Orion

Orion is a 64-foot yawl built in 1934 at the Henry Nevins yard on City Island, New York, and today she serves as a moving classroom for the next generation of ocean stewards. Since 2010, she has carried students through the waters of the Salish Sea on experiential learning expeditions that blend sailing, ecology, and community building. Captain-owner Kevin Campion spent years as a deckhand and educator on other learning-based vessels, where he saw how strongly young people responded to life on the water. In 2008 he began searching for a vessel that could support a program focused on both maritime skills and marine sciences. When he discovered Orion, he found not only the right platform, but also a community of shipwrights he trusted to help sustain such a program.

Operating Orion as a certified passenger vessel has required close coordination between Campion, the Coast Guard, and the Port Townsend Shipwrights Co-op. The work has included an almost complete deck replacement, extensive systems upgrades, and in 2023 a full refastening of her 64-foot hull to maintain certification with member-owner Pete Rust overseeing the majority of woodworking. The scope of that project was significant, and the team approached it with efficiency and care, completing the work in several weeks and returning Orion to her season. Her yawl rig also supports the educational program. With a smaller mizzen set well aft, students can practice sail handling with fewer risks, gaining confidence as they work lines together, learn the technical aspects of the vessel, and take part in maintaining a nearly century-old wooden boat. That work becomes part of the curriculum; stewardship is learned as much through practice as through discussion. 

Over the past fifteen years, Orion has become a formative environment for students from across Washington, the wider United States, and abroad. Many have gone on to study marine biology or conservation, crediting their time aboard with shaping their understanding of the ocean. Living and working in close quarters builds a strong sense of crew, while the vessel’s age and design remind students how rare it is to sail a boat built in 1934. For PTSC, supporting programs like Deep Green Wilderness on Orion is an investment in the young people who will be shaping the work of ocean science and stewardship in the years ahead.