From Sequim to sea

Grains sail to Whidbey Island from Nash’s Organic Produce

Some Sequim products recently sailed Puget Sound waters in the effort to combat fossil fuel use while rebuilding trade routes.

Nash’s Organic Produce partnered with the Salish Sea Trading Cooperative out of Ballard to send 600 pounds of organic flour and grain to the Sundance Bakery on Whidbey Island on Oct. 11. The effort comes three years after Nash’s and Salish last sent products by boat.

Boat captain Norm Petersen said they left early Oct. 10 before arriving in the dark at John Wayne Marina later that night. They met up with Nash’s employee Sid Maroney and Stella Mestre to load up the boat.

Petersen said they had to use some fuel to dock in Sequim.

“It’s all experimental,” he said. “We’ve lost a lot of knowledge to gauge currents and times of tides (as a society), so we’ll just have to schedule it more accurately to make it more viable.”

Petersen sailed with Dominique Paccaly and Erden Eruc of Ballard and Seattle who are all volunteers.

Maroney said they were contacted a few weeks ago to try the food trek again.

“We can do grain and flour, no problem,” he said. “It’s all certified organic and we mill it.”

Nash’s has provided product for Sundance before, Maroney said, but they took the ferry up to Sequim.

“Now instead of taking the ferry across, these guys can take it over to them,” he said. “It’s a little bit more effort for us but we’re glad to do it.”

He anticipates they’ll discuss more of their products sailing in spring 2015.

For more information on the Salish Sea Trading Cooperative, visit salishseatrading.coop.

For more on Nash’s, visit nashsorganicproduce.com.