Gets Real: Snohomish County program introduces Latino kids to ‘joy of sailing’

SNOHOMISH COUNTY, Wash. — There’s an island hopping program to introduce some Latino kids to the joy of sailing. It’s all due to a unique partnership in Snohomish County.

That partnership is between Connect Casino Road and Sound Experience. Their mission is to provide a six-day sailing through the San Juan Islands for some underserved Snohomish County kids, free of charge.

And the program is opening up new passageways for them and their families.

It is the most common of sights, a sailboat plying the waters of the Salish Sea.

But for the kids aboard the one-hundred-eleven-year-old Schooner Adventuress, this is surely the ride of a lifetime.

It was a learning experience like no other for 12-year-old Diego Reyes.

“When we went on sail, we got to pull on ropes, to like help out people,” said Diego, smiling broadly. “Because I don’t think only the staff members can do it. So they asked. So every time they do this, they sing a chant which is really fun.”

Fun, too, for his mother, a native of El Salvador.

“Nobody in my family had ever been in a boat, in a sailing boat,” said Patricia Escolero, laughing. “So he’s the first one to go. He’s lucky.”

The partnership with Connect Casino Road was the brainchild of Catherine Collins, executive director of Snohomish County-based Sound Experience.

“We reached out to the Casino Road community because we knew that there were kids and families there who normally would not get the opportunity to get outdoors,” said Collins, “and particularly get out on the Salish Sea or Puget Sound.”

“It’s a historically marginalized community that otherwise, again,” said Alvaro Guillen, “would never have this opportunity to go on a sailboat to the San Juan Islands.”

“There are fewer and fewer boats that kids have access to get out on the water,” said Collins, “to get kids to know what our Salish Sea is about, to know what’s out there. to also know what kinds of maritime opportunities there are.

“And, most importantly, to experience joy,” says Connect Casino Road’s Alvaro Guillen.

It may actually be almost routine for those who own boats like the ones docked here at the Port of Everett Marina. But for children like Diego, to spend time on the water, that could help them and their families chart a new course.

Turns out Diego’s step-grandfather also once sailed The Schooner Adventuress, making this trip especially sweet.

And now he wants to go again, “Yes,” he said, beaming, “‘cause you meet new friends, you meet (and have) so much in common that you never knew.”

Will his mother let him go again? “Definitely, yes,” said Escolero.

And really, what could be better than this?

Sound Experience says it costs $32,000 to give the 40 to 50 kids a chance to sail the San Juan Islands.

They are looking for grants now to fund next summer’s program.

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