7th Grade Sets Sail: Experiential Learning Aboard the Schooner Adventuress

By Marlis Sandwith, 7th Grade Teacher

After months of anticipation, preparation, and tireless fundraising, the 7th grade class finally embarked on a transformative four-day, three-night sailing adventure aboard the historic schooner Adventuress, operated by the nonprofit Sound Experience.

Our journey began with a ferry ride from Anacortes to Friday Harbor, where we were welcomed aboard by the captain and crew at the Port of Friday Harbor. From the moment our feet hit the deck, we were immersed in the rhythm of life at sea.

We sailed to Stuart Island, where we anchored for two nights and fully leaned into shipboard life. Students rotated through a variety of learning stations and ship duties, including hoisting sails, rowing a wooden dory, tying intricate knots, coiling lines into functional works of art, sweating the lines, furling sails, and—of course—swabbing the decks. They learned firsthand the science behind sailing, from mechanical advantage using pulleys and levers to the environmental realities of ocean acidification and the lives of cetaceans in the Salish Sea.

When not learning or working on deck, students hiked the trails of Stuart Island, picnicked on the beach, and enjoyed well-earned moments of shore time. Each student also stood night watch, taking bearings, recording barometric pressure and wind data, and observing the mysterious underwater world illuminated by the ship’s fish light. A particular highlight (or haunting image, depending on who you ask) was the swarm of ghostly polychaetes—bioluminescent marine worms—that drifted beneath the surface.

Our final night was spent in peaceful Chuckanut Bay, offering a beautiful and contemplative view of our home shores from a new perspective. With fair weather, full sails, and full hearts, the trip was a living lesson in cooperation, curiosity, and courage.

It was, without a doubt, experiential learning in its most vivid and unforgettable form.

“I must go down to the seas again, to the lonely sea and the sky, And all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by;
And the wheel’s kick and the wind’s song and the white sail’s shaking,
And a grey mist on the sea’s face, and a grey dawn breaking.”
-From “Sea Fever” by John Masefield

Read more about our exciting Waldorf 7th Grade curriculum here!