About Us

Our Mission

Enabling meaningful interaction with our community's waterfront through the preservation of public access and the development of inclusive programs

Our Board of Directors

Our Staff

Mary joined AWA in October 2022 as the Executive Director. Mary has a passion for learning, community and boating which makes her work with the AWA a great match. 

Mary brings over two years experience in leadership training as the Program Manager of Leadership Skagit. She also has decades of experience in higher education, workforce development, equity and diversity training, and program management as the Director of Continuing Education at Edmonds College. Mary obtained her B.A. from the University of Washington before obtaining her K-8 teaching certificate from Central Washington University. She earned a Master’s in International Management from the Thunderbird School of Global Management.

Mary loves the water and in her free time you will find her boating in the San Juan and Gulf Islands with her husband, Chuck, and Chocolate Labrador Retriever, Finley. She also loves crabbing and zipping around in her Boston Whaler in pursuit of the catch of the day. Mary is a member of the Anacortes Yacht Club and will serve as the club Secretary in 2023 as well as serve on the Board of Directors for the Anacortes Chamber of Commerce.


Elise Murphy grew up in Anacortes and has a passion for all things sailing. Her introduction to sailing came in Middle School when she participated in the Pacific Challenge rowing and sailing competitions. She gained an appreciation for sailing traditions, seamanship, navigation, and knot tying. In high school she was a member of the Anacortes High School sailing team and began racing keel boats with Anacortes Yacht Club. She bought and fixed up her Lido 14, Aqua Schock, and sailed as much as she could. While home from college, Elise taught two summers of the APRD youth sailing programs, working alongside her now husband, Austin. Elise graduated from the University of Portland in 2014 with a degree in Electrical Engineering. Elise and Austin share a passion for sailing and dreamt of one day crossing oceans by the power of the wind. It was only a matter of time before they saved up to purchase their boat SV Atica and untie the lines. In 2019 they left Anacortes and sailed down the coast to the Sea of Cortez, Mexico. When Covid 19 hit, uncertainty and boarder closures drastically impacted cruising plans, but they were able to sail doublehanded to Hawaii. While in Hawaii Elise obtained her 50-ton USCG Masters License. In the spring of 2021 Elise and Austin sailed on to Tahiti in French Polynesia and spent three months exploring the remote atolls of the South Pacific. After 10,000 ocean miles, two equator crossings and countless once in a lifetime experiences, they started to feel the pull of home. The community and the unique sailing environment of Anacortes make it an amazing port to call home again. As AWAs Sailing Program Manager, Elise strives to provide opportunities for Anacortes youth to be exposed to the sailing community and all the amazing opportunities it provides.

Sailing Program Manager

Elise Murphy

Mary Trester

Executive Director

Shawn O'Connor learned to sail when he was 11, and has been racing and coaching ever since! Shawn started his racing career at Race Week on a Peterson 37, racing that boat through middle and high school. A founding member of the Oak Harbor High School sailing team in 2014, Shawn taught sailing camps since 2013 with Oak Harbor Youth Sailing. He was announced as the head coach of Wildcat Sailing in August of 2020, leading his alma mater to program best finishes at NWISA Fleet Race Championships twice (2021 and 2022, 6th at both) and NWISA Singlehanded Champs (4th in 2021, 3rd in 2022 and 2023).

Shawn is a NWISA board member and is dedicated to expanding competitive youth sailing access to communities in the Pacific Northwest, with a special focus on North Sound communities. Shawn is also an extremely active keelboat racer, winning back to back North Sound Championships aboard the San Juan 24 'Juan Solo' in 2022 and 2023, San Juan 24 North Americans in 2022, Round Whidbey in 2021-23, Whidbey Summer Classic in 2021-2023 and PITCH in 2023 among others. Shawn is a substitute teacher in Oak Harbor and is excited to help lead a competitive team in Anacortes!


Chloe grew up in Port Townsend and has always loved the ocean. She learned to sail when she was 9 and started racing with the high school team at 11. She also enjoyed sailing in the Youth Racing Circuit regattas over the summer, first in Optis, and then Lasers. She has competed at nationals in high school for Port Townsend, and in college for Western Washington University.

Chloe also loves sharing her sailing knowledge and has years of experience coaching and teaching sailing. She coached a Laser racing team for high schoolers in Port Townsend and was an instructor for college PE sailing classes for years. She also led the Western Washington University summer youth Learn to Sail program and adult lessons. She has spent many hours coaching teammates one on one, running drills at practices, and giving chalk talks. Some of her happiest memories are of being out on the water with her teammates in this beautiful place we live!

When she is not on the water, Chloe enjoys hiking, backpacking, and camping with her husband, gardening, and cooking yummy food.


Shawn O’Connor

High School Sailing Coach

Chloe Cook

Middle School Sailing Coach

Dream it.

The Anacortes Waterfront Alliance is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization based in the heart of Anacortes. Our programs surround community boating and focus on small boat sailing. We host the High School Sailing Team, summer Learn to Sail programs, community sailing and rentals and offer affordable small boat storage.

The Anacortes Waterfront Alliance was built on the legacy of a group of people who formed the Anacortes Small Boat Center: a coalition of community waterfront interest groups advocating for small boat interests.

In the spring of 2018, the Anacortes Small Boat Center donned a new image and a new focus and The Anacortes Waterfront Alliance was born.

Build it.

Since then, the AWA has been able to successfully implement several programs. A few highlights:

  • Youth Sailing: AWA partnered with the Anacortes Parks & Recreation Dept. to offer youth and adult sailing classes, as well as taking over the direction of the High School racing team efforts. The AWA hosted 3 youth regattas in 2019 including spring districts which brought more than 200 sailors and families to Fidalgo Bay.

  • Boat Storage: The AWA has managed to offer affordable storage and access solutions to more than 40 small boats.  AWA manages 2 dinghy docks also with discounts for members.

  • Open Sail and Stand Up Paddle rentals: In the spring of 2019, the AWA launched Open Sail and Stand Up Paddle programs offering small sailboat and paddle board rentals on an hourly basis from Seafarers Memorial Park in Anacortes.  We are introducing sliding seat sculling the summer season of 2021.

  • Fundraising: The AWA’s fundraising efforts led to the successful replacement of the entirety of the youth learn to sail fleet with RS Tera Sailboats.

  • AWA now has a fleet that includes Optimists, Lidos, Teras, Zests, and FJ sail boats for lessons and rental.

  • Our staff is US Sailing certified.

Grow it.

The AWA is a non-profit organization that is in the business of building boaters. We understand that the future of our maritime legacy and industry depends on people having profound personal experiences while afloat. We have a vision for creating the most recreationally vibrant waterfront serving our larger community in perpetuity. We are confident that, with your help, we can reach our goals and better our community along the way. 

Here’s a feature from the Seattle Times that highlights some of our programs.