Meet the Board
Jonathan Norell - President
Jonathan grew up in small town Minnesota, the land of 10,000 lakes. Most days, he could be found on the family farm, working from dusk till dawn. Often, he’d be developing his carpentry acumen, or fine woodworking skills in the cabinet shop. Throughout his twenties, he expanded his trade knowledge to include building and equipment mechanicals, metal fabrication, and more. He’s just an all around handy guy! He went to work for his father, a real estate appraiser, and like many of his Scandinavian ancestors, moved to the PNW a decade and a half ago. With his love for the water he finally began to fulfill his interest in sailing. Jonathan is a local business owner and is involved in many entrepreneurial endeavors - when he’s not tinkering on a new project, he can be found cooking in the kitchen with his wife, and a nice glass of his heritage cider.
Aaron Brinckerhoff - Vice President
Aaron has fond memories of summers spent sailing in the San Juan Islands. He inherited his dad's love of the Salish Sea, the maritime industry, and historical tall ships, so serving Bosun's Workshop as a board member has been a pleasure. As someone whose own maritime knowledge is limited to sailing fundamentals and a handful of knots, he values the organization's work to teach and preserve the many trade skills essential to the industry. Professionally, Aaron is a lawyer turned software developer. He and his wife live in Bellingham.
Anne Brinson - Treasurer
Caz Ludtke - SecretaryCaz Ludtke has worked in the maritime industry since 2009, her career started off as a deck hand but she quickly became the chef. After six Atlantic crossings under sail she settled in Bellingham to join the crew of the Schooner Zodiac and fulfill her homesteading dreams with a large garden and growing family. Joining Bosun's Workshop as secretary was her way to contribute to an industry that shaped her young life and she hopes to pass that same love of history and adventure on to others.
Calen Mehrer - Founding Executive Director
Calen grew up working aboard the Schooner Zodiac since the age of 7. His formal education is in Welding and Diesel Technology and informal education in wood boat restoration & construction. Calen has sailed on other vessels such as the USCG Eagle, Harvey Gamage and Dirigo 2. Calen has been captain aboard Zodiac for the past 8 years working in the San Juan Islands, Puget Sound and Canadian Gulf Islands. He really enjoys teaching passengers and/or crew maritime and trade skills so he takes any opportunity to teach maritime skills in an attempt to combat the shortage of maritime labor in our country today. He also teaches for a local maritime apprenticeship program called Whatcom Working Waterfront Foundation as a educator in the subjects of outboards & marine diesel enginesExtracurricular. He spends a lot of his personal time supporting local marine nonprofits such as the Community Boating Center, Whatcom Working Waterfront Coalition, Whatcom Maritime Association.
Adelia Mae Boyar - Founding Director
Adelia has been in the Maritime industry for over 15 years mostly in the tourism sector. She traveled across the pacific, through the panama canal, up and down the locks on the Columbia River and enjoys most of her time on the inside passage of Alaska. She started as a steward and through the "hawsepipe" and worked herself up with no formal educational background. This is why she supports trade skills and want to see people succeed in those areas. Adelia also supports the community through non profit work by volunteering to cook for the houseless and supporting my local tool library.