Overview
This position is perfect for those passionate about maritime education and adventure. As Captain, you’ll engage with participants of all ages—from elementary students to adult learners—throughout multiple seasons. In spring and fall, you’ll lead school programs focused on maritime skills and team-building, both on land and water. During summer, you’ll teach adult sailing classes on keelboats, enjoying the best sailing weather of the year. The Captain will also help with youth camps, taking students out on various vessels.
Programs involve a variety of vessels, including 26-foot historic longboats, keelboats, and small craft, as well as onshore activities at Northwest Maritime. You’ll be responsible for vessel safety, gear management, and participant well-being, fostering a safe, inclusive, and dynamic learning environment. Captains are role models who lead by example, emphasizing teamwork, clear communication, and superior experiential learning.
If you’ve got a go-getter attitude and are ready to dive in and help when needed, then you’re our kind of teammate. If creating a vibrant, inclusive, and safe learning atmosphere is your superpower, and you know how to switch seamlessly between leading a group and partnering with the crew, then we want you. Do you have clear communication, a collaborative spirit, and the flexibility to ebb and flow with the tides? Join us! We work hard and have fun, each day is a new opportunity to do or see something cool!
Qualifications:
An ability to communicate clearly, work collaboratively, and be flexible in a variety of situations
Versatility in using various teaching methods for different audiences and learning styles
Competence in student management, particularly for middle to high school students
Enthusiasm for working outdoors in all types of weather
Ability to lift and carry gear up to 50lbs
Required Skills:
Current 25-ton (or greater) USCG Captain's license
Current US Sailing Keelboat Instructor Certification or ability to obtain
Maritime education experience on both the water and land, especially working with a variety of youth and adults in experiential, expedition-based, and alternative learning environments
Outboard engine experience
Basic First Aid/CPR, Anaphylaxis and Epinephrine Autoinjector certification or training plan
CDC “Heads Up” online concussion training or training plan
About Northwest Maritime
Northwest Maritime is dynamic, growing, making a difference in our community, and taking an increasing role in the region. We serve individual students and program participants, but we also work to help solve community problems like systemic improvements in our public schools, economic development, job training, and working regionally to pair the opportunities in the maritime industry with the need to address systemic oppression in communities of color. Plus, all of the fun stuff like kids’ programs, festivals, and adventure races.
On top of it all, you’d get to work on the water in Port Townsend: natural beauty, heritage buildings, arts community, wooden boats, zero traffic jams. Northwest Maritime’s relative scale to our small town means that the effects of our success can be observed in the success of our community. You’ll be doing meaningful work for the place you live, and your efforts will make a tangible difference.
