Orcas Island Sailing

06/22/2016

Orcas island

02/12/2016

Hello Everyone! This is my first Facebook post ever!!! Although none of you have any idea who I am (I'm Nat!) I am very pleased to announce that I am the new owner of Orcas Island Sailing!!! I will post again soon, but for now, I just wanted to tell the world that I am grateful for this opportunity, the amazing help and trust from Ben, and exclamation points!!!

09/22/2015

It's been 15 years of meeting fabulous people from all over the world and teaching them to sail! Now it's time to let someone else take the reigns of Orcas Island Sailing. I'll miss this "job", it's been the best one I've ever had, but it's time to do something else.

Thank you to everyone who has spent time with me on one of my sailboats. Thank you for your time, your friendship, for sharing your stories and laughs. You have touched my heart unlike anything I've ever experienced.

Please email me if you would like to stay in touch because I still want to keep these wonderful friendships I've made over the years.

Stay tuned to find out who's coming to the helm!

I think Porky the Pig says it best...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0FHEeG_uq5Y

Looney Tunes That's All Folks! Check out my new Music Video! "The Weekend - Can't Feel My Face" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZElERi0YB6s Check out my Musi...

09/04/2015

The final day for lessons and rentals this year has been set! September 22nd. And... there will be limited availability between Labor Day and the 22nd.
And on the 23rd? Disneyland? Nope, Arlington.

08/19/2015

Epic sailing! For only the second time in the history of OIS I had to put up the storm jib on Pilgrim. Combined with a double reef in the main we were still pushing the limit of comfort, nearly rail down. Pilgrim is a +6000 pound sloop with a Ballast/Displacement ratio of 52%. Yep, over 3000 pounds of lead in her keel and we were still nearly overpowered by the winds howling out of East Sound today ;-)) My kind of sailing for sure!!! Well done Monica and Mark!

08/11/2015

How do you escape the heat of Texas? Come sailing on Orcas Island!

08/10/2015

Lighter winds, bigger sails!

07/16/2015

When I was originally setting up my business I knew I wanted to offer something completely different from the other sailing options on Orcas Island. I settled on not charging per person, only allowing one "group" on the vessel be it 1 person or a family of 6.

Yesterday I had the great pleasure of sailing with one of those families that I set out to target. Twice they have come to take me sailing, to take the risk of doing something wrong at every turn of the boat. Twice they have walked away with a new found confidence. Yesterday they took me sailing aboard my trimaran, in fairly big winds, with boat traffic, all the while going very fast. No problems. They worked as a team jibing that HUGE mainsail, ducking under the massive boom, sheeting in the jib. From land it must have looked like a well seasoned race team. On the boat it was just another family having a great time sailing, something they have done twice in their lives ;-))
I LOVE my job!

07/09/2015

I'm often asked what is my favorite sailboat. I've been very fortunate to have sailed dozens of boats and owned more than 30. From this background I've come to realize that for me, small is the preferred direction, not large. The Phillip Rhodes designed R-19 either in the swing keel or fixed keel is my choice. The swing keel version has taken me to camping spots on lakes and reservoirs that could only be reached by boat. The fin keel version, as seen in this image, has amazed me with it's ability to handle the local waters.
This design has been available for more than 50 years and more than 3500 have been built. You can still purchase a brand new R-19 from Stuart Marine.

07/05/2015

You know the feeling. Within 30 seconds of meeting someone you know you are going to enjoy their company, maybe you've just made a new friend. That is exactly what happened when these two walked into my office. And, in this case, I knew these two ladies were the right ones for taking my trimaran on her first sail of this summer. They had that adventurous sparkle in their eyes!

07/03/2015

Snapshots from yesterday. The kids are 7 and 10. Both took the helm for the majority of the +3 hour lesson on Pilgrim, the +6000 lb Pearson Commander that was sailing rail down for most of the day. Most impressive!

Full rain gear was needed on Jazz, the Rhodes 19, because Phil really wanted to get the experience of sailing in stiff winds, big waves and close hauled. The video I posted yesterday was taken aboard this trip with him at the helm.

The three young women are sisters sailing aboard Pilgrim in the afternoon. All three were new to sailing and couldn't get enough of beating into the wind and waves!

These images are from one of the best days of sailing I've had in my 42 years of sailing.

07/02/2015

Yesterday was a magnificent day for sailing! I was on "Jazz" the Rhodes 19, Tara was aboard "Pilgrim" the Commander. I had the brother aboard, she had the sisters. This is Pilgrim beating toward Olga, getting close to the big winds and waves that were pouring out of East Sound. Notice the spray coming off our bow!