Sam Sikkema Preserves & Captains The Largest Historic Ship In the U.S., Victory Chimes

"I would say my craft is the preservation of traditional sailing. And I think the thing that inspired me to start it was just a lot of my connection to nature as a kid and how sailing and doing it in a sort of, I guess I for lack of a better term, say more organic way, with less plastic and less technology and sort of just, you know, more wherewithal, and that sort of inspired me to go the route of traditional sail, it also sort of fell in my lap to a degree, like a lot of things that, you know, you end up being lucky with. But I would say that that's one of the things that has kept me inspired to keep doing it over the years. I'm sure it's that connection that you can have to the natural world through having to work through you can't go around it, you can't go over it, you have to just work through it and figure it out and do it with you know, all of these traditional materials," says Captain Sam Sikkema.Captain Sam grew up in Michigan sailing on the great lakes. His father introduced him to sailing which at first Sam didn't really care for and enjoyed the speed of powerboats instead but then over time he grew a passion for sailing."There is not a school for being a Merchant Mariner. There certainly is a Maritime Academy which is an excellent way to go. I certainly considered that getting out of high school, though, I have to say, when I was getting out of high school, the idea of doing any more school period ever was not really on my radar. So one of the things that I think is really cool about sailing, and especially traditional sailing is that it is in a lot of ways an oral tradition and the best way to learn is through experience. So it's pretty much all on-the-job training. I was fortunate that I was able to kind of, you know, get into it right out of school and be put to sea and just start going and getting that experience and learning and seeing the world and yeah, you know, went on from there," said Captain Sam.Captain Sam continues the conversation with Kristan on the foredeck of the Victory Chimes discussing the history of the vessel, his past career leading up to being the captain of the Victory Chimes, the experience of Windjamming, and so much more. To view, the Maine Windjammer Association fleet visit their website, Instagram and Facebook.To view, the Victory Chimes visit their website, Instagram and Facebook.Photo Credit: Quinton DonleavyThanks to sponsors Berlin City Auto Group and Cliff House Maine.For more information on the Cliff House Maine event with the Windjammers, click here. If you enjoyed this Makers of the USA episode, please leave a rating and review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or Facebook. Please check out Makers of the USA's YouTube channel, Facebook and Instagram. Thank you all and stay safe and healthy.