Cardinell resigns from jet boat association, trains Galla as replacement

Since 2019, Caitlin Cardinell has worked as the liaison between members of the Stikine River Jet Boat Association and cruise lines to schedule tours and advocate for the organization.

After 10 years in Wrangell and seeing the SRJBA through the COVID-19 pandemic, Cardinell is resigning her position as executive director and returning to Minnesota.

Though the position has been a challenge, her reasons for leaving are to spend more time with her aging parents. She will maintain a home in Wrangell but plans to spend the next year in the Twin Cities area.

"The bulk of my career with the jet boat association has been dampened by COVID," she said. "I've witnessed the collapse and now the rebuilding of the industry, globally, regionally and locally. That was a lot to navigate."

She said it was an incredible learning experience to go through a complete shutdown and reopening of the tourism industry. "It's like everyone in tourism had to relearn how to do everything over again. Communications were slower, everything just took longer and was more tedious to get up off the ground compared to how it went in 2019."

However, Cardinell said the experience she's gained through working with the SRJBA has given her the confidence to tackle any business.

"I could walk into any business and run it," she said. "If you give me a month, I've always been the type to learn as I go. I literally run this business, every aspect of it. Marketing, communications and (public relations), accounting, operations, contract negotiations, sales, every aspect of business."

It's her plan to pass along everything she's learned to Erin Galla, who will take over the job by June 1. Cardinell will stay until the end of the month unless she is needed a little longer.

Last Thursday, Galla helped Cardinell greet tour boat passengers disembarking from the Ocean Victory, Wrangell's first cruise ship of the season. Though Galla had been meeting and training with Cardinell online while finishing school in Juneau for the past month, it was her first real day on the job.

Galla graduated last month with a bachelor of science degree in environmental resources from the University of Alaska Southeast.

"I've been working with the SRJBA for the last nine seasons as a deckhand with my dad (Mark Galla), and after college I wanted to get into a good job ... and this opportunity opened up," Galla said. The recent college graduate was born and raised in Wrangell. "I figured it would be a good (job) to apply for and see if I'd be a good candidate for it, and I ended up getting the job."

She said she wanted a job that would help her get involved in the community and to establish her stance as an adult "instead of a child of Wrangell."

The executive director position can be demanding at time, yet Cardinell's connections in the cruise lines are appreciative of her hard work.

"All last summer (I worked with Cardinell). We made 14 port calls to Wrangell," said Becca Maxey, assistant expedition leader on the Ocean Victory. "I got to work with her through the winter to line up contracts to set up dates and contracts for this summer."

Maxey described Cardinell as a clear communicator who is accommodating to those she works with. "I was saddened to hear the news (that she's leaving), for sure. She's a notch above all the rest."

The new job will be a challenge for Galla, but it's one she's looking forward to.

"Mostly, I'm just making sure I'm filling the position to the capability that Caitlin did because I know that she can multitask like crazy, and I need to live up to the ability to fill her shoes."

For Cardinell, the thing she'll miss the most is the thing she's ready to have a break from.

"Chaos. I thrive in chaos," she said. "I'm a quick, efficient problem solver. The types of environments like this where there are a lot of factors that need to be managed at all times, it takes a certain type of brain to do this well."

But then again, she said, "I won't miss that. I do look forward to relaxing a little bit."