Ben Doerr is living the dream in the Pacific Northwest. A thirty-something husband, father & sailor, Ben didn’t wait until retirement to chase his dreams. He recently refit a classic John Alden-designed Pearson Countess ketch, and sails her out of Bainbridge Island, off the coast near Seattle, running day-trips and longer adventure charters along that beautiful coastline via his business Sail Bainbridge. Ben & I hit it off immediately, and chatted at length about his sailing career, life as a dad, his ‘real’ career as a musician, building and running a sailing business, & lots more.

Show Notes

Topics Discussed in the Podcast

Ben is from Bainbridge Island across from Seattle and sails regularly in the Puget Sound
He runs a Charter Business called Sail Bainbridge
Social Media: Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Music
Ben used to work at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center
Ben grew up in St. Louis, Missouri
He started his love for sailing on his grandfather’s 19-foot day sailor on the East Coast of Florida
His wife is from New Zealand and they met when she was at boarding school in St. Louis
He watched the defense of the America’s Cup in Auckland, NZ
He crewed on a Trip 40 when he was 18 in Michigan
Camp Owatonna in Harrison, ME where Ben learned a lot about sail trim on dinghies
Catalina 22 was Ben’s first boat
His second boat was a Newport 28
Motivation for the business: Looking for a bigger blue water boat to experience sailing more of a lifestyle
How to buy a boat that is right for you
Bens now has a 1965 Pearson 44
Logistics when buying a boat for the bank
Managing money to allow yourself to own a boat & travel
Generational differences in the sailing world and managing money
What life at sea is like
The name the boat came with was Ketut, but Ben and his family are changing to True after his wife’s late mother
Mason Design being sea worthy boats
Clatsop Community College near the Columbia River bar
Chamber of Commerce in Bainbridge, WA
Ben takes his passengers to the San Juan Islands
Why establishing expectations in this sailing business is so important
The reality of having children and sailing for a living