Sailing Story: Marc Gottlieb
Marc Gottlieb’s introduction to sailing came about less from a family love of sailing but more so from one particular family member’s hatred of engines.
“I grew up sailing with my dad who was a very smart guy, genius level scientist— but hated motors and had no mechanical abilities whatsoever,” Marc laughed. “So he got a sunfish.”
Marc would sail with his dad on the lakes of Raleigh, North Carolina and the state’s 5 sounds.
“It made for exhilarating experiences,” Marc recalled about his childhood sailing in “shallow waters with high winds and waters that could kick up in summertime storms.”
When Marc left home, moved to Missouri, and began working towards his doctoral degree as a chiropractor— sailing began to fade out of his life.
“That was about as far away I had been from the ocean,” Marc explained. “For practical reasons I sold my sailboat.”
Recently, Marc’s old hobby of sailing began to enter back into his mind.
“I had a yearning to get back to it,” he said. “Just this year I made it a priority to do ASA courses.”
Marc had never been on a catamaran and while visiting his cousins in St. John, he decided the time was right to try it out. With Go Sail Virgin Islands, Marc stepped aboard his first catamaran.
“I’m pretty sure I literally said ‘wow’ out loud about how maneuverable it is,” Marc said. “In a word– I love it. It was something I can appreciate from a design and space utilization standpoint.”
Once the crew set sail, Marc found that there was much more to love about his Go Sail vacation than just the catamaran itself.
“It felt like a lot of growth happening in just a few days and each day felt pleasantly long but not overdone and there was something to be learned throughout the day,” he explained. “[Captain] JT brings a lot of experience and is an effective teacher. He did a good job of reinforcing the book work in real life ways.”
Marc also found he loved the experience of sailing with strangers, who quickly became friends.
“It’s delightful just to put together with people you don’t know but there is a common interest in getting the boat to go,” he said. Now, he’s hoping to find more sailors looking for an extra hand aboard their sailboats so he can catch a ride, share his own experience, and learn from theirs.