Songbird
Photo By Songbird Setting Sail on Songbird
A passionate music educator, burned out from the demands of his profession, finds a new calling in the vastness of the ocean. Inspired by a YouTube video showcasing a fully equipped sailboat, he embarks on a journey of self-discovery, trading the classroom for the cockpit. Leaving behind a successful but draining career, he purchases a neglected sailboat, christening it "Songbird" in honour of his lifelong love for music.
A City Kid's Musical Journey
I spent my formative years as a city kid in Philadelphia and never really spent any time on the water. Music was a central focus in my life from very early on and I joined every music class I could. After Philly, I moved to Newberg, OR and finished high school there, becoming more entrenched in music as I shifted towards studying choir and opera. I went to college at Pacific Lutheran University and graduated with a Bachelors in Music Education. During my degree, I studied opera extensively and starred in roles consistently throughout my time there. During this time, all of my focus was on becoming the best music educator I could be. I never stepped foot on a sailboat or thought about sailing until the YouTube algorithm offered me a random video one day…
The year before I set sail, I was teaching for Seattle Public Schools as the Orchestra and Choir Director at Washington Middle School in the Central District of Seattle. I taught 6th-8th grade and had three orchestras and one choir. Even though it was my first year of teaching, I took on many leadership roles. I was the chair of my department, on the Building Leadership Team, and Instructional Council, and organized and led seven field trips for my students.
Even though I experienced a great deal of success during my first year of teaching, it was at the expense of my health and happiness. I spent close to 8 years putting all of my energy into becoming a music educator and when I achieved this goal, I was left exhausted and burnt out. The rigours of teaching for Seattle Public Schools during a budgetary crisis and ineffective leadership proved too much and the dream to circumnavigate replaced the dream of developing a thriving music program. During the pandemic, I was offered a YouTube video by the algorithm about a fully equipped cruising sailboat (SV Delos). The video was a boat tour that went in depth about all of the systems necessary to live in remote regions for months on end. I was immediately hooked despite not having any sailing experience. The complexity of the systems on board paired with the simplicity of how streamlined all of the systems had to be in order to fit on board enchanted me.
From Classroom to Cockpit
I had ZERO experience before I found that video on YouTube. After I found that first video, I became obsessed with watching SV Delos and other YouTube sailors (SV Tritea, SV Uma, Tally Ho). After so many hours of watching these sailors live out their lives on the water, I realised that I was starting to understand what it would take to do this myself. After a year or two of learning as much as I could through YouTube, I took two months off from substituting in Seattle Public Schools (I had not yet been offered a job due to the scarcity of jobs in SPS). I flew to Mexico and joined a cruising sailboat to learn the ropes. After just 2 weeks aboard, I jumped ship and joined a different cruising sailboat I met at anchor. I hitchhiked around the country this way for two months learning as much as I could from skippers on circumnavigations that were living the life I sought. I sailed on 5 vessels during this short time. After those two months, I flew back to Seattle to continue working and furthered my sailboat studies at YouTube University. During March of my first year of teaching, I was sitting on a beach in Seattle and made the teary decision to quit at the end of the year. A few days after I made that decision, I went to see a sailboat for sale in person and the deal was too good to pass up. I bought it on the spot. Thus, SV Songbird was born. I immediately hauled it out of the water and got started on what I thought would be a week on the hard. It quickly turned out to be an extensive 7-month refit. I was going to school and teaching all day and then going to the boatyard to work with power tools through the night.
When I bought the boat, it had been sitting neglected in a slip for 4 years. Before that, it had been sitting on the hard for 20 years. Due to the neglect, it was unnamed. The name Songbird came to me very naturally. Music was, is, and will be central to my identity. Since she is only 27ft, I knew the name needed a humble tone and as I would be circumnavigating, I wanted a name that could translate easily to other languages and that could be spoken and understood clearly over the radio in case of emergency. Among the early name options, Songbird rose as the clear favourite.
Photo By SongbirdSV Songbird Takes Flight - Sort of
The first time I set sail was the first day I owned the boat. It needed to be immediately moved from its slip-on Bainbridge Island, across the Puget Sound, to a guest dock in South Seattle. The passage was a nightmare. It was the first time I had ever skippered a vessel and the first time I had ever single-handed. I left at 6:00 pm on a Friday after a full day of teaching and as I wasn’t familiar with the systems and equipment onboard, disaster struck immediately. There were 20-25 knot winds on the Sound that day and as soon as I tried to unfurl the headsail, the furling line snapped and the sail flew wildly out of control. The winds were so high and my experience so lacking, that I could not gain control over the sail and needed assistance from the Coast Guard to get it back under control. With a wild, out-of-control sail, I motored across the Puget Sound until the Coast Guard arrived to help me get things under control. Once they left and wished me well, I had an hour’s motor ahead of me down the Duwamish River, where a guest dock was waiting for me. It was a dark moonless night at this point. On the way down the river, I needed to raise two bridges. However, as my phone was dead and I couldn’t figure out how to turn on my radio, I had to rely on an almost depleted air horn to raise the bridges. Five short blasts will raise a bridge. To try and save the horn for the last bridge, I tried to squeeze under the first bridge. Needless to say, I hit the bridge, slipped under, and knocked off all of the instruments on top of the mast. Very demoralizing. I got to the second bridge with 10 minutes to spare before it couldn’t be opened for the night. I used the last of the horn to raise the bridge and once I got to the dock, I nailed the landing and as I prepared to leave the boat and go home, I promised I would never tell this story out of overwhelming embarrassment. Now, I tell this story to show people that even though there are times when everything is going wrong, things get better. Now I have 4000 miles behind me and have sailed through storms with 30ft swell, hundreds of miles from shore in the frigid North Pacific. I suppose it’s a story of humble beginnings.
Photo By SongbirdThe Circumnavigation Plan
The plan is to circumnavigate the globe! I cross the Pacific alone to French Polynesia in late April (2024) and will be cruising the South Pacific until I reach Australia. From there, I’ll Island hop to SE Asia and cross to Madagascar. Then I’ll head to South Africa and cross the South Atlantic to Brazil. From Brazil, I’ll head to the Caribbean. After cruising the Caribbean, I go through the Panama Canal and head back to the Sea of Cortez, Mexico. This is the loose plan that I expect will take ~5 years. I am on an incredibly small budget so I either spearfish or troll for most of my food. When I’m not eating the fish I’ve caught, it's either pasta, rice, freshly baked bread, or eggs. Veggies and fruit are a luxury I indulge in as infrequently as possible other than to keep proper nutrition. For water, I have a 70-gallon capacity that can keep me hydrated for at least three months. I refill my water supply when it rains, or I meet other cruisers with desalinators who are generous enough to share their water with me.
Photo By SongbirdEngine Troubles and Lessons Learned
I have had MANY engine problems on SV Songbird. I have a Yanmar YSE12 diesel engine that was built in 1970 and it frequently shows its age. After dealing with oil leaks and worn piston rings all the way down the coast to Mexico from Seattle, I spent the time and money to perform a full rebuild on the engine. I did all of the work myself, other than a few necessary tasks that required a machine shop. I took the head off and put in a new piston, bearings, valves, injector, and gaskets. Shortly after I put it all back together and sailed away, my transmission broke. At this point, I was tired of engine work and didn’t have the money to fix the engine so I proceeded to sail for the next few months without an engine. Cruising the Sea of Cortez without an engine has been a huge blessing. My skills as a sailor have blossomed and the experiences of windless days at sea have taught me the meaning of patience and peace.
Photo By SongbirdThe Columbia River to San Francisco: A Challenging Passage
Other than my first sail ever I described above, my most difficult passage was from the Columbia River to San Francisco. At that point, I had a 19-year-old crew member from South Africa and we experienced 6 days of sustained 20-30 knot winds and ~30ft seas. It was late October and we were 150 miles offshore. It was an exhausting, freezing sail and I spent much of it seasick, bundled up in a nest on the galley floor.
Experiences of being caught with too much sail-up have made me very wary. Now, I have a sense of when the wind will build or fall and I have a clear plan of action to keep the boat from becoming overpowered. Quick and early action to keep the boat safe is a primary focus for me. There have been a few times when I have had the headsail wrap around the forestay in high winds and it feels like the sail will rip into a million pieces and the boat will break. However, after a 20-minute battle with the sail, lines, and rigging, things can always be put back under control.
Never any Doubt
I honestly, never considered giving up and going home. SV Songbird is my home. Even in the lowest of lows, I know that this lifestyle is the one for me and that being a full-time scrappy sailor is the best job I could ever have.
Photo By SongbirdThe Allure of Solo Sailing
The feeling of being a solo sailor is wholly unique and very difficult to describe. The feeling of total self-reliance is exhilarating and makes me feel more alive than I have ever felt on land. In many ways, every situation you experience as a new solo sailor is an unexpected situation and they often feel like emergencies. However, like everything, humans have the capacity to get used to anything and this feeling of constantly being presented with unexpected situations and emergencies becomes an environment one thrives in.
Photo By SongbirdThe Importance of Music
My baritone ukulele! As I experience fear during storms at night, music is the only thing that can calm me down and bring me peace. It’s also an incredibly important tool for grounding myself in meditation. Life at sea is difficult. It requires a rigid mental framework and discipline to get through the hard moments. Without my baritone ukulele, I would be less equipped to get through these hard moments and continue on the path I know I need to be on.
The thing I find myself always saying is this: You can do it! I think that anyone who gets bitten by the sailing bug, the way I was when I saw that single YouTube video, has the capacity to sail around the world. You can learn SO much with the internet and when you stay disciplined and patient with how you budget your time and energy, you can do extraordinary things. To those who want to get started, get on the crewing and hitchhiking sailboat Facebook pages. A lot of sailors are older and very active on Facebook. There are always skippers eager to take on crew and eager to teach. Don’t pay for a fancy sailing course. Do it for free with a sailor that is out here living the life!
Experiences Gained
It’s exploration! Not only geographically, but emotionally and spiritually. I have dove into Taoism during my time at sea and have learned more about myself than I ever thought I could. I want to know what happens after one spends 40 days alone at sea. Does one go mad? What do one’s thoughts turn into after such a time in such an environment. What is over the horizon? I need to find out!!
The Next Chapter
Right now, I am waiting on a shaft to get delivered to a marina close to me so I can fix my engine after months of it being out of commission. Today, I hitched a ride to a supermarket and bought 85 packs of spaghetti. Soon I’ll be ready to set sail at 25 years old on a 27ft boat, and embark on a 3000 mile, 40 day passage across the largest desert on earth; the Pacific Ocean!
Photo By SongbirdTo continue following our explorer Songbird’s journey or simply want to reach out and say Hi, you can connect with Songbird on the following accounts:
Songbird: “As I am on such a tight budget, people that learn about my story ask about how they can contribute to keep me afloat. At this point, I have a Venmo account set up with the hopes that it will help keep me fed”.
Instagram: @sailingsongbird
Venmo: @sailingsongbird
Tiktok: @sailingsongbird
Email: gosailingsongbird@gmail.com