Sailing Story: Edi Stan

Edi Stan had a sailboat. He’d had a sailboat for 15 years. However, until he got a push from his daughter, he’d never taken his vintage 1970s Aquarius 23 out on the water.

It was a good conversation starter and a subject of daydreaming but not more than that,” Edi said. “[My daughter] said your project has two choices. It either goes in the water and it sails or it goes in the big heap north of the city at the dump.”

And so Edi’s sailing story began. First on his own boat and then on Go Sail’s boats in his home state of Montana. Before long, Edi and his daughter felt ready to take the plunge into the Virgin Island’s waters. They booked a weeklong class in the USVI with Go Sail.

“I had no clue what I was getting into, Edi laughed. “I researched, I looked at questions, I looked at pictures— you know what ever Google will give you! I ordered a big map of the Virgin Islands but it didn’t nothing but make things more confusing!”

However, Edi’s fears started to melt away once he met Captain Trevon and first mate Stephanie at the harbor.

“It was one of the first things that put us in a calmer mood,” Edi explained. “They are a great team and we felt very comfortable with them.”

That sense of calm developed into a sense of confidence once they hit the water.

“It was exciting, we were enthusiastic, [but we started out] a little bit apprehensive about our sailing abilities,” Edi explained. “The way Trevon had the class organized it gave us confidence we can handle a serious sized boat,”

While some sailing students prefer to take a more relaxed approach to their ASA sailing lessons with Go Sail, Edi and his daughter wanted to spend every moment they could learning to sail. They always anchored as close to sunset as possible to maximize their sailing in daylight.

“It was one of the best experiences I ever had. It was fairly intense. It was definitely a learning to sail experience,” Edi explained. “It was an eyeopener into life on a sailboat and coastal sailing.”

While Edi started off the sailing trip apprehensive as to whether it would grow into a passion, by the end of the trip he realized that becoming an accomplished sailor may actually become a reality for him.

“Three days ahead of coming back to the marina we were sailing on a windward side and we were seeing the British Virgin Islands,” Edi explained. “I saw a traffic jam of sails and I realized– it’s a lot of competition for having a good life. But then I thought, if it’s that popular, we can do it too!”

Now, Edi and his family are starting to plan their next sailing adventures. First to Catalina in the fall and hopefully by next summer, they’ll be sailing in the Greek islands!