Spotlight on the Bellingham Bay Community Boating Center

IF YOU’RE HOPING to dive into sailing or kayaking this summer, but don’t know where to begin, the Bellingham Bay Community Boating Center (CBC) might be the resource you’ve been looking for. The nonprofit’s aim is to make small-boat recreation both accessible and inclusive; in fact, they provided more than $10,000 in scholarships, and $60,000 worth of community enrichment programs in 2022 alone.

The CBC performs a variety of functions within the community, including renting out boats like sailboats, dinghies, and keelboats, as well as paddle boards, rowboats, and kayaks. They also teach everything from beginner lessons in sailing and kayaking to advanced skill clinics for sailboat racing, kayak rescues and recoveries, navigation, and more.

Every program includes a heavy emphasis on cold-water safety, as temperatures below 55 degrees are dangerous to the human body, and the bay never gets above that threshold (even on hot summer days!). The ultimate aim is to give folks the support they need to get on the water safely and with confidence. All in all, Executive Director Bryan Rust says the CBC operates from a “holistic water-minded approach.”

“We’re not exclusively teaching sailing lessons or kayaking lessons; we’re trying to create opportunities where you can gain a connection to the sea and develop skills on different watercraft,” he says. “It would be ideal if the folks in our community can recognize the conditional variables that make a certain watercraft more or less appropriate.”

Moreover, regularly scheduled programming like rentals, paddle excursions, and lessons provide revenue for what Rust calls the CBC’s “mission work.” The organization is partnered with about 15 local organizations that serve a variety of underrepresented demographics, including people with physical, emotional, and cognitive disabilities; people experiencing homelessness; veterans; and children in the foster system.

For example, in 2022, the CBC partnered with Vamos Outdoors Project to deliver summer camps and afterschool activities to 81 children from Latine and English Language-Learning families. They also hosted weekly Wild Women Paddle events, where femaleidentifying community members could sign up for a free group paddle (with equipment included). This kind of programming aims to eliminate physical and emotional barriers to outdoor recreation access, thereby helping all community members feel welcome on the water.

“No matter who you are, if you want to do what we’re doing and you can’t pay the bill, we got you,” Rust says. “So that’s one barrier. But identifying certain demographics that will thrive in a unique space, like the Wild Women Paddles, is critical for effectively defeating the emotional barriers to accessing therapeutic recreation in Bellingham.”

Other community events include an annual Pride Paddle, Halloween

Paddle, and the Lighted Boat Parade. In 2022, the CBC even put on “Beats on the Bay,”, a floating concert aboard the Schooner Zodiac with music from the Sweater Weather Spring Band.

Last (but certainly not least), Rust notes that there’s no sense in connecting people to the water without “telling the deeper story” of our region’s ecology, as well as how to preserve it. This is why the CBC aims to incorporate environmental education into all of its programming. They also regularly participate in community science and stewardship efforts with local environmental organizations like RE Sources and Surfrider.

All of this work is partially funded through programming like rentals and classes so if you support the CBC this summer, you know your dollars are in good hands. As its programming expands, the organization is also looking to upgrade its facilities via the construction of a brand-new building. Information on what’s to come, as well as how to donate or volunteer, can be found online or on Instagram @communityboatingcenter. 555 Harris Ave., Bellingham, 360.714.8891, boatingcenter. org