On Saturday, Salish Sea Trading Cooperative held a Skipper and Crew Kick-Off party at the Ballard Library to celebrate the start of their third season.

Salish Sea Trading Cooperative, a Ballard grassroots non-profit, relies on wind and tide to transport locally produced goods around Puget Sound by sailboat. Their goals are to conserve precious energy resources and reintroduce the idea of sailing as everyday transport while building resiliency into our local foodshed.  

"I think it's a cool, innovative solution to reducing our carbon footprint even if it's small scale," said Beth Scribner, owner of Aster Coffee Lounge, who volunteers her store-front as a produce pick-up spot for the non-profit. 

A brainchild of Dave Reid, the Cooperative's primary program is the Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) vegetable box subscription. Customers can buy a box of organic vegetables from Dharma Ridge Farm on the Olympic Peninsula to support local farmers and the development of sail-based transport. 

“From June to November, our volunteer sailboats sail from Ballard to Port Ludlow, pick up local goods, and sail them back to Ballard,” explained Managing Partner and co-founder Kathy Pelish.  "In the face of increasing energy prices, the co-op revitalizes sail and works in partnership with others to buy local and relocalize local economies." 

To further the petroleum-free transportation on land, the goods are transported from Shilshole to Aster Coffee Lounge on 24th Avenue N.W. by electric vehicle. 

One late November trip Pelish even transported the produce from Loyal Heights to Aster using a wheelbarrow because it had snowed and the roads were too dangerous for her electric truck or even buses.
"It was in a true 'the delivery must go through' spirit," Pelish laughed. 

Passionate about building a sustainable future, Pelish is the former communications director for Sustainable Ballard, a former board member for Microsoft Green, and was one of the first to replace her parking strip with a garden.

She's currently a novice/ intermediate sailor and is working towards becoming a skipper.

Aside from her own sailing goals, she has set some new ones for the co-op. 

"This year we're looking to diversify our products and make trade more bi-directional," she said, stating that they're sailing Theo's Chocolate over to a resort on the Peninsula and might soon be transporting Salumi's cured meats across the Sound as well. "Also, we made connections at this year's Pedaler's Fair and we'll be sailing bicycle parts to the recyclery in Port Townsend,” she added.

Pelish said they're networking with Sustainable Communities ALL Over Puget Sound (SCALLOPS) and other organizations to expand their organization and diversify products. 

"Anything a compact truck can carry, a ship can transport," she said. 

Since the organization is currently using their volunteers' recreational boats, SSTC is applying for a large grant to build their very own schooner. 

"The schooner would give us more capacity," Pelish explained. 

Currently each trip brings back 30 boxes of produce and eight cases of cider from Finnriver Cider. Customers can reserve boxes in advance but the group also welcomes walk-by traffic on dedicated Sundays at Aster. 

A true grassroots community venture, the co-op relies on community-support and volunteers. As such, they're always looking for more customers as well as experienced sailors and on-land volunteers to join. 

Last year, longtime sailor and native Northwesterner Mark Hulscher joined the sailing crew with his 25-foot sloop and became an interim managing skipper. 

At only four months old, his daughter Abbey became the youngest sailor to go on an SSTC trip. 
"I was attracted to Salish because I liked the idea of trying to reduce our carbon footprint," said Hulscher. "Plus, any excuse to get out on a boat is a good thing. Transporting local organic goods without relying on petrol can't be anything but a good idea."

An engineer, Hulscher is also the founder of Ballard’s Bike Share Group and is managing the launch of the first 20-bike sharing pilot in the city.

Hulscher said the co-op's concentrated effort to promote alternative transportation is important not only to reduce the reliance on petroleum but also to gather information for future projects.

The co-op has a strict policy on engine use but relying on wind and tide leaves them at the mercy of Mother Nature. On a good day, a one-way trip might take five to six hours but Hulscher said one of his trips took as long as 13 hours to go one way. 

Now, in addition to studying weather patterns, they are looking to add sculling oars and maybe even buy an electric engine in the near future.

"The amount of information we are gathering about what does and doesn't work is a great source of information for future projects," he said. "In a way, how we move goods is going backwards in time but it's still functional. It shows that [transportation by is still viable."

With a vibrant Farmers Market and plenty of CSAs going around, SSTC faces some competition when it comes to organic produce sales. Pelish said customers should support SSTC because "our customers help support non-petroleum-based transportation, lower the carbon footprint of our local community, and inspire people."  

Learn more about SSTC at http://www.salishseatrading.com.