Sailing Experience

This page was initially created to explain my sailing experience, so people who want to sail or do solo sailing around Kodiak like me could understand the years of preparation and experience I had beforehand. My biggest concern was making sure people would NOT follow in my footsteps if they were not prepared, potentially putting themselves into very dangerous situations. Then I got a bit carried away looking at all the sailing over the years, and this page was created.

If you would like to skip this read and just focus on Kodiak, check out my Sailing in Kodiak page that will be published shortly after this! If not, keep reading! There are a few short paragraphs of my sailing experience and then several galleries of photos.

Early Adventures:

I grew up in a cruising sailing family, we always had a sailboat of some kind or another. As a small child, my family and I sailed on Kuivato, a 38 ft monohull, around the Chesapeake Bay. In the early years of grade school, my parents sold the Kuivato and we took on Miakoda, our beloved 41ft catamaran named after the moonrise. On Miakoda there were many adventures, most notably our longest 18-month journey, which included many months exploring dozens if not hundreds of islands in the Bahamas. My twin sister Alliana and I were homeschooled by my mom and dad at our self-named “Dolphin Mania Academy,” but occasionally we went to school with kids on local islands. We pet wild sting rays, snorkeled reefs, made friends with local kids in towns and lifelong friends with people on other sailboats, played on the beach, learned how to waterski, had fun on overnight passages, swam in caves and open water, got lost in an endless horizon, and explored some of the most remote and desolate islands in the Bahamas. After that adventure, it is safe to say I was hooked on sailing and the ocean. See more on Journey of Miakoda.

Racing:

At 8 years old I started racing Optis, small singlehanded boats. As I got into late middle school years, I became very serious and started sailing nearly year-round, skippering doublehanded sailboats, often with trapeze and spinnaker. This involved traveling up and down the east coast during summers to compete in C420 Nationals, North Americans, and other competitive events. I sailed mostly at SSA, but also at AYC and a little at CRYC. I competed during high school sailing seasons in both the fall and spring. Finally in the cold months sailed for winter training, Orange Bowl, and Midwinters. One team tryout we even had to sail around large chunks of ice! Throughout it all I made wonderful friends who I appreciate and miss every day 🙂

College:

During college I competed on the Coast Guard Academy Sailing Team. The CGA Sailing Team is very tight knit and extremely competitive, routinely practicing, traveling, and competing together more than 40 hours a week. There I honed my skills as a skipper, made lifelong friends, and left my impact on the team and my teammates, including becoming team captain my senior year. Throughout my four years I competed with the team in three national championships (covid took the first) and we eventually became ranked 5th and 6th in the country! I love and miss all my friends there greatly ❤

Now:

Kodiak gave me a fabulous opportunity to learn new skills and have a variety of adventures, such as hiking, skiing, surfing, and photography. But I just couldn’t resist the need to be on the water, so I seized my opportunity and bought my RS Aero, Space Cadet! Sailing it in Kodiak has been incredible!

Galleries in Order: College Sailing, High School/Club Sailing, Bahamas Trip

This section is mostly for the people in these photos to enjoy and remember. Photos of my friends and I will be added to these galleries as friends send me more! That way we can all always look back on these!

College Sailing: