Spinnakers, Sweat, and Survival: Three women embrace chaos and camaraderie on a 750-mile wilderness race to Alaska. By Brianna Randall, published in Cruising World Magazine I held my breath as I pulled up the sock to unfurl our spinnaker in Haro Strait. Of the five headsails we’d brought aboard our […]
Re-live our Race to Alaska. This 7-minute video of our 750-mile trip from Port Townsend to Ketchikan has it all: the highs, lows, sun and rain. The orcas and porpoises, the mid-sail repairs and the rush of flying the spinnaker. The endless tacks up Johnstone Strait and the downwind calm […]
How girl (and pedal) power helped us finish a 750-mile race to Alaska A trio of mothers in their mid-40s were among more than 100 intrepid sailors in a motley armada sailing the unpredictable and spectacular Inside Passage in the Pacific Northwest. By Brianna Randall in the Pacific Ocean As we […]
The following blog post by Brianna is reprinted from the Race to Alaska’s daily update. Enjoy our perspective from the finish line this past weekend! We’ll write another wrap-up blog soon reflecting on the trip as a whole. Meanwhile, THANK YOU for your amazing support during our race! — Greetings, […]
A tale of intrepid sailing antics at the southernmost end of the Inside Passage “Ah, that’s better,” Katie said, as we turned into Hale Passage and caught a break from the swirly side swell. “Much less vomity,” I agreed. We’d been sailing for 18 hours straight on an overnight shakedown […]
Holy moly, crew — we leave from Bellingham for the R2AK start line in t-minus 7 weeks! That snuck up fast…maybe because 2/3 of our crew spent the winter far from the cold waters in the Pacific Northwest. (Thanks, Melissa, for babysitting our boat!) We’re back in action now that […]
This post came from our application to participate in the 2024 Race to Alaska. We’re sharing snippets from the application in a 3-part series to introduce you to Team Sail Like A Mother. Read about Katie > Read about Brianna > Hopefully by now you’ve decided that my teammates have […]
This post came from our (10-page!) application to participate in the 2024 Race to Alaska. We’re sharing snippets in a 3-part series to introduce you to Team Sail Like A Mother. > Read about Captain Katie here. I have enough experience on the water and in the wilderness to know […]
This post came from our (10-page!) application to participate in the 2024 Race to Alaska. We’re sharing snippets in a 3-part series to introduce you to Team Sail Like A Mother. > Read about Brianna, Chief Tango Instructor, here. How does a Montana girl end up as a sailboat captain […]
We pulled on foul weather gear in Squalicum Harbor’s parking lot, tugging Gore-Tex over limbs already thick with wool and fleece. The day was gray, the wind was cold and gusty, and the mast was newly standing. Perfect time for Team SLAM’s inaugural sail aboard our new-to-us boat, Wild Card. […]
Police stops, blow torches and dicks in a bag. A perfect day in western Washington. So, to recap: this summer Katie, Brianna and Melissa decided to sail in the Race to Alaska in June 2024. That was the easy part. Next up, we had to figure out what the hell […]
Sailing solo on Montana’s Flathead Lake inspires a “yes” to brave 750 miles of gnarly, cold currents … and Team ‘Sail Like A MOTHER‘ is born! Tiller between my legs, I hold the finicky jib sheet in one hand and my sparkling water in the other. Sueños picks up speed […]