Join us for December 6 Song Circle with Award-winning Storyteller, Captain Dano Quinn

Climb aboard with award-winning storyteller Captain Dano Quinn as he leads us in song and maybe spins one of his colorful and original seafaring yarns, collected over 30 years at sea! 

When asked to share his bio with us, Dano writes, "I was born at a very young age, in fact I was an infant at the time, to two parents; my Mother & Father... I grew up in Mystic, CT. I fell in the water while crabbing when I was 5 years old and never came back out! I'm a licensed Captain of both sail and motor vessels and have been working aboard ships for over 30 years. The first half of my career was all in tall ships so I come by my shanty singing honestly. I'm also a story teller with a unique spin. I recite original humorous sea stories in ballad style. I've performed at the Fisher Poets Gathering in Astoria for the past 6 years, I've won the Seattle Maritime Festival "Stories of the Sea" Contest 4 times, and have also won the Northwest Folklife Festival Liar's Contest."

For more about Dano Quinn, here's the link to a recent article about Dano on Three Sheets Northwest by Deborah Bach: Salty stories and tall tales on Dano Quinn CD.

Please share this link and flyer with your family and friends. Holidays are a busy time, so be sure to save this date, Thursday, December 6 from 6:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. to join us at the Uptown Community Center for a fun and festive gathering. Please bring your favorite holiday finger foods and sweet treats to enjoy with hot cider, coffee and tea. 

Already thinking about your Christmas gift list? Consider giving our Sing Shanties and Songs About the Sea songbook as a very special gift from Port Townsend. We will have them available for purchase.

Join us! Sing Shanties with Mark Olson at Port Townsend's Community Center, Thursday, November 1

Ahoy mateys,

We're changing things up a bit for the month of November. 

Since the Northwest Maritime Center rented their meeting spaces out the evening of Thursday, November 1, and the cafe (Velocity) inside the Chandlery, under new management, closes at 2:00 p.m., we found ourselves homeless this coming month. To the rescue, Port Townsend Senior Association's Eleanor Stickney, manager of the Port Townsend Community Center, has reserved the main meeting room (capacity 130) of the Port Townsend Community Center for us to gather November 1st. Thank you!!

Although inconvenient to those who arrive on foot by ferry, it's a great location and meeting space. For those traveling via the PT ferry and walking, simply email us at singshanties(at)gmail(dot)com to request a ride from and to the ferry. Several of us are available to transport you from the ferry landing to the Community Center in Uptown. We will make sure you leave the song circle in time to catch the ferry, although the song circle goes until 8:30 p.m.

If  you don't know where the Community Center is located, it's in Uptown Port Townsend at 620 Tyler Street, bordered by Lawrence and Taylor streets; across from Aldrich's and Printery Communications. 

Here's the November Song Circle flyer to print and post or email to family and friends  - the small print in the flyer is Mark Olson's bio, our November's song leader, whom many greatly enjoyed leading our Sing Shanties Song Circle this past July:

When Mark Olson was seventeen years old, the sea tried to claim him. A deal was struck with Poseidon on the deck of that smoldering wreak that has held for thirty-three years. Always just one step ahead of Davie Jones, Mark has navigated the waters of the West Coast in everything from a rubber raft to a traditional square-rigger. It was during his many adventures that Mr. Olson found himself using shanties as part of everyday life. He has had the fortune to ship with several of the world’s renowned shantymen and maintains the unique perspective of using music not only as a tool to motivate and keep a working rhythm, but additionally - to keep our history alive.

Here is the photo enlarged. The expanded caption - "Mark Olson (on the bowsprit) welcomes the Chinook Nation aboard our State Ship, brig Lady Washington for song and trade."

Keep on singin' shanties! See you Thursday, November 1, at the Port Townsend Community Center in Uptown at 6:00 p.m. Remember, we have new songbooks for you to borrow during our song circle and to purchase.