Kristin Pederson (’04)

Give some thought to why you were drawn to sailing, who inspired you, who taught you, and where you want to go with sailing?

I grew up sailing and boating on Lake Washington and up into the San Juans and further into Canada with my family. It was always kind of a thing I did. I never remember formally learning how to sail. I’ve always been drawn to the water though — I’m a big scuba diver as well (yes! even in Puget Sound!) and couldn’t imagine living far from the ocean. I’m always inspired by people who have dreams, set goals, and accomplish those dreams. It’s really daunting and scary to think about sailing in a big offshore race, or setting off on an extended world cruise and the people that I know who were able to make these dreams a reality did so through thoughtful, intentioned actions.

What was the most challenging experience you have had so far sailing?

This may not be the answer you’d expect — quitting my job in May to pursue sailing and boating opportunities. I had been working at The Center for Wooden Boats since 2013, where I managed their sailing programs before moving into operations management. This summer, a few opportunities were starting to coalesce that would require me to quit if I pursued them. That, combined with the fact that my professional USCG Merchant Mariner captain’s license was up for renewal and upgrade, got  me seriously thinking about quitting and going for it.

The day I gave my notice was scary, but I haven’t looked back. I have had experiences and responsibilities I couldn’t even imagine while working my previous job.

In the last year, I’ve logged more than 5,000 miles on the water, sailed in 10 countries, worked on a UW research vessel, and have secured gigs in the future. It’s still piecemeal and I’m still building my resume, but just having the bandwidth — both time and mentally — to say yes to things has had a snowball effect and I’m making more connections every day!

In regards to actual challenges while sailing, one main experience stands out, and as you would probably expect, it occurred during the Race to Alaska (www.r2ak.com). During the first leg of the 2017 R2AK, we were hit with 45 knots of wind just outside of Victoria in our tiny 20’ boat. My teammate and I kept trying to get in the lee of an island or something where we would be out of the wind and waves a bit, but every time we tried, we’d find ourselves heading into the rocks. Instead of trying to force a course and get out of the weather, we just needed to do what we knew we could do — sail the boat. It was a terrifying and counterintuitive decision, but we needed to trust ourselves, our abilities, and training. We sailed that boat like I’ve never sailed a boat before, clawing every inch of upwind that we could to hold our position until things calmed a bit and we could head into the dock safely.

One of the worst feelings during the whole experience, which lasted about five hours, was that there were at least five rescues of other racers that day. We could hear their staticky calls on the radio and see the Canadian coast guard helicopter flying overhead, but we could never hear well enough to know how serious their calls were. Ultimately, everyone made it in safely, but it was emotionally tough.

What felt like victory, or triumph?

Completing the Race to Alaska as a double-handed all-female team!

Also successfully skippering a charter  in  Croatia  this summer for a local sailing organization. It was a new location with some challenging mooring scenarios. I also didn’t  know any of my guests on board, so there was an element of people management in the equation. All of that, combined with blowing past  some pretty ingrained stigmas about who normally skippers a sailboat made for a challenging but rewarding experience.

Do you have any ambitions for a challenging future sail?

I'd like to continue jumping on as crew for the various distance races — Van Isle 360 and Oregon Offshore, which can be carnage. Another race to Hawaii — maybe the Vic Maui this time. Ultimately, I’d like to buy a boat and set off on an extended cruise around the world.