Sailing Story: William Whitacre

William Whitacre found his way to sailing through the military. Not through a deployment but instead, through a veteran’s yacht club. The Chaos Bay Yacht Club. It all began a handful of years ago, one of his military friends invited him out to the invite-only yacht club for a sail to see if he would be a good fit.

“I did that and I fell in love with it,” William said. “I fell in love with the ability to actually take a vessel— that I had no idea how to operate— and I learned how to get from point A to point B and then enjoy the benefits of being on the water too.” 

The club members sailed together every January in the British Virgin Islands and in the first few years after joining, he found himself unable to attend one of the yearly gatherings. 

“I felt something missing in my life so I went the next year and my wife said, ‘you need to do this every year because you are a different person every year when you come back,’” William laughed. “There is something about it, I don’t know what it is, it’s a reset.”

Since then, William has joined the Chaos Bay Yacht Club every January in the British Virgin Islands. However, the more William sailed, the more he dreamed of bringing his family into the excitement of this new hobby with him. He decided to ask his wife and sister-in-law to take American Sailing courses with him in the Virgin Islands. 

“The [yacht club] experience was great but going out with Go Sail and doing the classes and learning it officially really built my confidence,” William said. 

After taking the Series 1 Cruising Couples sailing courses with Go Sail Virgin Islands, William decided he was ready to be a co-skipper on his next trip with the Chaos Bay Yacht Club on a Bali 5.2 catamaran.

“Everybody said, ‘wow, you are doing this?! You didn’t know how to tie your shoes, how did you do this?!’,” William laughed. 

The trip was a huge success and William felt he was ready for the next challenge— advanced ASA courses! During his first ASA sailing lessons in the Virgin Islands, Wiilam remembered how much he loved sailing with the team at GSVI, and decided he would ask to book a trip with them again. 

“Wow they have the jackpot with this crew,” William said he remembered thinking about Go Sail’s wonderful instructors. “I’ve never had a better instructor or captain.”

During his advanced ASA courses, William felt the same way about sailing with the team as he originally did in his Series 1 ASA courses. 

“I can’t give the captain and first mate enough credit,” he said. “I did everything with the captain and I feel like I got this. That instruction— his ability to just let you take charge and get it done – just really built my confidence.”

The confidence and skills William gained during advanced ASA courses have him feeling prepared for the next big step with the Chaos Bay Yacht Club. 

“I’m going to be a skipper this year due to the certifications and GSVI recommendations,” he said. “All the courses we did, everything that happened– it was really well done.”

William said he couldn’t be happier to have booked with Go Sail Virgin Islands for all of his ASA courses. 

 “Go Sail VI was so awesome and affordable,” he said. “I have friends that spent much more money and had crappier experiences.”

Now, William is excited to share his newfound knowledge with other veterans in the Chaos Bay Yacht Club and inspire the next generation of sailors, just like Chaos Bay and GSVI inspired him. 

“I want to keep this going for generations for our veterans and for our brotherhood,” he said.