Bringing healing, one boat trip at a time

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POST FALLS — For Captain Jon Totten, founder of Dogsmile Adventures therapeutic sailing, launching his nonprofit was one of the hardest things he’s ever done.

It's also been one of the most rewarding, Totten said Wednesday during a presentation for the Post Falls Chamber of Commerce.

Launching the business in the fall of 2020, Totten wasn’t sure how Dogsmile’s inaugural year of operation would go.

“I wasn’t sure if it was going to take,” he said. “I just knew in my heart that I’ve seen so many breakthroughs on boats. I’ve seen so many people find relief. I’ve seen so much discovery, relationships built and barriers broken down on these experiences.”

The therapeutic nature of sailing just happens, Totten said. But it wasn’t happening here, where we have “world-class bodies of water” and “no shortage of need."

The program took off “like crazy,” he said.

“I took about 200 people sailing, and sailed 80-something days through the season which was six days a week,” Totten said. “The outpouring of support and interest was quite overwhelming to be honest.”

Totten operates several programs and two sailboats on Lake Pend Oreille. Partnering with the Coeur d’Alene Youth Sailing group, Totten also runs summer sailing camps from Yap-Keehn-Um Beach behind North Idaho College for kids 8 and older.

Totten’s passion is working with the underserved in our community. He formed several fruitful partnerships during the first year.

“I tried to find organizations that are already serving these populations in other ways, and said, ‘Hey, would this work?” Totten said.

During the first year, Totten worked with clients from Specialized Needs Recreation, a Coeur d’Alene nonprofit group providing special-needs focused recreation and social opportunities; HRC Ministries in Spokane, which brought several women who’d escaped abusive situations and were living in the organization's safe house; Echo Springs residential substance abuse treatment center in Bonners Ferry; and the Veterans Administration in Spokane.

Though Totten isn’t a veteran, he knows the population has many needs. He created a veterans advisory board to help him understand what programs are working for them, and which aren’t.

The vets said they needed more than one-time events. They want ongoing community and a sense of belonging. Taking this to heart, Totten formed a veterans racing team with three men.

Racing twice a week all summer long, the team showed up on a grand scale, Totten said.

“These guys were there an hour before me, every weekend. The boat - you could eat off the deck it was so clean,” Totten said. “The team dynamic was the number one thing.”

This summer, two vet teams will compete weekly on Lake Pend Oreille, Totten said.

“Those are just some of the community partnerships that have come together,” he said.

Private sailing trips can be booked as well, for pleasure or for therapy, he said. One of his earliest clients was Tim Neary, a local resident whose three daughters are all on the autism spectrum. Neary chartered a sailing trip once a month for most of last summer, Totten said.

“They were my first client. I’ll never forget this family,” Totten said. “They came walking down the dock, with three girls. I’ve never worked with children with autism in my life. We were getting on the boat, and I’m like, I hope this works.”

Neary described the experience with Dogsmile as “phenomenal,” and “amazing.”

“He was absolutely right about the benefits of therapeutic sailing,” Neary said. “When you’re moving on the water and sailing, there’s no noise. And that is incredibly freeing. Sailing is a very positive sensory experience for people who have sensory issues.”

Totten learned how to sail on Lake Coeur d’Alene, through North Idaho College’s Outdoor Pursuits program, when he arrived in 1998. An outdoor educator, guide and sailor for the past 24 years, Totten has spent time on sailboats all over the world, he said.

In 2019, he was working as a charter captain, operating a million dollar sailboat, taking wealthy clients around the southern Caribbean.

“I burned out. I really lost myself completely in that gig. Everybody was on vacation, there was a lot of drugs and alcohol,” Totten said. “Over time it took its toll on me. I wound up in a drug and alcohol rehabilitation program. I checked myself in, and got sober two and a half years ago.”

It was that experience that helped him “get back to the point” about what he was doing, Totten said. He wanted to use his talents and gifts doing something more meaningful than shuttling around vacation-goers.

When COVID struck, early in 2020, Totten planned to ship his sailboat back to the states, sell it, and get out of the business. When lockdowns were announced, Totten got stuck on board his boat, which was moored in the U.S. Virgin Islands, for a month and a half.

With his “whole mission stalled” and his plans “dissolved,” Totten wasn’t sure what to do next, he said.

While talking to a friend, Totten was hit by the thought that most people never have the opportunity to enjoy sailing - it is a luxury few can afford.

“I wanted to find a way to give the experience to the people that need it most,” Totten said.

He returned to Coeur d’Alene, and began working on Dogsmile Adventures.

Sailing into its second season, the organization received its first grant from the United Way, and already has therapeutic bookings for the upcoming season.

People often ask how they can support the venture in reaching more people, Totten said.

It’s as easy as buying somebody a boat ride, Totten said.

“I advertise this really directly on the website. You’re really buying two boat rides,” Totten said. “I’m charging about double of that experience on the market. You’re buying your day on the water and you’re buying one for somebody else.”

Direct donations can also be made through Dogsmile’s website. Totten held his first fundraiser last December, and though it was an enormous undertaking, $64,000 was raised. More fundraising is in store for the future, as the outreach grows.

“I’m so proud that we get to do it all again,” Totten said.

Visit dogsmileadventures.org for more information.