Tacoma Maritime Festival
Captain
Michael Vlahovich began his seafaring career at age 15 by following his
Croatian family heritage of commercial net fishing along the west coast from
Alaska to Mexico. His passion for the sea and love of adventure has taken him
across the Pacific Ocean to New Zealand, as well as through the Panama Canal
and across the Atlantic to Europe. His love of sailing increased his respect
and appreciation for wood vessels and so he also pursued the trade of boat
building. Known nationally as a master of wooden boat construction,
restoration, and repair, Mike has shared his skills with hundreds of people
through apprenticeship programs, on-the-job training, technical college
instruction, community boat building projects, and public maritime
demonstrations.
He
was the cofounder of the Working Waterfront Museum, a grassroots effort to
preserve the vessels, skills and stories along the waterfront of his hometown
of Tacoma, Washington. He was also the originator and sponsor of Tacoma's first Maritime Fest, an annual
regional waterfront celebration.
His
efforts earned him the 1999 Washington State Governor's Art and Heritage award
for preserving commercial fishing heritage/folklore, and for maintaining the
traditional craft of wooden boat building. His long range goal is to assemble
and maintain a small fleet of classic working watercraft which will preserve a
significant piece of maritime history while providing the public with
opportunities to experience the seafaring lifestyle, to acquire traditional
maritime skills, and to visit the wilderness areas of the North American
coastline. (Washington State 1999)