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Sailing Story: Haley Zapal

Haley Zapal knew she was a sailor long before she ever took the helm of a sailboat.graphical user interface, application

“I’ve always been a lover of nautical fiction and history — I even have a Moby Dick tattoo on my arm,” she said. However, it wasn’t until her late 30s that her love of sailing stories led her to embark on her own sailing journey.

After Haley bought ASA courses as a birthday present to herself, she “quickly fell in love, and soon after joined the local sailing club.” 

Her friend Emily was actually the one to tell her about the sailing club and became Haley’s go-to sailing friend. It was with Emily that Haley decided to ring in her 40th birthday in unchartered territory— sailing in the Virgin Islands! 

“I was surprised by the absolute perfection of the sailing weather in the VI. Having learned to sail on a tiny man-made lake in north Georgia, I was shocked to learn that there are consistent 15 knot winds nearly all the time,” Haley said about the trip with Go Sail Virgin Islands. “On Lake Lanier, we consider it a good day if there’s 5–6 knots. And it being so small, you have to tack every 10 minutes or so. Sailing around St. John, we would catch these breezes that just let us glide for what seemed like forever. It was beautiful.”

Haley had never sailed on a catamaran before and at first, found herself a bit worried she might upset Captain Jalil with her lack of experience. 

“I’ve had experiences with sailing teachers where they raise their voice or get visibly frustrated, and it’s super stressful! Jalil was always cool as a cucumber,” she said. “Jalil would just tell me to breathe, then keep explaining the concept underlying the movements so I could master it.”

And not only did Captain Jalil’s sailing instruction impress Haley, his cooking did too!   

“I still think about the jerk chicken he made us one evening for dinner,” she said. 

When they weren’t sailing, Haley found herself making the most amazing memories adventuring in the Virgin Islands, as well. Captain Jalil gave her and Emily plenty of time to snorkel the remains of an old shipwreck off Buck Island (only Haley’s second time snorkeling!) and explore the history of the islands.

“We explored a lot of land (we didn’t want to completely lose touch with our land lubber past!). It was awesome exploring the abandoned rum distilleries, especially seeing how bees still flock to the huge iron basins that held the viscous syrupy-sweet liquid. How do they still know?!?,” she said. “I also remember wandering the remains of an old sail-making factory, and seeing all abandoned sewing machines strewn about, a huge tortoise  at one point popping out to make friends. Oh! And ALL of the many land crabs! That never got old. They’re so cute.”

After her trip, Haley found herself newly committed to the sport of sailing and incredibly excited for where her sailing story would take her next.

Sailing in the VI kickstarted my bucket list of dream places to sail. Last year, I spent 4 days on the Schooner Zodiac in the San Juan Islands touring old lighthouses,” she said. “Next on my list is somewhere in the Sea of Cortez, or in the Mediterranean!”

As for others unsure of whether to take the plunge into booking a sailing trip, Haley has this advice to offer:

“Smash that book button now! You won’t regret it. Hiring a charter captain is fun and all, but learning how to do everything yourself is so, so rewarding. And honestly so much fun!”