Salty Podcast #24 | ⛵✨ Sailing Dreams: One Year with a Sailboat! | First-Time Owner's Journey! 🌊🌟

Join Capn Tinsley as she talks with Kennan Cooley, a sailor from the DC area who is celebrating one year of sailboat ownership! We'll talk about the ups and downs of being a first-time owner, sharing stories from her adventures, and plans for the future. Whether you're an experienced sailor or just dreaming of the open water, this episode offers insights and inspiration.  Audio taken from Livestream Video June 5, 2024.
YouTube Video Podcast: https://tinyurl.com/SaltyPodcast24

Salty Abandon, Sailing, Orange Beach, Ft Walton Beach, Brooks Bridge Marina, Headwinds, Nautical Adventure, Boat Trip, Gulf Coast

Transcript

Salty Podcast #24 | Sailing Dreams: One Year with a Sailboat! | First-Time Owner's Journey!

[00:00:00] Capn Tinsley: Good evening, everybody. This is Captain Tinsley, Salty Abandoned with another salty podcast, where it's always a great day to talk about sailing. And this is episode 24. We have a special guest tonight and I'm going to bring her right out. Her name is Kennan Cooley. How you doing Kenan? 

[00:00:19] Kennan Cooley: You said my name correctly.

Woo hoo. 

[00:00:21] Capn Tinsley: I know. I almost said Kennan. That's the hardest part about this. I know. That's really the 

[00:00:26] Kennan Cooley: hardest part. Well, 

[00:00:28] Capn Tinsley: welcome to the salty podcast. I really do appreciate you. you doing this? This is going to be no problem. 

[00:00:33] Kennan Cooley: Thank you for asking me. It's hopefully you have. 

[00:00:36] Capn Tinsley: Well, yes. Um, so this, you have a very interesting story.

I, I don't know all the details or anything, but I do know that you've had a boat for one year and that fascinated me myself. Oh, you've had a boat before. 

[00:00:51] Kennan Cooley: Had two other boats before 

[00:00:53] Capn Tinsley: okay, but this is your first sailboat. 

[00:00:55] Kennan Cooley: Yes Okay. 

[00:00:56] Capn Tinsley: So my question to you is what [00:01:00] led you that's interesting. I didn't know that what led you to sailing And um at this point in your life, what made you Decide to sail and buy a boat.

[00:01:11] Kennan Cooley: Okay, so it's a long story and it's 

[00:01:15] Capn Tinsley: Okay, 

[00:01:15] Kennan Cooley: okay it starts with covet so and I guess it starts before covet where I sold my house Um, so I sold my house after having it for 26 years, kids grown, me going, you know what? It's time for something different. And so I sold my house and at that same point, a week before the world shut down, I closed on my house and then I was like, Oh, I was going to get an RV and then get a smaller condo and get an RV and travel across country.

Then COVID decided, no, you're not, and therefore I had to figure out something else. So I stayed in the hotel for a little while and I had a friend who said, Hey, I have this extra boat. Why don't you just stay on it for a while? I was like, okay, that's interesting. I love the water. Every vacation I have has to have water in it.

[00:02:00] So that was a no brainer for me. Um, just did not know people lived on boats. So, um, that's how I started. So I stayed on here and here at 28 foot bay liner. So it wasn't a sailboat. It was a power 

[00:02:12] Capn Tinsley: boat. Okay, 

[00:02:13] Kennan Cooley: so I started on that and then, um, That one had some problems and I moved to a 1967 Chris craft that was available 

[00:02:22] Capn Tinsley: Okay, 

[00:02:23] Kennan Cooley: and that one was at the marina that I was currently at and it was abandoned So I was like, you know what this thing is fine.

I just need to clean it up a little bit and it's perfect So I moved to that one. And then in the midst of that, this is where the sailboat comes in. So I was on my Chris craft and I have friend of mine wanted to sail his sailboat. And I said, well, you know, I do marketing. I help you out. Not a problem. So he was going to give me a percentage of it.

And we were going to go from there. And then he came back to me a little bit later and said, you know what, do you want the boat? And I said, what do you mean? I don't know. I can't afford what you're trying to pay, you know, [00:03:00] charge for the boat right now. He said, no, no. Do you want the boat? And I said, you mean for free?

And I said, yeah, sure. Of course. And that's how I ended up with this sailboat. Um, that was the 

[00:03:13] Capn Tinsley: one you're on, the sailboat. 

[00:03:15] Kennan Cooley: That's how it ended up with it. It was a gift. Well, all three of us were all, all three boats have been free. Wow. Like God just kind of guided me to this space. And then before I actually got the sailboat, the friend who gave it to me, plus some other friends from the Marina, that was um, they took me out on t I got to learn, that's wh it.

I just, the idea of c and being at one with the Guiding the whole situation without a motor 

[00:03:49] Capn Tinsley: tell people where you are and oh, I'm sorry I 

[00:03:52] Kennan Cooley: mean, I don't know if you want to give 

[00:03:53] Capn Tinsley: exact locations, but people like to hear about marinas and what marinas, you know 

[00:03:58] Kennan Cooley: I'm in edgewater close to um [00:04:00] annapolis, maryland.

[00:04:01] Capn Tinsley: Okay, the mother ship the mother ship of sailing 

[00:04:05] Kennan Cooley: Well, you know and I didn't realize that the chesapeake bay Is one of the biggest sailing or I guess cruising whatever boat places in the world You in the nation. So, but you can feel it. You can see when you get out on the water, it is packed on the weekend.

Um, so yeah, so I just, I was really taken over by the idea of sailing because of the things that I love nature. I love being outside. Um, like I said, just the idea of just being able to manipulate and it was a challenge. So for me, a powerboat And I'm not anything to do with power voters, but a power vote, you just put it on.

There's mostly 

[00:04:42] Capn Tinsley: sailors on here. It's okay. . Oh, okay. They're 

[00:04:44] Kennan Cooley: okay. don't sell the freely power voters . No, but you, you really get, um, a different sense of challenge with a sailboat that you don't get to me with a power vote. I mean, there are different [00:05:00] challenges, but. Like if there's 

[00:05:02] Capn Tinsley: no wind. If 

[00:05:04] Kennan Cooley: there's no wind or there's too much wind or, 

[00:05:06] Capn Tinsley: well, no.

I mean on the power, your mother, you're not going anywhere. I mean, yeah. Oh, I'm sorry. If the motor goes out, you're not going anywhere on a power boat. True, true. 

[00:05:16] Kennan Cooley: Oh, I have one more caveat to this boat too. It's also an electric, electric boat. 

[00:05:21] Capn Tinsley: Oh, wow. 

[00:05:22] Kennan Cooley: Yeah. Which I actually loved. 

[00:05:25] Capn Tinsley: So you have an electric motor?

[00:05:27] Kennan Cooley: I have an electric motor. Yeah. So that, you know, as long as I'm powered up, I'm ready to go. I don't have to worry about gas. 

[00:05:33] Capn Tinsley: Wow. 

[00:05:34] Kennan Cooley: Eco friendly. I love it. Is 

[00:05:35] Capn Tinsley: it, is it an inboard or outboard? Inboard. 

[00:05:38] Kennan Cooley: Mm hmm. It's an inboard. I didn't know that existed. He was an engineer. Shout out to Ross. So you heard it right here on 

[00:05:46] Capn Tinsley: the salty podcast.

There's an inboard electrical motor. That's cool. Okay. Yeah. 

[00:05:50] Kennan Cooley: And so many people are thrown off by it. They just really think, okay, that's, they think it's before it's time. And I'm like, that's not really before it's time. That's everything's going eco. [00:06:00] So it's really in time. Um, so he made it from his mind, I believe.

And he views the, um, Golden motors is the, I believe the brand. That's the motor, the motherboard of the motor. And then, you know, he took everything out and wired it up and yeah, so I don't have to worry about gas at all. So between gas and wind, I'm good. As long as I've got, I'm sorry, between electric and wind, I'm good.

I don't need gas. 

[00:06:25] Capn Tinsley: Well, if you had to, if you had to, um, motor, how long could you motor? 

[00:06:30] Kennan Cooley: So I had now I've only, no, well, I don't know if you told our viewers, but I've only been doing this for, I've only had this boat since last April. 

[00:06:37] Capn Tinsley: Okay. 

[00:06:38] Kennan Cooley: There were a few challenges that I had to overcome. So I didn't get out into the water till about October or something like that.

Well, I was gone part of the summer. So I got into April. There's a story as to what happened when I took it from the Marina, where it was located to where I was supposed to end up. 

[00:06:57] Capn Tinsley: There's always a story. 

[00:06:58] Kennan Cooley: [00:07:00] The marina that I was supposed to go to did not check their depth. And I have a 5. 6 keel and it's not retractable.

Okay, so it was a one way trip, one way trip into a sandbar. We didn't know about, I got stuck right on the corner. That's not where I was supposed to go. And that's where I stayed. But when that happened, no, but that was somebody else's slip. That wasn't the slip I was supposed to go into. I was supposed to go right.

But I was stuck for like a month, high tide, low tide, you know, all that story. So, um, they couldn't get me out. And then I was looking across the way and I saw there's nothing but sailboats in the Marina across from me. I was like, that's where I should have 

[00:07:41] Capn Tinsley: gone. Right. 

[00:07:42] Kennan Cooley: And, um, so then I managed to, but that getting stuck in the sandbar, I messed up my shaft.

So I had to, therefore my engine wouldn't go because electric and so forth. And, um, therefore I had to be towed to this marina that I'm at currently. But once I got How did you get 

[00:07:59] Capn Tinsley: out of [00:08:00] the slope? 

[00:08:01] Kennan Cooley: Waited for high tide, 

[00:08:03] Capn Tinsley: but 

[00:08:03] Kennan Cooley: it took a 

[00:08:04] Capn Tinsley: month. 

[00:08:04] Kennan Cooley: It took a whole month because it would be like, oh, somebody's not here now.

The Previous Marina wasn't managed well at that point and they got rid of that guy, but so there was a whole bunch of management problems And it just took a month and being new I didn't know how to do it So it just took a while. But once I got over to where I am, it's been great. I mean, I'm right there I can see the Chesapeake the opening I 

[00:08:31] Capn Tinsley: have, I, I, one day I hope to sell the Chesapeake's kind of far, you know, I, I'd either have to be probably retired or have it shipped over there or something, which is possibility.

But I want to go back to what you said about the first time you turned off the motor. Cause I remember that moment 

[00:08:51] Speaker 3: and I was 

[00:08:51] Capn Tinsley: taking lessons and we turned it off and I just remember, What did you feel? What did it, what was it like? 

[00:08:58] Kennan Cooley: Now the, the first time that I turned [00:09:00] off on my boat or at all? 

[00:09:01] Capn Tinsley: Any, on any sailboat and experienced that with the wind is moving you.

[00:09:06] Kennan Cooley: It was surreal because I, the, I think I asked, so the motor's off? Because I guess I didn't realize we're still traveling at a good clip and there's no motor. And yeah, so it was really surreal to, to realize that you could catch wind and, and manipulate wind in such a way that you could propel yourself down.

It's almost, well it is like, floating on a kite with a boat, you know, with a hole under you, you know, you can really manipulate the atmosphere. I guess if you want to call it that in order to get where you need to go, as long as you have, you know, proper skills and mindset. But it was just surreal for me.

Like, I just didn't realize that that would be so much fun. Cause like I said, my uncle had a powerboat. So I'm used to power votes. So I'm used to, you know, if you have power, you're going somewhere. If you don't, you know, going anywhere. 

[00:09:55] Capn Tinsley: I felt like it was, I felt like it was like a sense of freedom. 

[00:09:59] Kennan Cooley: [00:10:00] Yes, that's true.

That's a good word. Yeah. Yeah. And 

[00:10:02] Capn Tinsley: I was hooked. 

[00:10:05] Kennan Cooley: I was too. I was, I really was. I didn't realize I was missing it. Like I knew about sailboats. But I didn't see it as that big of a deal. But now I'm completely hooked. 

[00:10:16] Capn Tinsley: Me too. So when was that, by the way, that, that time? 

[00:10:21] Kennan Cooley: That probably would have been in 2021, I would think, around about then.

[00:10:26] Capn Tinsley: Pretty recent. Wow. Yeah. 

[00:10:29] Kennan Cooley: Well, like I said, the whole thing started in COVID, which is 2020. So that's 

[00:10:32] Capn Tinsley: right. Okay. New to the whole thing. Okay. So, um, so you found the new marina and then what happened? Did you have to do a lot of work to the boat? 

[00:10:42] Kennan Cooley: So what, like I told you, the, the shaft had come loose from the, um, from the, I guess, you know the, what's the word I'm thinking of?

The, 

[00:10:51] Capn Tinsley: the stern or the, the keel Propeller. The keel, yeah. The 

[00:10:54] Kennan Cooley: mm-Hmm. . So it become a loose, and I had to get that fixed, but then I thought that would solve the problem, had my [00:11:00] engine start. So the one pro, not problem, the one difference with an electric motor that I understand, 'cause I'm new to it, is that it's a lot more sensitive.

So things can make it. Say, you know, I don't like this and they'll just won't start. 

[00:11:14] Speaker 3: Yeah. 

[00:11:16] Kennan Cooley: So, but that's usually when you're at doc. So it's not like you're out in the middle of nowhere. It just decides to change his mind. It's usually once you, you won't be able to leave doc if there's issues. So. Do you 

[00:11:27] Capn Tinsley: know this person?

Biggest inspiration, Pregame Coots? Is that, do you know that person? 

[00:11:32] Kennan Cooley: I do know that person, that's 

[00:11:33] Capn Tinsley: my little baby boy. Oh, it's your baby boy? Yes, that's my son. Thank you, Pregame Coots. It's Pregame Cools. 

[00:11:42] Kennan Cooley: Pregame Cools. 

[00:11:43] Capn Tinsley: Oh, you're right. Okay. Sorry about that. That's not cool. That's not very cool. Okay. So, um, you found out that you had a sensitive motor.

[00:11:54] Kennan Cooley: Right. So, but I didn't know why. And no one else knew why. So, the person at this marina, they came [00:12:00] and fixed the, um, shaft. But then they couldn't get the motor started. And so I spent They didn't 

[00:12:05] Capn Tinsley: specialize in it. 

[00:12:06] Kennan Cooley: Yeah. And I think he, and he spent like two hours just kind of like, okay, it's not this, it's not that.

Um, but thankfully the person who gave me the boat was a godsend in two ways. One that he gave me the boat and one that he stayed stuck with me. So I text him and say, Hey, you know, this isn't working. And he had just a year or two before put this together himself. So he was still tweaking things. 

[00:12:29] Speaker 3: Um, 

[00:12:30] Kennan Cooley: so there were things he hadn't tested.

So I said, well, you know, Hey, it's not, we fixed the, um, what we thought was the problem, but it's not, it's still turning over. And he said, you know, we went through a few things and oddly enough, the thing that actually helped it was getting the bottom thing. Once again, the bottom queen. Oh, yeah. Okay. Really?

I'd say bottom, I'd say that's a rookie move. I should have known that first, right? 

[00:12:56] Capn Tinsley: Right. 

[00:12:56] Kennan Cooley: But yeah, but because the propeller probably has something [00:13:00] jammed in it Oh, okay. Barnacles or something. I mean, but the engine is so sensitive that it won't start if it feels like there's something wrong. So, in fact, this season, it wouldn't start all of a sudden.

I was like, okay, well, I already know it's a problem. But once I got it removed, it started right up. So, yeah. No problem since? Yeah. 

[00:13:21] Capn Tinsley: Awesome. Now that I 

[00:13:21] Kennan Cooley: know that that's the issue. So I tried to keep it, you know, turn it on and whatnot just to keep it clear. The Chesapeake Bay for me, um, I haven't tried a lot of waters.

But Chesapeake Bay for me seems to collect a lot of bottom. 

[00:13:36] Capn Tinsley: There's a lot of growth down there. Yeah. 

[00:13:38] Kennan Cooley: Yeah, I seem to collect it Well, we used to have a great oyster 

[00:13:41] Capn Tinsley: Yeah, 

[00:13:43] Kennan Cooley: I mean it's not gone but it's completely it's very low and I do know that people have said that that's completely That has contributed to it.

Um, but recently, at least up in the Baltimore area too, that the water is getting cleaner. So they [00:14:00] allow people to start swimming in it. And I think there was a ban on that for a while, but I don't think it stopped major people from doing it. But you know, the official words from the government was don't jump in or at your own risk, I guess.

Right. 

[00:14:13] Capn Tinsley: Well, um, so I saw a post and I don't remember, it did popped up somewhere like a week ago or maybe two weeks ago that you did an overnight or you, you, you stated. Yeah, 

[00:14:25] Kennan Cooley: it wasn't on my boat. So the, um, it was on a friend's boat and they're part of the universal sailing, um, universal sailing. Okay. And then the last word mix up and I was like conventional.

I'll think of it in a second, but they did. Or, um, I wanted to make sure I said it right, but I forgot the last word.

Anyway, they had, um, they were having get together. So I met them. 

[00:14:54] Capn Tinsley: That's good. That's a good to join a group like that. 

[00:14:57] Kennan Cooley: Yeah. And they, um, [00:15:00] they were helping me. And they weren't getting together. So they went overnight and I helped sail his boat. So the, so I don't know if you should probably know about this though, but that the, um, Francis Scott key bridge.

[00:15:14] Capn Tinsley: Yes. No, that's all the pictures that you, that you took. Yeah. 

[00:15:18] Kennan Cooley: So that was very surreal to go under that bridge. Right. Yeah. The universal sailing club. I don't know why club was the word reason why I wanted to bring it up too, because it's all, all, all African Americans. 

[00:15:32] Capn Tinsley: Oh, okay. 

[00:15:32] Kennan Cooley: And they're trying to get more people and of color, BIPOC color, to go out sailing.

[00:15:37] Capn Tinsley: Right. So 

[00:15:37] Kennan Cooley: that is really, really important. Um, 

[00:15:39] Capn Tinsley: so we were just getting together. Is there a big, is there a big membership? 

[00:15:43] Kennan Cooley: Um, I don't think there's that big right now, but that's the, that's the problem. That there aren't a lot of African Americans sailing. There are a lot of African Americans on the water, but not a lot of them sailing.

And I don't know what the difference is, um, maybe exposure. I do know that sometimes [00:16:00] that seems to matter, you know, that there are more people who, Let's say your family did power boats and that's what you're going to do. Or if you get exposed to people doing power boats, that's what you're going to do. I never thought about a sailboat.

You know, my uncle had a powerboat, so there you go. Um, but yeah, so we went on a two, uh, overnight. We went up, we started at the top of the Tapsco River that's in Baltimore and went down to the mouth of the Chesapeake. Um, and stayed over at a marina and then went back up. So that was nice because I'd never done an overnight, uh, Two days straight, I've been overnight.

So I have done, um, I have friends who 

[00:16:36] Capn Tinsley: Were you actually sailing overnight? No, we did. We docked overnight. 

[00:16:41] Kennan Cooley: So we sailed till late. We started early, sailed till late, and then docked overnight. So it wasn't a very long trip. It was just more about being on the water for two to a couple of days. And I just had never done that overnight.

I have been overnight on a, um, catamaran. with friends down in the Keys. Um, 

[00:16:59] Capn Tinsley: [00:17:00] okay. So you've been to the keys on a sailboat. Okay. Well 

[00:17:03] Kennan Cooley: that's, yeah. So that's a lot of fun. They have a catamaran and he turned it, he has a kite. So he used the kite. He has a power, power, his two, um, outboard engines. And then he has a kite that uses, so we powered and then we didn't get to use the kite during that trip, but that's what he has.

Oh, like a spinnaker, 

[00:17:24] Capn Tinsley: like a sail, like a spinnaker, or? I think it's just 

[00:17:26] Kennan Cooley: a kite. 

[00:17:27] Capn Tinsley: Because he 

[00:17:27] Kennan Cooley: took down his, um, he took down his mast. And then he just has a kite up. So I can't really speak on it too much because we haven't seen it, but Andy and Lena, if you're around, you want to pipe in and 

[00:17:40] Capn Tinsley: yeah, go ahead and comment, clear it up 

[00:17:43] Kennan Cooley: for us because I hadn't seen it.

I know I've, I've seen the, you know, obviously on the boat, but I haven't seen them use it yet. Um, but yeah, so let's go ahead and 

[00:17:52] Capn Tinsley: let's go ahead and show a couple pictures here. Okay. Okay. So, um, I think this one on [00:18:00] the left is, is the one I saw on that, what, on the Facebook group. And I was like, Oh yeah, I want to interview her.

Like you look happy, you look like me when I got my boat or, and then this picture over here to the right. Tell us about that one. 

[00:18:16] Kennan Cooley: Okay. Yeah. So the picture on the right, it was my first day of, um, sailing. Like, so we. It was an all women group. I was happy, proud of that. And the fun thing about that was all women and it was different age groups.

So the person who had the most experience actually, she's a young woman. Her name is Monique and she was studying, she's studying to be a captain. Um, and so she had more book knowledge than I did, but I had the boat and I had some, you know, sailing experience. And then I had another family friend, um, that came along with us.

So she was around in her thirties, I'm in my fifties, another person was in their seventies. So it was kind of nice to have like generational, yeah, um, group that we went out. So we went out and that was my first day on the sale and we were at [00:19:00] that point trying to put up the main, the main sale. 

[00:19:03] Capn Tinsley: I see you working that throttle there.

So, yeah, you look like a pro.

[00:19:10] Kennan Cooley: I think really well. 

[00:19:12] Capn Tinsley: No, no, no, no. Okay, let's just, this is, this is your boat there. Is that yours on the left? 

[00:19:18] Kennan Cooley: That's my boat. That's the marina where I got stuck with the story I told you earlier. Like, here I am, I'm stuck, but I'm here. It's all part of the 

[00:19:26] Capn Tinsley: adventure. It's all part of the adventure. It's all part of the experience.

I have another sailor friend, whenever he cut himself or something go wrong, you know, you're always hurting yourself on a boat. So it's all part of the experience. 

[00:19:37] Kennan Cooley: Yeah, I've learned so much about what to do. I mean, I've become an electrician and I'm like, all right. Really? Oh my gosh. Yeah, I've wired some stuff.

I'm like, I just put in the GFCI the other day. That picture I was going to show you before you put it, um, out. That was the three women. That, um, we did. 

[00:19:57] Capn Tinsley: Oh, I was going to come back to it. Um, [00:20:00] being an electrician. Wait, because I won't touch anything. I go ahead and get the guys 150 to come on. I don't want to fire.

[00:20:10] Kennan Cooley: Well, you know, the funny thing was, um, the person who came to help me, he came and he, he started me on it. So he had done some of the work on it, but he It still wouldn't work. So I was like, I don't know what he did or didn't do. He couldn't come back out. I had no electricity. All right, here we go. So I just pulled it back open.

I saw what he did. I read a couple of, watched several YouTube videos and then read a couple of things, prayed real hard and closed my eyes and pushed the button. 

[00:20:45] Capn Tinsley: Wow. I admire that. All right. We're going to go back to the picture here. Um, 

[00:20:51] Kennan Cooley: Oh yeah. Yeah, so the young lady on the left, well, the left in the picture with the dark sunglasses on and the purple [00:21:00] vest, that's Monique.

Okay. And then another friend, family friend is Miss Gail, to the right of me. Is she a sailor too? She is not, no, so she's one of the, she just took the adventure with us, so. So she was crew? She was crew, we were, well, funny thing was I might have been a steering person, but I was probably more experientially a crew person, but I, you know, of course, be in my boat.

Um, I did the captain's position, but the, I called first mate, the one who had more experience. You know, she could obviously ride the boat and steer the boat as well. So Monique. Yeah. Monique. So we kind of all just worked together. I don't really, I didn't really see us as your crew or not because I just, right, right together because we were all on different sheet.

Monique doesn't have a boat, but she has more knowledge. I have a boat. I've sailed. She sailed. And then Ms. Gayle was just there. What are we doing? Pull this? You want me to tighten this up? Okay. So she helped with the jib sheets and whatever. She didn't care. She just did a little bit of everything. I like this picture.

This is 

[00:21:59] Capn Tinsley: [00:22:00] you. Yeah. I've got pictures like that. I love that picture. You're like, this is my boat. 

[00:22:06] Kennan Cooley: That's actually the two day sailboat that we went on. The two day, two, overnight. 

[00:22:11] Capn Tinsley: Oh, okay. That was somebody else's boat that, yeah, that was the one else that we overdone that, 

[00:22:14] Kennan Cooley: okay. Yeah. Uhhuh. Yeah. I've gotta get my boat out this year.

So I, like I told you, I started so late in the season last year with all of the different issues. I'm really looking forward to getting out this year and doing more on mine. My boat. No, the, so the one thing that you, why you found me is 'cause I'm just, I'm joining every group and everyone's out there. Um, have 

[00:22:35] Capn Tinsley: you joined Women Who Sail on Facebook?

I 

[00:22:37] Kennan Cooley: did. Mm-Hmm. because I'm trying to find more crew. That's been the hardest. The thing for me is to say, Hey, you know, cause I mean, between people's schedules and Whatever else you got to have, you got to have a few factors, right? You got to have a good day with wind, no rain. And then you got to have food, you know?

[00:22:53] Capn Tinsley: Well, this, when I took my first lessons, ASA 101, did you take those courses? 

[00:22:59] Kennan Cooley: No, that's one of the [00:23:00] things I wanted to do this season. 

[00:23:01] Capn Tinsley: The first thing I told the guy, ASA 101, 103, and eventually 104, I said, teach me how to do this myself, I don't want to have to rely on anybody, feeling the mood, being off work, uh, you know.

So I, I, I can completely, I'm completely independent, but when my husband comes, he's the best first mate. Of course, it's easier, especially if the wind's blowing and I'm pulling in the boat, I trust him to jump off and keep me off the dock. But that's the 

[00:23:28] Kennan Cooley: part I think I can do once I get out is just getting off dock.

[00:23:32] Capn Tinsley: Absolutely. Yeah. But you get good at it. What I do is I, I visualize it. I look at the situation. I can see where the wind's coming and the, and then I have to think about it. If I let this line go and the wind's blowing and what will I do? And that usually, as long as I'm not too hasty, you know. True. 

[00:23:54] Kennan Cooley: Now, you know, the funny thing is, so there are a couple of people here who have these, I call them extra rigging, where they have, [00:24:00] um, lines on.

The dock lines and they have something where they're kind of like chasing themselves backwards until they get to the end and I thought that might be something I could do where you that way you can kind of keep hold of the tension, right? Any tricks 

[00:24:14] Capn Tinsley: like that. Yeah, and also marking the line so when you come in, you can just quickly tie you know exactly where to tie the line on the cleat.

Um, hang in the lines right where you can reach them, all that stuff. Um, it just by practice, you know? 

[00:24:29] Kennan Cooley: Yeah, yeah, there's a lot to it. A lot more than, and my funny thing is, for me, if I had a clear space and no one on dock, and no boats on dock, I'd feel more comfortable. I just don't want to hear anyone else's boat.

And I'm like, alright, I'll do it. I hear ya. 

[00:24:41] Speaker 3: I'm just 

[00:24:42] Kennan Cooley: nodding my head. 

[00:24:43] Capn Tinsley: So I wanted to show you, um, this picture of you, reminding me of a picture of me. Look at that look on my face. Yeah, you're concentrating, right? That was 2015. I was, 

[00:24:59] Kennan Cooley: [00:25:00] I 

[00:25:00] Capn Tinsley: was brand new. That boat was, I had just gotten a Catalina 25, but we were in the Keys and I had rented a boat.

And I was, it wasn't my boat, so I was kind of intense. But that, that picture reminded me, and I also wanted to show you this one. This one was, I was coming back. It was cold. I don't like cold sailing and this big old jacket is coming handy. And I made it a real estate ad. Look, see the Tinsley Meyer at Remax of Orange Beach.

That's on, that's on your, 

[00:25:29] Kennan Cooley: um, 

[00:25:32] Capn Tinsley: That one's my Island Packet 27. That was my second boat, but the hurricane got that one. 2020. 

[00:25:39] Kennan Cooley: So now I have 

[00:25:39] Capn Tinsley: an Island Packet 320. Oh, wow. 

[00:25:42] Kennan Cooley: Did you find it was easier to have? Because some people said you're starting too big. Like, mine's 35 feet. It's big, but 

[00:25:49] Capn Tinsley: it I mean, I, I think it's good.

I think if you just, you know, if you, if when you take your ASA 101, if you can get an instructor to come on your [00:26:00] boat and teach you on your boat, you'll be good. No, I think that you can handle it. You got to have the guts. I think you got the moxie. Most 

[00:26:09] Kennan Cooley: people don't. That's really what it is. You know, and that's funny because like, you know, you asked me a couple of questions.

Like, I know I should know. Well, I think, I don't know if we were talking about this on camera or off, but, you know, Oh, I know. Cause you said you studied before you bought your boat. Online. Yeah. I studied 

[00:26:24] Capn Tinsley: cause I was, I was, I was like reading everything, you know, people's experiences and it was fascinating to me.

[00:26:32] Kennan Cooley: Yeah. And, and I'm so the opposite. I need to be better with that. Cause he's like, you know, I'm just kind of like, Oh, let's go see what happens. Cause you know, when we, so when we did our first sale, I was tired of waiting, I finally got the boat working. I'm ready. and I've got a crew. But the winds were 10 to 12, 10 to 14, and then they were going to 25 gusts.

That's a little heavy. I [00:27:00] was like, you know what? If you guys are game, I'm game. And all the ladies are game, and we just went out. Just 

[00:27:04] Capn Tinsley: keep me off the dock. I'm fine. 

[00:27:08] Kennan Cooley: So I have solar panels, too. Yeah. One's on the stern, up above the um, dinghy davits. Yeah. The problem is maneuvering that around the pilots. So we had this whole plan worked out.

We're going to talk about stories and we had this whole plan worked out. Okay. So wind's coming from this side. We're going to let go of that line and this line, this is the last line we're going to let go of. So I'm at the stern waiting and I'm, and I see the young lady up front at the, on the bow and someone started talking to her and I 

[00:27:42] Speaker 3: said, what's he 

[00:27:43] Kennan Cooley: saying to her?

Well, I don't know what he said to her. Everything we planned on, he talked her out of. And the line that we should have let go of last, he let go of first. 

[00:27:55] Speaker 3: And 

[00:27:55] Kennan Cooley: I'm, okay, I guess we're backing up now. And it was horrible because then we're [00:28:00] hitting pylons and I was like, oh God, okay. It literally, we hit the pylon and then I said, okay, but I said I'll keep backing up now because I didn't want to make it worse.

I backed up and then I realized that the pylon hit the, well, I don't know what you want to call it, but the solar panel hit the pylon. Um, and literally the two legs while I'm driving, I mean steering, are going on the back on the stern. On the transom, trying to fix and hold up the solar panel. 

[00:28:25] Speaker 3: Oh, 

[00:28:25] Kennan Cooley: man. Oh.

So we got it tied down a little bit to the point, but I was like, we had a whole plan. What did he say? 

[00:28:33] Capn Tinsley: Some, some dude talked her out of the instructions. Oh. Yeah, so I would say, see the, you know, the, the arrow on the top, the anemometer or whatever, not the anemometer. Yeah. The arrow on the top. Yeah, yeah.

Whatever side it's pointing to, that's where you're going to hold on to. 

[00:28:53] Kennan Cooley: We sat there for like 30 minutes figuring out the plan. And she, like I said, she studied it. We said, okay, we sat here for like 30 [00:29:00] minutes talking through, checking them sales, checking out lines. Okay. Okay. You're going to do that Okay, good.

We're good. I mean, we got out, we're fine, but, you know. Right. 

[00:29:10] Capn Tinsley: I think the first time that you come out, um, by yourself, just do it on a very calm day. You can't go wrong. Yeah. 

[00:29:16] Kennan Cooley: Yeah. That's what I'm gonna probably do. Yeah, probably just go out on a day where I'm older out and it's easily handled. 

[00:29:23] Capn Tinsley: Yeah. Once you're out, you're fine.

[00:29:27] Kennan Cooley: Well, I had the Catalina 

[00:29:30] Capn Tinsley: 25. It was an outboard. It was, it, it would back up. Well, mine is a full keel. My, when I got the Island Pack at 27, it did not back up where you wanted to go. So you got to be ready for anything. So it took me when I, when I got that boat over the other one, I felt like I went from a toy.

To the real deal, and I was so intimidated. Everything looks so different and I don't know, more something. And I remember I wouldn't take it out by myself. And finally, I woke [00:30:00] up one day on a Sunday. I looked at my husband. I said, today's the day. He goes, OK. And then I was driving to the boat and I kept thinking of places to stop.

West Marine. I was like putting it off. And I go, no, no, 

[00:30:11] Speaker 3: no. 

[00:30:11] Capn Tinsley: And I just had to go do it. And I did it. Right. You just gotta get 

[00:30:16] Kennan Cooley: over the hump. That's gonna be one day. Like you said, probably on a very calm day. But you know, then when you get out there, there's gonna be no wind, probably. 

[00:30:25] Capn Tinsley: That's okay. Even if you're just going two knots and you're out there by yourself on your own boat playing your music and everything.

It's awesome. I remember going out on 4th of July and looking back at the beach in Gulf Shores, Norwich Beach, and it was crowded and I was out there by myself. Like, that's awesome. 

[00:30:45] Kennan Cooley: I want to anchor out. That's if I do that, I'll probably do it in the ground. We care about the window to be anchoring out, catch wind.

And just learning how to, um, maneuver the jib by myself. And then, and I also, I was told something that was kind of a good idea is to find a mooring and [00:31:00] practice. you know, backing in and backing out because I do need to learn about prop walk that I was told is important. So, and I think that's what happened when we backed up is that I didn't know which way my prop was going.

So it was doing what I thought was the right way, but it wasn't. And So it's the wind plus the prop and 

[00:31:17] Capn Tinsley: I think what helped me, and you didn't ask for all my advice, but I think what helped me when I, is to, instead of just like leaving it in reverse, because then it can start going anywhere, it should just kind of bump it, like, you know, like just put it in reverse, when it starts going in the right direction, put it back in neutral.

Okay. Because it seems like when I would leave it, In reverse, it would start going some crazy direction. So, you know, maybe play with that, play with it, like just doing a little bit. If it's moving much stuff and then if it starts, yeah, it's, it can't. As far as it will, you know, and that makes sense 

[00:31:53] Kennan Cooley: because it's already got um motion to go reverse So you don't have to help it anymore.

That's probably where my mistake was because [00:32:00] I tried to help it more than it needed 

[00:32:02] Capn Tinsley: Yeah, because of the prop walk, but if you turn that off it takes that out but there's just all kinds of things you're gonna learn just from doing and just yeah, it's like my my husband would always try to give me advice and I go shut up and I I finally got where I would before I come into a marina And I was pretty experienced by this time.

And I go, okay, comments, suggestions, questions right now, before we go in that marina, don't talk to me. I'll be concentrating. I'll be focused. And he goes, I don't have any questions. Well, sure. He did. When we got in there, I do best. Just don't talk to me. Yes. 

[00:32:39] Kennan Cooley: Right. That's probably what you see on that picture.

Like I'm just concentrating. I do get focused. And when I get, right, when I'm making my mind and I get focused. Then I'm just, I'm in one direction. So, you know, whether we're getting very far or the wind's going to gust us over, because once we got the mainsail up, we were starting to clip and then we put the jib up.

We were really healing, healing and uh, [00:33:00] Yeah. Flying for three women who didn't know what they were 

[00:33:03] Capn Tinsley: doing. Like whoa! Yeah! I was 

[00:33:07] Kennan Cooley: like what? I actually was holding up the wheel on one side. So 

[00:33:11] Capn Tinsley: where do you think your first overnight will be like, um, to, to anchor? 

[00:33:18] Kennan Cooley: Well, outside of around here, I really want to go down back to the Caribbean or the Keys.

First of all, I need to be in water I can jump in. That's just like my goals. Like, I just need to go sail and then. Anchor somewhere and then jump in the water, 

[00:33:30] Speaker 3: you 

[00:33:33] Kennan Cooley: know? So that's probably what is actually a, um, a race. So I should back up to that. I've been in two races. I've been in one race where it was, uh, flying Scots, you know, those small 20 foot boats with no motor at all.

They just have the rudder. And so I did that race. We were in second place. That's kind of cool. And wow. And then on July 13th, I'm [00:34:00] supposed to be in the Harrington Harbor Sailing Association regatta. So that's another race that's coming up. 

[00:34:07] Capn Tinsley: That's good experience. I've never been in a race. 

[00:34:10] Kennan Cooley: Oh, really? Yeah.

I thought that would be a good experience and more fun kind of just instead of just sailing up and down the bay to actually have, um, a little bit more experience under pressure, right? Because you know, when you're sailing, you have more pressure. And so. That's what I'm looking to do. 

[00:34:29] Capn Tinsley: Okay. Let me let me do one thing.

I got to introduce tonight's sponsor, which is me Okay, in case you didn't know I'm Tinsley Mayer at Remax of Orange Beach. I sell Gulffront condos and Gulf Shores, Orange Beach Alabama as well as Perdido Key, Florida, and I also host another Podcast, if you like this podcast, a real estate slash lifestyle podcast called Getting Beachy Real Estate Podcast on Thursday nights at six.

[00:35:00] So thank you for that, . Fair enough? Yep. Gotta pay the bills. . Yes, indeed. Um, so, uh, so actually I was asked the Caribbean. That's a great goal, but yeah, uh, I heard it though. 

[00:35:15] Speaker 3: I 

[00:35:16] Capn Tinsley: heard it. Great. Like I wanna encourage you to do a solo overnight anchor. Cause there's nothing like it. Let me just tell you, it's awesome.

You're on your boat. You wake up, you make your coffee. I'm telling you, there's nothing. The sunset, the sunrise, the whole bit. 

[00:35:33] Kennan Cooley: Yeah. That's why I love the keys too, because it was, you see that one. No, no, no. 

[00:35:37] Capn Tinsley: We're not there yet. We're, we're in the Chesapeake. Cause I want this to be soon. 

[00:35:44] Kennan Cooley: Okay. I mean, all right.

Challenge accepted there. 

[00:35:47] Capn Tinsley: So do we have a date? How about a month? How about a month? 

[00:35:52] Kennan Cooley: All right, what's today, June? We got, we got, 

[00:35:55] Capn Tinsley: we got some people watching. They're gonna help me hold you accountable. Oh 

[00:35:58] Kennan Cooley: lord, my son's watching too, oh no. [00:36:00] 

[00:36:00] Capn Tinsley: Yeah. 

[00:36:01] Kennan Cooley: Um, all right, let's make it a, you said overnight? 

[00:36:06] Capn Tinsley: Yeah, uh, overnight.

Where's a good place to anchor? I don't know the places up there. There's like a really cool place here and I noticed you were watching the uh, um, the Blue Angels. We have Blue Angels here too. 

[00:36:18] Kennan Cooley: Oh yeah, that was, I do want to show 

[00:36:20] Capn Tinsley: that. 

[00:36:21] Kennan Cooley: That was incredible. Yeah, I want to show 

[00:36:23] Capn Tinsley: that real quick. 

[00:36:25] Kennan Cooley: Who doesn't love this?

[00:36:27] Capn Tinsley: This never gets old. 

[00:36:29] Kennan Cooley: No, it does not. And that's the first time I saw it on the water. That was mad, that was crazy. I loved every inch of that. They flew right past us. Yeah, 

[00:36:40] Capn Tinsley: there's a there's a place here that we um, where they practiced and you can anchor right out there and watch them all spring while they practice.

Oh, 

[00:36:50] Kennan Cooley: wow. Oh, wow. 

[00:36:52] Capn Tinsley: There's another scene where you Let's go a little bit longer here to the next one, or did we already see [00:37:00] that? Oh, yeah, here we go 

[00:37:02] Kennan Cooley: Yeah, that was crazy. 

[00:37:04] Capn Tinsley: Now. The reason I share this is because this is all part of boating 

[00:37:09] Kennan Cooley: There's so much to boating that you know, that's what I think I love about it.

It never gets old 

[00:37:14] Capn Tinsley: There we go. I wanted to show that 

[00:37:16] Kennan Cooley: yeah

[00:37:19] Capn Tinsley: This is from her Facebook page by the way Follow me! All right Yeah, it never gets old. 

[00:37:28] Kennan Cooley: It's so funny. Oh, 

[00:37:30] Capn Tinsley: I didn't remove it. There we go. Why do I still hear it? Okay. Um, yeah, that's all part of the experience, right? 

[00:37:40] Kennan Cooley: Yeah, and there's so many things to do that you can't really get bored. I mean, you know, like you said, between anchoring out and trying to challenge yourself and go to, you know, another location.

Um, I just enjoyed even just, um, whenever we were in the keys, just marina hopping. I know that sounds crazy, but just seeing different marinas, how they operate, [00:38:00] you know, and, uh, meeting all the most people. Yeah, meeting people. It was a lot of fun. So I'll take your challenge and like, you know, give me a All 

[00:38:07] Capn Tinsley: right, what month and a half.

So what, what month are we? What, what month? All right. The end of July. 

[00:38:12] Kennan Cooley: Okay. 

[00:38:13] Capn Tinsley: That's gonna be hot, but, okay. Um, you know, well, I mean, as in 

[00:38:16] Kennan Cooley: by the end of July, maybe sooner. I mean, it may not 

[00:38:20] Capn Tinsley: be, it's pretty hot there too, right? I mean, in July. Oh, 

[00:38:22] Kennan Cooley: gosh, yeah. 

[00:38:23] Capn Tinsley: I 

[00:38:24] Kennan Cooley: do it anyway. 

[00:38:27] Capn Tinsley: I have a little generator, I can run my air, but I'm just like, I'm a sailor, I'll just sweat.

[00:38:36] Kennan Cooley: Okay, so. Maybe these solar panels will actually work and then I can survive a night, that'd be good. 

[00:38:42] Capn Tinsley: Well, okay. So yeah, you can get a little DC fan. I get a little, a couple of DC fans operate off, off a DC power. And just, if you, if I put that on me, I can sleep, you know? Yeah. Um, so, okay. So does it have to be the end of July?

[00:38:58] Kennan Cooley: No, I was saying by then, it might be sooner. [00:39:00] Okay. I still have a couple of months to get my, my life together. Um, Oh, you want an exact date? 

[00:39:06] Capn Tinsley: No, I know that it's weather permitted. I mean, it's and also your work and all that, but um, but I think June would work, don't you? 

[00:39:18] Kennan Cooley: I got 25 more days. All right, fine.

Challenge accepted. 

[00:39:25] Capn Tinsley: Okay. All right. I like you. All right. So June, you're going to do an overnight. Do you know where that everybody knows me knows? 

[00:39:33] Kennan Cooley: I'm one of their faithful. Listen, your 

[00:39:35] Capn Tinsley: friends, my 

[00:39:36] Kennan Cooley: friends know that I say yes quicker than I should. 

[00:39:40] Capn Tinsley: It's on your Facebook page to for perpetuity. Um, uh, so is there a good, uh, Like, is there, like, do you have an anchorage?

Uh oh, lost you. Okay. Um, is, is there a good anchorage that, that everybody likes to go to there? 

[00:39:58] Kennan Cooley: Um, not a [00:40:00] particular one that, you know, like, that everybody goes over there. Well, there is a couple of places people dock, um, but having a sailboat is harder because the bay, that's what happened is when I first, um, sailed.

We were fine. We were fine. And then we did what you call it, um, what do you call it when the two sails, one's wing on wing. Yeah, wing on wing. Yeah, but so we did that to kind of get a rest because we were tired and we were in plenty of water. And 

[00:40:27] Capn Tinsley: then you have a chart plotter, right? 

[00:40:30] Kennan Cooley: Yes, but we were, we were fine.

We were in plenty of water and then we just drifted, I guess, slowly, not a lot, but the bay has a lot of sandbars that'll come out of nowhere. And in fact, One time we were sailing. Yeah, we were sailing and it looked like it was fine. And literally friends who were coming back were like, No, don't do that.

Don't do that. Local knowledge. Don't go there because it'll change. It changes just like that. So, that's my biggest thing. Yeah, after a storm. Finding where I won't [00:41:00] drift and end up stuck. 

[00:41:02] Capn Tinsley: Yeah, and you stay and learn how to sail. Everybody runs aground. If somebody says that, then they're lying or they haven't been sailing long.

Everybody runs aground. That's why you get sea toe. 

[00:41:13] Kennan Cooley: I was gonna say, and you want to know what's funny about that? So I had Progressive, and they have a towing option, right? And I was like, we have been out there trying, the video on that is actually funny too, because we are literally taking the anchor, trying to throw it overboard, trying to see if we can pull ourselves and get it one way, Trying different things.

It didn't finally work and we were so tired. It was like, okay, forget it. I'm just going to call getting toad. We just happened to be sailing on the same day as the boat show.

Oh, sorry, can't do that. We're at the boat show. Really? So me out here stuck is not an emergency more than the boat show. That's fine. I'm paying for it. No, [00:42:00] little small handwriting and you know, uh, don't do it during the boat. So what I did was I said, you know, Being that I do know how to get out of snow, being this, you know, climate that I'm in, I'm gonna do what I do when I get in the snow, stuck in the snow.

So, turned on the motor, tried to wedge forward, to wedge backwards, wedge forward, wedge backwards, wedge forward, wedge I just did that for like 20 minutes, and we finally wedged out, and got out without Probably 

[00:42:27] Capn Tinsley: not great for your keel, but It didn't sound 

[00:42:30] Kennan Cooley: great, it was just one of those But 

[00:42:33] Capn Tinsley: you do have SeaTow or TowBoat US?

[00:42:37] Kennan Cooley: It was progressive. Actually, 

[00:42:39] Capn Tinsley: they have 

[00:42:39] Kennan Cooley: their own. Is that the same? 

[00:42:41] Capn Tinsley: Oh, do they? 

[00:42:42] Kennan Cooley: They do. Yeah, they have their own and they're up to 75 miles offshore. So they have their own towing, which is actually pretty good. So I like, I still would like to have a backup plan. 

[00:42:52] Capn Tinsley: Yeah. Well, I have CTO and then I found out that I needed another one because they're all franchised and they're not equal.[00:43:00] 

I was way down and, and. on the west coast of Florida. I found a guy that just didn't want to come. So, um, so I was able to find SeaTow. So I was, I just went ahead since I do so much traveling. It was worth it just to pay 189 times two, towboat, USB, and SeaTow. Yeah, that's what 

[00:43:19] Kennan Cooley: I thought about doing, having Progressive in another one.

[00:43:22] Capn Tinsley: After that, a lot of money. Cause when I broke down offshore, they came out and got me right. That was thousand. That would have been probably 20, 000. Yeah. Yeah. So it's definitely worth it. Okay. So, um, we can count on you going to an overnight. You're going to have to figure out the right, the right, um, Anchorage.

[00:43:46] Kennan Cooley: Yeah. I'm sure people around here can tell me. Um, yeah. Oh, 

[00:43:49] Capn Tinsley: local knowledge. Yeah. 

[00:43:51] Kennan Cooley: Yeah. 

[00:43:52] Capn Tinsley: And they might, there might even be a group that goes out. That's good. 

[00:43:57] Kennan Cooley: Pretty close to where I am. It's just [00:44:00] that you have to watch for low tide. The people who do it, they usually are power boats. So, and there's a couple of people who have sailboats.

Uh, I don't know if they have a, um, retractable keel that helps. 

[00:44:12] Capn Tinsley: My first boat had that, my Catalina 25 had a retractable keel. 

[00:44:15] Kennan Cooley: I would like to have 

[00:44:16] Capn Tinsley: that. But it's not good for offshore because it's because they can, I don't know. Someone told me they could break if you're in heavy seas. 

[00:44:27] Kennan Cooley: Oh, I've heard it's blood or something.

[00:44:31] Capn Tinsley: Oh, well, I didn't even think of that. So, um, so your long term goal, let's hear it. Caribbean, what are we talking, Keys first or what? 

[00:44:44] Kennan Cooley: So, my long term would definitely be some, you know, going to Caribbean. So there's, I was telling you earlier, there's a, um, race they do from here in Annapolis, Maryland, and they go to Bermuda.

I'm like, first of all, race from here to Bermuda? That sounds long. [00:45:00] That sounds interesting and intense. As a race. I mean, you know, if you're going for it. Intense. 

[00:45:04] Capn Tinsley: That's way off shore. 

[00:45:06] Kennan Cooley: Yeah, and he told me, it was my friend Michael Campbell, and he told me it only took eight hours, eight days. 

[00:45:12] Capn Tinsley: That's a long time to be.

And 

[00:45:14] Kennan Cooley: he had a female captain. 

[00:45:18] Capn Tinsley: Well, the longest I've been offshore by myself is about 30 hours. 

[00:45:22] Kennan Cooley: Wow. 

[00:45:23] Capn Tinsley: By myself. Now I've been offshore for 48 hours with my husband. Cause you know, eventually you got to sleep. But, um. Oh, you 

[00:45:32] Kennan Cooley: sailed overnight? 

[00:45:33] Capn Tinsley: Yeah. 

[00:45:34] Kennan Cooley: Okay, where were you headed? 

[00:45:36] Capn Tinsley: Um, well, uh, there's, there's a crossing I have to make, um, across the Gulf.

If I'm going to the Keys, so there, I don't know if you're familiar with the geography of Florida, so I'm right next to Florida. I'm in Alabama, and I'll usually go over to Destin, and then if I have somebody with me, I'll go, then I'll cut across to Clearwater, Florida, and that's about two days. 

[00:45:59] Kennan Cooley: [00:46:00] Yeah, 

[00:46:02] Capn Tinsley: that's beautiful.

And then, you know, you take day trips all the way down. Then when you get down to Marco Island, um, if I drop down to Marathon, that's about 18 hours. I've also gone Marathon. 

[00:46:13] Kennan Cooley: That's one of my favorite. I like that. 

[00:46:16] Capn Tinsley: Marathon Marina or Paro Blanco. Weren't you at Paro Blanco? Paro Blanco, yep. Did I see a picture?

I did, yep. Yeah, I've been there many times. It's expensive. I 

[00:46:26] Kennan Cooley: didn't pay. I was just on there. I was crew. 

[00:46:30] Capn Tinsley: Yeah, I mean it's nice. There's a pool, nice restaurant, everything. But I've also gone from like Captiva to Key, to Key West. By myself. By 

[00:46:40] Speaker 3: yourself? 

[00:46:41] Capn Tinsley: And back. Oh, many times. Yeah, all those were by myself. Wow.

In fact, I've never gone from. Yeah, the only time I've ever had somebody with me was, um, for a long crossing was like from Destin to Clearwater. So are you docking 

[00:46:59] Kennan Cooley: overnight, [00:47:00] or are you docking overnight, or are you, like you're just sailing in the daytime and then docking somewhere overnight? No, that's out, 

[00:47:08] Capn Tinsley: that's out in open water.

Your boat is going you're just yeah, 

[00:47:13] Kennan Cooley: you're an autopilot. I'm assuming you're sleeping at some point. 

[00:47:15] Capn Tinsley: Yeah Well, what I do is I if i'm by myself I just kind of laid eventually i'll just kind of lay down in the cockpit and kind of cat nap And get up and check and everything. Um, you just I wake up and Now, if I did that for two days, I'm afraid I wouldn't wake up.

So I want somebody with me, but, um, yeah, 30 hours is the longest 31 hours or so. Yeah. 

[00:47:39] Speaker 3: Yeah, 

[00:47:43] Capn Tinsley: it's, you gotta want to be there.

There's sometimes it's uncomfortable. 

[00:47:52] Kennan Cooley: Yeah, I mean, but was it good weather at least I guess or 

[00:47:56] Capn Tinsley: I have been caught in some interesting situations[00:48:00] 

[00:48:03] Kennan Cooley: It's like you you know, if you're close to the shore you can okay, it's getting bad this doc somewhere But when you're out, it's like you're out. 

[00:48:11] Capn Tinsley: Yeah There's no way to fully let me see we might have a comment here. Oh, uh, I am david christian Good night. That's one of my same croy buddies Okay Well, he said go so he's saying okay.

Um, well, thank you and 

[00:48:27] Kennan Cooley: croy you say good night, which is Their way that means 

[00:48:30] Capn Tinsley: hello Does that mean hello? Okay. Thank you. Good night. 

[00:48:35] Kennan Cooley: Good night. Like isn't go to sleep, 

[00:48:36] Capn Tinsley: right? I'm 

[00:48:38] Kennan Cooley: explaining now. I'm Christian. 

[00:48:40] Capn Tinsley: Oh, yeah, we need a translation. Um, so, so I do have a guy that. That I met in the keys. He's he's he was a pilot for 25 years with Southwestern lifetime sailor lives on a boat in the keys And he became a good friend of mine and he's my weather Expert [00:49:00] that I've run everything past because he's still he like he flies in retirement for a rich guy 737 so he still got access to all the stuff that pilots do And I'll run it past him.

I'll say what do you think about this day about me crossing? He'll look at it and he'll concur or have another suggestion if you wait this or leave a little early Now it doesn't always work because weather's weather and you gotta be ready 

[00:49:26] Kennan Cooley: Right. 

[00:49:27] Capn Tinsley: That's my ears Jimmy Yes, 

[00:49:31] Kennan Cooley: he's interesting he's a frenchman Who is sailing well, I guess he's down in dominican republic now, but he's sailing all over like he's doing the globe He's 

[00:49:42] Capn Tinsley: Oh, is he somebody I want to interview?

[00:49:46] Kennan Cooley: Probably, Jimmy. You want to be interviewed? Yes. I think so. I would think so. Comment below. And I, and I, and I got introduced to him because a friend of his said he was stuck out somewhere and did I know how to help him? And I'm like, no. [00:50:00] But, you know, I gave him some tips about how to get, cause he's, you know, not being from the states, how to get in contact with people.

So I guess he called the coast guard or something, but yeah, I mean, he wasn't anywhere near me and, uh, yeah, he got stuck out there. That's how I came in contact with him, but he's, uh, he's a serious, that's why I'm always like, I'm always admiring serious people who are doing it. I mean, I didn't know people before I got into this.

I had no idea people were doing it this seriously, crossing the globe every day and up and down five and six, 20 years. I mean, it's like, wow, that's crazy. Well, you need to watch some 

[00:50:35] Capn Tinsley: of my interviews because I've talked to some. Oh, he said, um, okay. He says I have a very bad connection. Maybe another time.

Okay. Um, so I was going to tell you when I crossed back over from, I, I crossed from this in the winter, the Gulf is rougher than in the summer. And I came back in December. So when I crossed, it got really bad. I mean, I was looking up [00:51:00] at the waves and, uh, and I kept getting up 

[00:51:03] Kennan Cooley: at the way. 

[00:51:04] Capn Tinsley: Yeah, and I had to change my trajectory because the waves were hitting on my starboard side.

So I changed direction so it would hit my stern and I'd kind of be, I was kind of surfing, you know, pushing, pushing 

[00:51:16] Kennan Cooley: forward. 

[00:51:17] Capn Tinsley: Yeah, it was making me go a little faster, but I kept getting these emergency, um, messages on the VHF about this bad storm I was in. And I was like, you know, I should, I always heard that you need to call early.

Call early before you get in trouble. Because I've heard people die from not doing that. You know, at least tell them where you are, that this is the situation. I'm okay right now, but you know, that could change. And so I called him and I said, here, this is where I am. I gave him my coordinates. Um, I keep getting these messages about this storm from you.

And I just wanted to let you know, I'm out here by myself and here's where I'm heading. And they checked with me every hour, sometimes [00:52:00] every half hour. They wouldn't go away until I was tired. So you mean the waves 

[00:52:03] Kennan Cooley: were, you were looking up at the waves? I looked up at 

[00:52:07] Capn Tinsley: them. I was like, whoa! Yeah. I would have 

[00:52:13] Kennan Cooley: retired at that point.

At least by myself. Now that to me is pretty good. 

[00:52:16] Capn Tinsley: I didn't eat for 24 hours. I didn't drink coffee. And I love coffee. So I just told them where I was. I mean, it's a great lesson. And, you know, I I Remembered somebody else. A whole family died from they didn't report the problem. They've been talking to the father's brother, but they never called because I like 

[00:52:37] Kennan Cooley: postcard.

Yeah, 

[00:52:38] Capn Tinsley: please tell him where you are telling the potential problems. Then if there's a problem, they can come right to you. And so I did that. And so I like to share that because, um, I think it's important for safety. And they checked with me that this, they, I love the coast guard. They checked with me. Once I got in Apalachicola [00:53:00] Bay, it was calm and I was ready to be done with the US Coast Guard.

But they said they called me every half hour until I was tied up to a dock. Now I, that is so cool. Don't you think? 

[00:53:13] Kennan Cooley: Yeah, but I think, you know, in the long run, that saves them from having to find you later. Like, how come you know what she was half hour ago? You know, she was a half hour ago. So if you become come missing, they at least know where to start.

You know what I mean? Right. They got to start way back over where Bahamas, where you were in the opposite way, there's nowhere to start. So I think it was smart for them once they know, and they probably have some level of responsibility. Oh, 

[00:53:35] Capn Tinsley: well, they, I imagine they had a board with me on it and they couldn't take me off the board.

Until that right now you die. Once I called them, they were, I was to ever say, there was like, we can't take her off the board until we hear she's tied up. And I was like, thank you. Thank you. Thank you. I was just, I just love the Coast Guard, you know, 

[00:53:55] Kennan Cooley: I wouldn't have got tired of, I'd be like, can you stay on a little longer?

[00:53:58] Capn Tinsley: Oh, . [00:54:00] 

[00:54:00] Kennan Cooley: I do that till I'm be in that restaurant by myself. 

[00:54:03] Capn Tinsley: Yeah. Yeah. And when I got in that calm water, I instantly got hungry, by the way, . But, um, I get hungry 

[00:54:10] Kennan Cooley: no matter what. When I sell, I'm the hungriest one. I sell. I don't, I know what I, maybe it's just the wind. If it's red. 

[00:54:16] Capn Tinsley: What if there's 

[00:54:17] Kennan Cooley: no at all? Really?

Well, I don't know that yet. I haven't been there yet, so Yeah. , I'll let 

[00:54:23] Capn Tinsley: you know. 

[00:54:24] Kennan Cooley: I'm working my way up. Okay. 

[00:54:25] Capn Tinsley: Yeah. Overnight. We got to get you to leave the dock by yourself and go anchor overnight. Then we'll have you down, down in Florida. Then we'll have you in the keys and then we'll have you in the Caribbean.

[00:54:39] Kennan Cooley: And it's funny because like I said, I'm one of those people like, God, why does she say that now? I've got to go do it. 

[00:54:44] Capn Tinsley: Yes. Yes. Well there's some reason why you came up with this challenge for yourself. I'm 59. You said you're in your fifties. And I'm still in Salem. Okay. And so I, I got my first boat in 2015.

So what we were what? [00:55:00] Um, 50. 

[00:55:02] Speaker 3: Yeah. 

[00:55:04] Capn Tinsley: And I took my first lessons. Um, a few years before that. I mean, 40s. And they're like, oh, you've been sailing your whole life? Nope. But I've made it a long time. Right. So, um, I can see you doing it. I see one day you're going to meet me in the keys on your boat on my I'll be on my boat and you'll be on yours.

[00:55:24] Kennan Cooley: All 

[00:55:24] Capn Tinsley: right. And then we'll do a podcast.

Yeah, you're the professional. So better tell them what you are as a professional before someone thinks that's.

You're a professional media person. Just in case anybody's wondering. 

[00:55:43] Kennan Cooley: Media marketing professional. Thank you. Thank you very much. Yeah. 

[00:55:50] Capn Tinsley: Yeah. Go ahead and give yourself a plug before we end this. Oh yeah. 

[00:55:54] Kennan Cooley: All my company is Oasis Productions Inc. And I've been in business with media and marketing for over 25 years.

I [00:56:00] have my own podcast with Alvin Chia. We do, um, making it and it's about entertainment. And. Yeah, that's pretty much it. 

[00:56:07] Capn Tinsley: It's about the entertainment business. 

[00:56:09] Kennan Cooley: I'm sorry, it's about the entertainment business, but I also have two wonderful sons. I have a daughter in love and I also 

[00:56:16] Capn Tinsley: have a new grandson. I saw that picture of your grandson.

I was wondering who that was. You said he's five months old now. What was life about before or something like that? You posted now this is what life's about. 

[00:56:31] Kennan Cooley: Yeah, you know, you know, People who are yet to be grand, well, who are grandparents to tell us who are yet to be grandparents, you know, it's just different, you know, you just, you're not gonna stop loving being, and he's only five months old.

It's just so much different. Just, I guess, because you can say, Oh, he's so cute. I always think, and then give him back and 

[00:56:53] Capn Tinsley: you can spoil him. You don't have to worry about it. Well, are you going to teach him how to sail? He'll be your first [00:57:00] mate before you know it. 

[00:57:01] Kennan Cooley: Right. I'm trying to get my two sons out here too.

Oh, 

[00:57:06] Capn Tinsley: are they, well, what did they, what do they say about it? Are they, are they proud of you? 

[00:57:10] Kennan Cooley: Yeah. Well, you saw the one that was on just now for game cools. Uh, yeah, they are very proud of me and they say that I'm their biggest inspiration because I'm willing to do stuff just, just because I'm so I appreciate that.

You know, that's what motivates me. My kids and my family are my motivation. So yeah, I'm hoping that I have a sailboat still. And, and, um, In my right mind and it can teach my grandson how to sail along with my kids and daughter love and whoever else wants to do it because I think And this is just I also have a book called the power of can't and how to get rid of it and how to rid it Out of your life.

I mean So that book I wrote and that's really the inspiration of how I live because you know, you're saying okay the power Okay, yeah the power of can't and how to rid it out of your life and I wrote that book back in 2016 or something but it really was [00:58:00] me expressing how I internally feel because you, you know, you only get one chance to live your life.

So like, you know, just that when I got this boat, I didn't know how to sail. But he had, you know, the opportunity was there. I was like, you know what? Sure. Let's figure this out as we go, , you know, and so, well, I'll tell what this is gonna, 

[00:58:17] Capn Tinsley: this'll keep you young. This'll keep us young, 

[00:58:21] Kennan Cooley: young or young or so old.

I don't know how old some days I'm like, oh my God. Alright. Yeah. I remember how old I am now. 

[00:58:30] Capn Tinsley: Yeah, yeah. Well, I go to a trainer just, I mean, I'm gonna, I'm gonna do this when I'm 80. I'm gonna stay in shape. That's how you do 

[00:58:38] Kennan Cooley: it. Right. It will keep you in shape. I mean, this is totally your place in the gym. I mean, right.

When you finish pulling lines and pulling sails and going against, because you know, wind doesn't care. 

[00:58:50] Capn Tinsley: Right. 

[00:58:50] Kennan Cooley: Wind does whatever it does. And you know, and you have to try to figure out how to keep the 

[00:58:55] Capn Tinsley: sail, 

[00:58:56] Kennan Cooley: you know, in line and keep us from, it's [00:59:00] just a small line between a good thing and a bad thing.

Right. But, you know, because the wind is too much. Yeah, throw you over at the winds not enough then, you know, you're not going anywhere So it's just that challenge that I love about it, but it is, you know, it takes a lot My sweet 

[00:59:15] Capn Tinsley: spot is 10 to 15 knot winds. That's my sweet spot. I like that. 

[00:59:22] Kennan Cooley: Okay What but you had to be doing more than that with that big thing See you think behind you when you're down.

Oh, yeah. 

[00:59:30] Capn Tinsley: No, it was more like 30 plus knots in that. 

[00:59:34] Kennan Cooley: Yeah. 

[00:59:34] Capn Tinsley: Yeah. I was not fond of that. 

[00:59:39] Kennan Cooley: That's an exception. It 

[00:59:41] Capn Tinsley: was just a necessary evil to get to the other side, you know, when you get out there Sorry, I have a, um, an allergy cough that pops up on me. When you get out there and you're offshore, you can't pull over like on the interstate.

You gotta go with it. That's what I'm 

[00:59:56] Kennan Cooley: saying. Yeah. Right. I know. And I gotta get my [01:00:00] moxie up for that because, man, that's a one way trip. You really have to say, okay, I'm doing it. Godspeed. 

[01:00:07] Capn Tinsley: Yeah. And find a really good weather person. 

[01:00:11] Kennan Cooley: I don't know if I'm doing it alone, I'm not gonna lie. It's gonna be at least me and one other person, but yeah.

Maybe I'll work my way up to that, but. 

[01:00:18] Capn Tinsley: Well, maybe someday I'll see you in the Keys. 

[01:00:22] Kennan Cooley: You'll just 

[01:00:22] Capn Tinsley: shove me out there.

All right. So before I start coughing, let me just say this. You're going to come back on for an update. Oh, you're going to come back to the salty podcast. Okay. 

[01:00:37] Kennan Cooley: All right. 

[01:00:37] Capn Tinsley: This is exciting. There'll be a lot of people watching for inspiration. And like you said, you just kind of jumped into it. So, and you know, you don't, you don't, I like it.

It, forget the planning. You'll never do it. Right. 

[01:00:52] Kennan Cooley: That is true. That is very true. That was the point I was making about, you know, I didn't do this out of a plan. I didn't sit here and say, Oh, you know what? One day I want to sail. Let me go think this [01:01:00] through. It just became, it felt like a good idea and I'm not saying there aren't challenges, but I don't regret it.

So I think that's the thing is like, if you just, if you think you're going to like it, and what's the worst thing I can do? I don't like it. I sell the boat. You know, I, I don't have to be stuck to it, but if I don't try, I'll never know. So that's really how I'm just living my life and trying to say, Hey, just try it.

If you like it, if you don't. It's you just, I love it. You know, 

[01:01:26] Capn Tinsley: that's my, you're my kind of gal. . All right, well, on that note, we'll end on that positive note. Okay. Um, the way, the way I like to end it is, um, well first of all, I'll say you, you're gonna come back. So I hope you will, and I'm gonna check with you, okay.

and, uh, and this is the way I end it. Salty abandon out.