September 2023 Sailor of the Month: Sherry Roth

Sherry Roth:
I grew up on the Barnegat Bay, but had never known anyone who sailed. My youngest son raced opti’s throughout his youth, and I would watch the young sailors in awe. Wanting to sail for a few years, I was thrilled to finally start my sailing journey in Spring of 2022 when I joined Brant Beach Yacht Club as a sailing member and borrowed a sunfish so that I could sign up for the adult sunfish classes. For those who met me in the sunfish class, it came as a surprise that from one season to the next, I morphed from a very timid, fair-weather, fumbling sailor into someone whose life was transformed into an enthusiastic, totally obsessed wanna-be yacht skipper. This transformation occurred after accompanying friends on their family bareboat sailing cruise in Croatia. 

Joining my friends, Doug, Karen and Jordan Tait, was a once in a lifetime opportunity that I could not pass up, despite the devastating loss of our home after Fort Myers Beach took on a direct hit from Hurricane Ian just a couple of weeks prior to our departure. I was scrambling to deal with the repercussions of the storm while watching channesl on YouTube to learn how to tie essential sailing knots and fake lines so that I could be a competent crew member. 

I had heard so many wonderful things about traveling in Croatia, and it exceeded every expectation. The people were friendly and fluent in English, it is fairly inexpensive for food and lodging and they have excellent restaurants. We stayed at an Airbnb that was built into an ancient wall of Diocletian’s Palace. Diocletian was a harsh second century emperor who ended a period of turmoil in the Roman empire by establishing the Tetrarchy, a system of rule in which four men shared rule over the massive Roman Empire. The irony of being a Christian staying in Diocletian’s house made me grateful for the span of two millennia between our existences. The quaint, narrow cobblestone alleyways were a maze of cafes, restaurants and shops, all centered around the Peristyle and Cathedral of St Domnius which were built at the turn of the fourth century AD. The history and architecture were too much to take in for the limited amount of time that we stayed on land. 

Jordan, our skipper, had reserved a 47’ Jeanneau from Sunsail, called “The Moocher”, quite apropos since I was mooching on their family vacation! After several hours of being briefed and getting a tour of the boat from amazing staff at Sunsail, we set sail from Marina Agana. Our trip occurred during their shoulder season, which significantly reduced the price we paid for the boat rental and the amount of boat traffic and congestion that we encountered. This relieved a lot of stress associated with trying to find moorings for each evening. 

The places that we visited were lovely, but the most exhilarating part of the trip was definitely the sailing! I can remember vividly navigating along the coast, the wind picking up, filling up our sails and heeling us over on a starboard tack, slicing through the waves, spraying water on our faces… simply heaven! The easy and fun banter of our crew, the sense of leaving all of our problems at the shore, it was an other-worldly experience. I had the privilege of taking the helm to navigate from one port to another, it still puts a smile on my face as I can remember it like it was yesterday. I stood for hours enjoying the freedom, making adjustments to the steering, charting our course and keeping track of the wind.

Sherry Roth:
Captain Nordie from Flagship Sailing texted me in April to encourage me to join an ASA 104 destination trip scheduled to depart the following month from Tampa Bay to Key West. One of my first questions to Nordie was, did you vett the crew (because who wants to be stuck with subpar crew on a 40 foot Island Packer for 10 days)? When he informed me that I would be joining a stellar crew; a retired Marine helicopter pilot, a retiring Army officer and a second mate who Nordie had much experience sailing with… well what could I say other than it sounds like every girl’s dream! My friend, Elle, and I signed up right away for this adventure.

Sadly, one of my most memorable experiences was how sea sick I got on the first night. I was below deck trying to rest for my midnight to 4 am watch when rough winds and waves arrived. Nothing can prepare you for how it feels to be down below when the boat heels over in rough waves. But like child birth, women forget the pain and agony after the joy of holding that precious child. I was blessed the next evening with a waning full moon that lit up our peaceful sail in the Gulf of Mexico. I loved sailing at night… deciphering our location by the light patterns of the light houses, keeping an eye on the chart plotter, AIS, radar and listening to the VHF radio. All of your senses heightened to take in the beauty and exhilaration of sailing.

I learned so much on that trip, it blew my mind. We worked as a team taking turns at the helm , and we all learned about navigation, safety, boat mechanics, weather, housekeeping, sail trim, docking, and so much more. I never knew how much information could be ascertained from navigation charts and we even touched a bit on celestial navigation. We sailed 44 hours straight and never got bored. There was always something to learn or a site to see. Not to mention the fun banter we experienced with our crew. There’s something that feels like family when you connect with people who share your passion of sailing.