Summer 2009 Update
Sail Transport Company:
Petroleum-Free Delivery of Local Organic Produce -
Summer has finally arrived, and we here at the Sail
Transport Company are eager to start our regular
deliveries on Sunday, June 14th, through our sail and
bike-powered Community Supported Agriculture
(CSA) program.
We’d like to bring you up to date on our progress
since our last late season produce delivery on
February 22nd and our plans for 2009. Since
February, the sail transport crew and I have been
setting up routes for the 2009 CSA delivery
schedule, expanding relations with farmers and
sustainability groups, engaging in community
outreach, and building the equipment we need to
perform petroleum-free delivery of fresh produce.
We’re pleased that we’ve made progress with dock
access with several Washington ports, including the
Port of Seattle’s Shilshole Bay Marina and Seattle’s
City Dock.
We’ve continued our partnership with Nash’s
Organics in Sequim, and the first produce deliveries
this year will come from them. We will continue to
supply you with creative recipes supplied by local
chefs—June’s recipes are from Heidi and Dylan
Stockman, owners of the GreenGoFood restaurant
in downtown Ballard.
Some people wonder why we don’t start deliveries
earlier. This time is when food becomes available
locally in Western Washington. Our CSA is not
based on produce trucked in from areas outside
Western Washington. Our produce is as in season
and local as it can be. We promise our customers
and suppliers we support what we can be proud to
grow and move locally within the environment we
have.
We’ve continued to deliver raw local Kitsap honey
from Buck Hollow farm near Poulsbo throughout the
year.
Over the winter, we explored some new future
sailing routes as well as developing sculling oars.
Future routes to Whidbey Island are looking really
promising. Sailing completely engineless requires
careful route planning and navigation as well as
local first hand knowledge of tidal currents.
Bob Hall and I, as well as Kevin Connally at Seattle
Central College’s Marine Carpentry program, have
been working on multiple sculling oar designs in
order to locally perfect here in Seattle a robust
system for propelling boats 25 ft. to 40 ft. in close
quarters without using engine power. Bob Hall, the
skipper of Jacqui and active member of the Oar
Club, built the first prototype oar with the help of Jay
Fitzgerald, author of “Wind and Tide”.
STC is delighted about its selection as a produce
supplier for the first-ever “Camp Carbon Feather” on
Blake Island at the end of July where campers,
kayakers, sailors, and hikers can meet for a more
natural alternative to the gas-powered Seafair.
Bob Hall sculling in the Straight of San Juan de Fuca, and Seattle-built custom cargo trailer
Over the spring, Segue Fischlin, proprietor of
Frankentrikes, has been working long hours to
perfect the electric-assisted cargo trike which will be
one of our CSA's main land delivery vehicles. I
believe this vehicle is one of the most efficient small
cargo delivery vehicles in existence, other than pure
pedal power. Its designed load-to-weight and
energy-to-weight ratios far exceed the conventional
small delivery vehicles we know of (including the
often-promised, hyper efficient carbon fiber cars
arriving in the mainstream media).
Local bike trailer designer Haulin Colin has also
completed a bike delivery trailer design which can
be dually used as a dock cart with much better
stability than the standard carts available at most
ports.
We will use both these designs for this year's
deliveries after their prototypes worked successfully
for previous loads. I’m very happy that right here in
Seattle, we have the local craftspeople with the
innovative skill sets who can build these vehicles.
Fulvio, Dave, Steve, and Alex at Lazy-J Tree farm
STC attended the Green Festival and the
Sustainable West Seattle Festival, and in April
proudly donated a free tote of produce to
Sustainable Ballard’s community raffle. KUOW and
KEXP have both produced segments on the Sail
Transport Company. You can hear the KUOW
interview from the link on sailtransportcompany.com.
We're also looking forward to joining Sustainable
Ballard's green corner at Seafoodfest in July.
Thanks to everyone who is making fresh, healthy
food — transported free of petroleum — a reality
right here and now.
Fair winds,
Dave Reid, Founder
To order, please visit our Web site at
http://sailtransportcompany.com, and click the
Ordering link on the left.
