palmer agreed. The 15-year-old from Steilacoom High School wanted to try something new and get a little experience.

“I’d like to gain some skipper’s experience,” he said.

Like Martin-Palmer, whose father is in the Army, all the kids who participated have parents in the military.

The separation they go through when their parent is deployed multiple times can be difficult, as Kevin Powers, Teen Adventure Camp Program Director and John Stone, captain of the Cutty Sark, know.

As children whose fathers were in the military, they too went through the grind of deployments.

These Military Teen Adventure Camps and activities are made possible by the U.S. Department of Defense, the USDA National Institute for Food and Agriculture and are presented by the Washington State University Extension in Chelan and Douglas counties, Washington.

The camps are open to all teens of service members in the active, reserve and guard components.

Besides Cutty Sark Wooden Sailing adventures, they also offer Methow River rafting; hiking, camping and rock climbing courses; camping and hiking wilderness trips; skiing and snowboarding trips; animal tracking and snowshoe adventures and many more.

The itinerary for this group included a get together Friday night at Coupeville High School, getting to know each other, becoming familiar with the Cutty Sark and hearing about the adventure they would set out on.

Onboard, they would learn to crew and sail the vessel and navigate using both ancient and modern technology.

“Crews on the ship learn all the different stations, transition through the different stations,” said Powers. “They become proficient.”

Stone had his own advice.

“You’ll be sailing a ship so remember two things,” said Stone. “One, do exactly what you are told when you are told to do it. And two, do nothing else.”

The group was up early Saturday morning to sail during “slack tide,” the period between incoming and outgoing tides.

And then they were off, sailing north to the San Juan Islands, where they anchored at James Island, explored the wilderness and camped out overnight.

The Cutty Sark has a large forward cabin with bunks on both sides for the kids; a large, enclosed, pilot house where they can operate if the weather deteriorates; and a large, aft cabin which is the captain’s.

It also has an outside wheel on the back deck and a good-sized deck overall, so six kids have ample room at sea. There’s room for up to 16 youth to participate.
Powers said the primary goal of the adventure camps is to help develop critical life skills.

“It’s key to understand the thing these young people are dealing with is their role in a military family, and it’s not uncommon that some of their parents are going to Iraq or Afghanistan six or eight times,” he said. “A young person who has a deployed parent, they know their parent is going into harm’s way and might not come back. It’s a lot for a young person to comprehend.

“It’s important that these young people develop into young adults and develop life skills; working on effective communication, functioning in a group environment, leadership skills and building trust in relationships with each other,” Powers said.

No doubt, all those things came into play last weekend, but more than a few of the kids also had a look of wonder.

The look one gets when setting out on a new adventure to cool places on a very cool boat.

Military Teen Adventure Camps
The Cutty Sark Wooden Sailing Ship Adventure to the San Juan Islands will be offered several more times this season: May 14-15; Sept. 17-18; and Sept. 24-25.
Up to 16 youth can participate at a time.
Cost to register is $25 per person and is non-refundable.
For information on Military Teen Adventure Camps in Washington go to:
county.wsu.edu/chelan-douglas/youth/youth/mtac/Pages/default.aspx