Ahoy avid GladRags Gab readers!

Former GladRags employee Diana, here. To give you all a glimpse into some of the expeditions upon which I have embarked since my departure, here’s bit about my most nautical journey to date – working as educator/deckhand aboard the schooner Adventuress.

The breathtaking vessel Adventuress is a 1913 schooner, currently underway in the Puget
Sound, educating all who climb aboard about environmental stewardship, nautical skills, communal living, and marine life. Participants in Adventuress sails are taught by crew about the benefits of plankton (they provide 2/3 the world’s oxygen!), shown how to tie a buntline knot, get to check out the living quarters below decks and, of course, must haul away on lines to raise the four sails of the ship: main, fore, stay and jib.

Cape Cod mamas ain’t got no pies
Heave away! Haul away!
They feed their children codfish eyes
And we’re bound away for Australia!

At first the sea shanties we sung as we tugged and pulled on the lines seemed a little silly, but they were invigorating during some challenging physical work. This good dose of manual labor, mixed with discussions of environmental education theory and the characteristics of chitons (super cool monopods found in the intertidal zone), gave great balance to life on Adventuress. My duties included helping to sail the ship and teach the curriculum of the environmental educational program, but I was the real student during my time on the ship. I came out of a month on the boat knowing more about sailing a tall ship, but I also was reminded of personal capability and empowerment.

Adventuress prides itself of the empowerment of its students. Many are nervous to be entrusted with tasks aboard a ship, especially if they have never sailed before. But the attitude aboard this schooner is: no new skill, unknown concept or uncharted land is out of anyone’s reach. I was at the bottom of the totem pole, skill-wise, on the boat and I was humbled, but I was then given the opportunity to learn boatloads (literally) and remember that my capabilities know no limits!

One of my most rewarding accomplishments coming out of the month on the Adventuress was the conversion of the majority of the female crew to reusable menstrual products. The sailor ladies received a big package from GladRags full of pads, sea sponges and cups – they really live the light footprint that they teach.

Sailing the seas in GladRags style,
Diana