Sail Transport Network has teamed up with Sustainable Ballard and led a team of volunteers to haul an array of organic produce and food from Kitsap County Farmers to the public dock of Ballard's Shilshole Bay Marina.

Dave Reid, co-founder of Seattle Peak Oil, took the reigns as lead engineer for Seattle's Sail Transport Network. The concept, originally thought up by California activist Jan Lundberg, is to mitigate peak oil and climate change. The mission of the company is "natural transport for the local economy and community."

Reid was inspired to start the program through environmental reasons, the support of local farmers, not using oil and the idea of sailing being very low impact. He was introduced to organic farmers who had water access in both Poulsbo and Sequim, explained Kathy Pelish, former volunteer communications director for Sustainable Ballard and current Sail Transport Network Media and Communications coordinator.

Reid connected and spoke with local farmers and made a deal to sail and sell their products to the Ballard community.

Reid tested four trial runs on his own and went to the community for support once he was confident with the idea.

In September he partnered with Sustainable Ballard and by the first week of January they were able to round up a full crew for their first launch as partners.

Currently they have seven committed farmers working and supplying the program.

Despite having 600 pounds of organic produce, 50 pounds of oats and 110 pounds of honey in tow, the Jan. 4 sail sold out in less than two hours when 40 to 50 Ballardites swarmed the dock, reported the Sustainable Ballard Semi-Monthly Announcement.

To make the dockside farmers market more enjoyable, Starbucks in Ballard donated coffee and tea and free fiddle music was performed by crewmember Alex Tokar.

Supporting Ballard's Shop Local/Think Local program, Sail Transport Network and Sustainable Ballard are set up with a planned Community Supported Agriculture for the rest of the year.

The plan sets them up with local farms that will be paid a certain amount each month in exchange for produce once a week. This guarantees consumers access to fresh organic produce and assistance to support the local economy, Pelish said.

Their next run is planned for the end of February and their goal is to set up a functioning Community Supported Agriculture that will be totally sale based with no carbon emissions or oil used by sailing engineless.

Reid has also made a point to assist any community involved with Sustainable Communities All Over Puget Sound that has water access and interest in the Sail Transport program and will teach them how to begin a program of their own.

For more information visit http://sustainableballard.org/wiki/index.php?title=WITT or contact Dave Reid at 605-3628 or sailtransportcompany@gmail.com.