Dustin Raatz, male, 33
Ref 31360
| Nationality: | United States |
| Currently based in: | Gillett, United States |
| Looking for: | Worldwide opportunities |
| Experience: | 5500 ocean miles / 500 coastal miles |
| To Whom This May Concern, My name is Dusty Raatz and my wife Erin and I are nomads at heart and love traveling this world by sailboat. (She and I usually come across as a sailing couple, but she is helping a friend start a business this chapter in our lives and won't have much time off right now to join in on the sailing) Anyway... I am a charter captain; I earned my OUPV/captain's license for near coastal waters (up to 100 miles offshore with a max of 6 paying passengers) here in the States in March of 2021. I wrapped up my maiden season as a charter captain in October of 2021, where I ran my friend's sailboats-- a Cheoy Lee Clipper 33 (a beautiful staysail ketch) and a 27 foot Aquilas (a zippy little catamaran)-- doing day trips and overnights for his new charter business along the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore in Lake Superior. I am from northern WI originally. During the off seasons, I sail a pair of 35 foots sloops-- a Pearson and Morgan Out Island-- in the FL Keys for the BSA (Boy Scouts of America), running 5-6 hour day sails to local patch reefs, state parks, lighthouses, etc. This past winter of 2022/2023, I journeyed to New Zealand for a sailmaking/repair apprenticeship with Evolution Sails. I learned a lot and now am applying those skills in a loft up on Superior, where I have returned to sail for my friends for a third and final season. I say final because day charters only offers so much and I do not want to remain stagnant in learning. Help me gain the knowledge necessary to be a better skipper than I am today, as I too am itching to sail for longer and farther periods. My wife and I crossed the Pacific in 2020 on a Neel 51 trimaran, which leads me into the below... MY GOAL: is to have a POSITIVE experience on a sailboat with a kind, patient captain/owner/crew who is willing to teach and encourage-- not mislead and discourage, as we have endeavored a sufferable 5000+ mile trip during the height of Covid helping deliver a boat through the Panama Canal (twice actually) to what would have been Vietnam via the World ARC; we crossed the Pacific and sailed as far as Tahiti before Covid repatriated us in April of 2020. Covid was actually, for us and our circumstance, a blessing in disguise, as it got my wife and I off a toxic and insidious boat with cruel men. It is quite the tale of woe and adventure we don't mind sharing now. Anyways... Sailing is something we both understand is a lifelong discipline, and we're looking for the right people willing to teach and instruct and pass on the art of good seamanship, so we can continue to become confident and competent on sailing vessels as well. Some quick pertinent side notes... If youth are on board, I/we have primarily worked with youth in youth development organizations for most of our outdoor educational careers and feel comfortable around kids of all ages. I don't mind assisting with food management, as we managed the entire 8 month food plan for the South Pacific trip, which was quite the undertaking. I'm great with youth (if any are on board), I play the guitar, write, am savvy with a camera; I am a social drinker and drink responsibly when doing so. I don't smoke and have a clean background. And I'm clean, neat and very organized. And above all, I know we haven't met yet and I know we haven't even gotten to the interview process, but just know that with every word that I/we choose to describe ourselves, that is exactly what you're going to get. Some of the more pertinent are: patient, trustworthy, loyal, dependable, helpful, considerate, kind, courteous, clean, methodical and honest. To bad those are rare qualities these days... If you're curious what our "personality types" are, I am an ISFJ (Introversion, Sensing, Feeling, Judgment) and Erin is an INTJ (Introvert, Intuition, Thinking, Judgment). Thank you for taking the time to read this. The best way to contact me is via email. Thanks and God bless, Dusty Oh, we're also very creative people (specializing in photography, short filmmaking, writing/blogging, etc). I personally write screenplays and stageplays-- a vocation for now, hopefully a career... as well... someday. | |
| Smoking: | non-smoker |
| Relationship status: | married |
| Dietary requirements: | None. We are "hospitalitarian," meaning we eat what we're given (for the most part). |
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| Number of years sailing: | 4 to 9 |
| Sea miles sailed: | Ocean: 5500 / Coastal: 500 |
| Nights at sea: | 11-49 |
| I have experience as: | Coastal Skipper |
| Sailing Skills | Experienced I have done this many times and am confident to help others less experienced. I am happy doing this day |
Competent I am competent doing this in daylight, or if there is someone more experienced with me |
Basic I have only done this a few times, but I am willing to learn |
None I have not done this before |
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| Steer a compass course |  | |||
| Keep lookout/watch-keeping | | |||
| Trimming sails – mainsail and foresail/jib | | |||
| Reefing | | |||
| Working the foredeck – setting sails including spinnakers and cruising chutes | | |||
| Navigating with GPS and paper charts at sea | | |||
| Anchoring and handling anchors | | |||
| Cooking at sea | | |||
| Using dinghies with outboard motors | | |||
| Heaving-to and other heavy weather tactics | |
Other nautical or cruising skills |
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|---|---|
| Using VHF radio | |
| Using radar | |
