HOWB 064 – Interview: Wendy Hinman; Woodenboat Blue Water Sailor, Author, and Self Confessed Tightwad! - 12.03.12

Wendy grew up the daughter of a Navy dentist, who made frequent military moves. When her dad was given an assignment in Hawaii, Wendy’s parents bought a Cal ’27 sailboat and enrolled the entire family in sailing lessons. At the age of 7, Wendy was getting her sea legs sailing the Hawaiian Islands. Next, Wendy’s family moved to Washington, DC and began sailing the Chesapeake Bay on a Catalina ’30. Soon Wendy was teaching sailing utilizing the advanced skills she had learned as a youth.

Wendy’s husband Garth also grew up in a sailing family. In fact, during his youth, Garth spent 5 years circumnavigating the world with his parents and siblings. Their trip included a shipwreck in Fiji and other extreme adventures and all navigation was celestial (can you spell sextant?).

It’s not surprising that early in their marriage, Garth and Wendy made plans for their own blue water extravaganza. The first order of business was to save money and pay off their home so they could “get away” for several years and live off the modest $1,000 per month their home would rent for. In 1998 they bought a 31ʹ Tom Wylie designed cold molded cutter – Velella – and 2 years later they were off on their 7 year, 34,000 mile adventure around the Pacific. Wendy has chronicled their blue water undertaking in her newly released book – Tightwads On the Loose: A Seven Year Pacific Odyssey. You can also check out Wendy’s website: WendyHinman.com.

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You can contact me at woodenboatdan@gmail.com to share you comments, feedback, stories, and wooden boat adventures.

Keep the bright side up and the barnacled side down - Wooden Boat Dan over and out :D

PS Please note this podcast was recorded several years ago - some of the links, email addresses, phone numbers, and promos mentioned are outdated and no longer valid.