Madeleine Wolczko, Stefan Wolczko & Shannon Toomey
Madeleine did a tinyboatsession in season 4. We originally met because we both liked enough waterbound adventurous activities and knew enough of the same people on Vashon Island that we eventually overlapped. She works on container ships, not quite the captain… yet… but it seems like it could go that direction if she so desires. In her off time she makes music and trains for ultramarathons… which she trains for while on the ship.
I reached out to her about Season 8 and asked if she had some folks she’d like to sing some songs with. Madeleine grew up in a musical family and Stefan and his wife, Shannon liked to sing together. We all met on a hot day in August down on Lake Washington. Randomly I had met Stefan 13 years prior when he was working on building a digital model of my ocean rowboat. Small world out here in the tinyboats.
We rowed from the launch down to Seward Park. It's hard to imagine that this is a city. From here the towers of downtown are behind the hills. Where we were was huge trees, a hundred boats, a few hundred paddle boarders and a big snowy volcano looking down on us. After some cold drinks we settled on a spot next to a small marina and some girls riding a floating unicorn. I took some stills. They warmed up. The girls lost the unicorn and asked us to rescue it and we returned it to them and got the thanks of some relieved parents.
There's a fire out on the peninsula. The smoke was just reaching out to cover half the sky and the setting sun burned orange through haze. Out east it was clear. Jet skis, motorboats and the laughter of kids and adults at play on paddle boats filled the air and the three of them sang with that easy familiarity of family that not only do you love them… but you also like them.
On the way back Madeline popped in the water and hung off the back of the boat while I rowed us back. After she popped back in, her brother picked up the guitar and played a bit of James Taylor. It was a song I knew, so I sang a little bit too. @m.leinewolczko, @stefanwolczko, @to0o0ms
Find more Madeleine, Shannon & Stefan:
Season 4 (Feat: Gus Reeves)
I know Madeleine because she lives on Vashon Island and I know some folks on Vashon Island and some of all that overlap because of an inclination towards outdoor and boaty things. Madeleine takes it to the next level. She works as a merchant mariner on the big ships that bring all the things around the world that can fit in those big old 40-foot containers and look like a bunch of stacked Legos from afar.
That’s pretty cool and all, but what’s even cooler is that in-between telling that mighty ship where to go, she trains for ultra-marathons on the ship’s treadmill. Madeline also brings her guitar and microphones and does, what I might call ‘Bigboatsessions’ as she writes and records music in her cabin. Back in her home waters, she lives on a red sailboat named IKI. We’d been trying to make a tinyboatsession happen for over a year now. The fall before ended up being a bit too rainy to play the guitar, so we sat in a rowboat on Elliot bay, cracked wise and looked at the big boats. The timing finally lined up that she invited me over to IKI and her island friend, fellow musician, and long-distance runner, Gus Reeves to do some tinyboatsessions in Quartermaster Harbor on Vashon Island. -Jordan and Clarabelle
