Danielle Doggett: A Woman of the Sea

Illustrated by Abby Blenk

Written by Alexandra Sharp

PUNTA MORALES, Costa Rica — Don’t get too comfortable. That is Danielle Doggett’s first nugget of wisdom as she nimbly walks along the cargo ship’s frame and sits on one of the wooden ribs. Crossing one ankle over the other, she explains how staying cautious can prevent accidents.

Resembling a woven basket cut in half, roughly half the ship’s frame has been built in the past three years. The ship and its construction site are Doggett’s business, passion and future.

Doggett discovered her love for ships as a child during a week-long sailing camp on the Canadian Great Lakes. While on board, she developed a respect for the diligent work ethic and team environment sailing requires. 

“The thing that I really like about it is that when you do something on a ship…you have to do it right,” Doggett emphasized. “Because if you do it wrong, you’re putting the lives of everyone in your crew and shipmates in jeopardy.”

After graduating from the Enkhuizer School’s Nautical Academy in the Netherlands, she began working on and designing ships professionally, including designing Jack Sparrow’s prized ship in “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales.” While some ship crews — mostly cruise lines and research vessels — have many women employees, most cargo ships are dominated by men.

But that didn’t stop Doggett from rising to the rank of first mate, reporting directly to the captain on Tres Hombres, an engineless cargo ship powered by wind. Sailing on it from 2010-2012, it was the favorite vessel she ever worked on. There, she met future husband Lynx Guimond, a carpenter and fellow Canadian who shared her enthusiasm for sailing and the environment.

Both Doggett and Guimond recognized the catastrophic impact cargo fuel has on global carbon emissions. To combat this, they co-founded SailCargo Inc. to build a cargo ship that saves more carbon than it emits.

She hopes SailCargo pressures other companies to transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy.

“We wanted to set a precedent that a for-profit company could stand for something,” Doggett said.

Along with SailCargo’s for-profit sector, she co-founded a non-profit that teaches Punta Morales residents how to build wooden fishing boats they can use for fishing and travel.

For Doggett, a corporation is only as good as its impact on the community.

“It’s important for us to maintain not only a very strong relationship with our community but to just inject as much positivity as we can, especially in the form of education,” she said.

Despite the fierce discipline marine crews require, Doggett also finds cargo ships freeing. Whether she’s hauling line as a crew member or designing rigging for movie sets, she feels at ease on the sea.

Edited by Bry Barber and Zia Kelly