I started Future Tides to fill a gap. To fill a gap I observed in national and regional news.

Spending time on Puget Sound, I started thinking about all the ways we use the water, and all the people sharing these waterways: Sailors, powerboaters, fishing folk, boat builders, professional mariners, liveaboards, paddlers, ferry commuters and many, many more.

But I need help with exactly how to fill that gap. 

Journalism is a service: It’s the service of providing valuable, relevant news and information.

Sometimes you get BAD service…

Winning awards, getting a grant or having a social post go viral doesn’t matter unless YOU — and anyone else with a connection to our waterways find Future Tides’ service valuable.

What I’m doing, recognizing a gap and trying to fill it, is part of a movement of local journalists — and people who have never been journalists — doing this across the country: Listening to their communities to build the journalism that helps them with their daily life, or their careers, or their pastimes.

A key part of this puzzle is how to make this financial, and emotionally, sustainable. That challenge, and my approach, is why Future Tides’ growth has been slow and methodical over the last several years. I’ve received a couple grants to further extend that runway, and the goal is to a business built on tours, sponsorship and, very important: audience support.

The Future Tides Crew, as I’m calling it for now, is a membership program that is purely about supporting Future Tides, keeping all this original reporting free to access, and building something for the long term. So, if Future Tides’ isn’t providing a valuable service, the Crew will let me know.

YOU can help Future Tides be a role model for this movement:

First, tell people about Future Tides. Recommendations are powerful, especially in this fractured news and social media environment that’s increasingly “pay to play.” 

And take a moment to vote and suggest coverage topics. These are the broader buckets or channels that most of Future Tides stories will fit. And no matter the topic, Future Tides’ stories aim to be something you won’t see anywhere else, a story, or part of a story, that would otherwise go uncovered.

You will ALWAYS be able to suggest a story, sometimes called sending a “tip,” to Future Tides but at this moment you’re helping shape a community publication at a key moment, as it starts to plug that gap.

Thank you and I look forward to seeing your votes!

— Adapted from Cara Kuhlman's speech at Future Tides' first-ever meetup on Feb. 6, 2025 in Seattle