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 yearning to do something as crazy as the Race to Alaska?  My top reasons: Too much Jacques Cousteau as a child which planted the seed of adventure and love of the ocean, an amazingly encouraging family, and a few exceptional sailing mentors along the way.  😄 Add in a sprinkle of fellow adventurous (and a bit crazy) girlfriends and a dash of wanderlust (that may have gathered a little dust) and you have a perfect recipe for a R2AK bid.

Although my story started in Montana, as soon as the sailing bug bit in college, I started following work that led me to the water.  I put in my sea time under mentors in both Alaska and Hawaii, and earned my 50 ton USCG Captains license in my mid-twenties, later adding on ASA sailing instructor credentials in the Pacific Northwest.  I’ve worked on boats ranging from 26’ to 65’, primarily on the Big Island of Hawaii, the Sea of Cortez, SE Alaska, and the San Juan Islands in Washington.  Every boat, every crew, and every body of water has brought skills that I’ll bring to the R2AK.  Is it enough experience to get our Santa Cruz 27, Wild Card, 750 miles to Ketchikan sans motor?  That’s still up for debate. But we’re going to give it a hell of a try.

This is an adventure that I wouldn’t want to attempt solo.  A perfect team, to me, would possess many key traits: trustworthiness, excellent communication, competency, courage, cheerfulness in the face of adversity and a thirst for adventure and awe.  Brianna and Melissa are women with whom I’ve had the longest friendships of my life and women I’ve had deep, meaningful, and incredibly difficult adventures with over the years.  They possess the skills and resilience needed to embark on the R2AK and, perhaps most importantly, can maintain a cheerful demeanor even in the face of extreme adversity. I trust both of these remarkable women with my life. For me, this is the dream team.

The R2AK committee wants to hear about things going sideways and adventures gone awry.  With a life lived a bit unconventional and a career on the water, it’s hard to weed the stories down to a manageable few….but here are a few fun ones to share:

• Sea of Cortez, Mexico: My husband (bless his soul) agreed to a year living aboard a 28’ sailboat for our “honeymoon”, despite not being much of a sailor prior.  We traveled remote northern waters and while crossing the Sea, we anchored off an exceptionally isolated island, knowing the anchorage was marginal but wanting to explore this remote gem.  The adventure included a dramatic wind shift, dragging anchor, needing to cut our dinghy free (it was potentially going to foul the prop in the melee), swimming to retrieve said dinghy, and making a 25+ mile overnight passage in 6’ seas and 25+ knot winds.  It was a wild ride, but we went into the situation with eyes wide open and prepared to bail if needed….which is exactly what we ended up needing to do.
• For my 30th birthday, Brianna, myself and a few other friends chartered a 38’ Bavaria in the BVIs for a week, which was unfortunately an unseasonably nasty week of weather for the BVIs.  While most boats hunkered down that week, together we navigated through squalls with limited visibility and 25+ knot gusty conditions.  We had redundant systems, talked through backup plans, and made the best of the less-than-advertised BVI conditions!
• When Melissa and I met in Homer, Alaska over 25 years ago, we worked together at a Marine Research Reserve and lived in an off-grid cabin with an outhouse.  We worked LOOONNG, sleep-deprived hours around the tidal cycles, on a small, exposed skiff with challenging coworkers.  It was a recipe for either disaster or the beginning of a long and beautiful friendship.  I’m thankful each and every day that it turned out to be the latter.

So why exactly am I doing this race?  We are NOT “in it to win it”.  The win will come from the experience and the personal growth:

• My son:  I want to show my young son that his mama continues to embrace wild adventures and retains a spirit of daring, while also acknowledging the presence of fear and uncertainty in this world. I want to reinforce—for him and for myself—that the most rewarding experiences in this life are often challenging ones with uncertain outcomes.
• Personal odyssey:  How many chances in this one wild and beautiful life do we have to truly test our mettle, live this close to the sea and wind, and experience nature in its rawest form?
• Connect with my dearest friends:  Life, work, and motherhood have made it difficult over the years to find the time and space to connect and immerse ourselves.  This is a unique, once in a lifetime experience to reconnect with these women who are near and very dear to my heart.  
• Inspiring women:  We dream of encouraging women of all ages to get on the water, experience nature, and learn from what it has to teach us.
• Salish Sea wildlife:  We plan to partner with Oceans Initiative and Adventure Scientists to help raise awareness of marine mammal research, recovery and the importance of keeping our seas quiet and protected.

We still have a lot to do to get ourselves, our gear, and our trusty vessel ready for this epic journey.  The preparation is an adventure in and of itself.  The generosity of friends and strangers alike has been humbling.  We can’t thank everyone enough for their continued support and encouragement.  It truly takes a village.