Sailing Story: Tyler Evans

Tyler Evans has always been drawn to classic, hands-on skills — the kinds of crafts people have practiced for centuries and still keep alive today. He’s trained as a carpenter and also enjoys blacksmithing, knife making, and taxidermy. Tyler has spent the past 14 years working in one of the world’s oldest industries: brewing beer.

As he explains it, these are the timeless activities where, “there is definitely new technology but when it comes down to the basics, if you know that, then you can figure the rest out.”

In 2014, Tyler went on his first catamaran sailing vacation and found that sailing fit in perfectly with his other hobbies. 

“There is a mystique about it. It isn’t something that is done as much anymore,” he said. I would like to be confident in sailing a boat by myself. That would be a big accomplishment for me.”

For Tyler, some of the most interesting aspects of sailing are navigation and then the exploration of the unknown. 

“I collect oddities. Things that are kind of unknown, and romanticized in a way, for better or worse, are just kind of interesting,” he said. Which may explain why he has a dream of sailing the Bermuda Triangle. 

“Ever since I was a little kid I really liked the Addams family and when Uncle Fester came back from the Bermuda Triangle– I always thought it would be fun to sail there,” he said. 

However, Tyler also has an interest in learning more about the business side of sailing schools. He has years of technical experience from the brewing industry that transfer well into his position as an operations manager at Go Sail. 

“The whole point of this vacation school is ease— not feeling overwhelmed with the details and being able to focus on enjoying your time,” Tyler said. 

His goal is to help Go Sail develop processes that make the business run as smoothly as each sailing vacation does. He believes the work may be challenging at times but he also believes FDR said it best: “A smooth sea never made a skilled sailor.”