Matt Krull

During the height of the pandemic, many people hunkered down and stayed home. However, for Matt Krull, this seemed like a perfect time to get away from the stresses of COVID by learning to sail in the clean, fresh air of the Virgin Islands. 

“It is something I always wanted to do and I just didn’t have time until COVID happened,” he said. “Then my wife and two daughters came down the day I got out of sailing class.”

Matt went from never having sailed before to chartering a sailboat in the British Virgin Islands within a matter of weeks. Not only had he only freshly graduated with his ASA certifications but no one else aboard his first bareboat charter had sailing experience either.

“I was confident but it had nothing to do with my skill set,” Matt laughed. “You learn your lessons as you go.”

On the family’s first bareboat charter trip, Matt taught his wife and middle school aged daughters basic sailing skills like anchoring, grabbing a mooring ball, and taking the helm when they were under power.

While Matt himself will admit it was their “roughest trip,” he also said it was an amazing experience and cemented their decision to spend at least 2-4 weeks a year at sea. 

“As we got more experience we learned how to make it a smoother sailing experience,” he said. “The more time we spend on the water, the more confidence everyone gets.”

After a few sailing trips, his wife began showing interest in becoming ASA certified herself. That’s when Matt and Angela decided to book a weeklong liveaboard course in the Virgin Islands with Go Sail. 

When Matt booked his American Sailing courses in the Virgin Islands, there was only one sailing company offering charters due to the pandemic. When his wife was ready to become ASA certified, Matt had more options of sailing schools in the Virgin Islands and chose to book with Go Sail. 

“The difference was the quality of the boat,” Matt said. On his ASA certification course they had returned to the marina twice in order to get their sailboat fixed. With Go Sail, Matt and his wife had much more time adventuring away from the marina.  

“We spent a lot more time sailing,” he said. “Everyone got more hands-on time.”

Now that Matt and his wife are both ASA certified sailors, Matt feels more confident sailing in other locations and even teaching others some sailing basics!

“We just got back from the Bahamas a few weeks ago,” he said. “We are teaching our kids now to sail.”

Next up for Matt is teaching non-family members the sailing basics and sailing larger boats! Their next sailing adventure will be on a 50 foot catamaran with his family and another family of four. 

“That’s what it’s all about — quality family time,” Matt said.