Episode #236: Chris Jester on Starting a Sailing Business, With Host Ryan Foland

This week we chat with Chris Jester at the intersection of sailing and entrepreneurship. Chris has started not one, but FIVE sailing businesses, starting with SailTime Newport Beach.

Tune in as Chris shares with Good Jibes host Ryan Foland about the French sailing trip that changed his life, how to find the type of sailing business that’s best for you, how to get to know your customer base, how to go from boat sales to boat company owner, and Chris’s fun future sailing plans with friends and family.

Here’s a small sample of what you will hear in this episode:

• Quitting jobs, selling everything, and traveling the world for a year
• COVID sparks business #4
• The Duffy vs. ElectraCraft rivalry
• The empty nest plan: taking the Lagoon 450 cruising on the Baja Ha-Ha
• Fractional boat ownership explained

Learn more about Chris at SailTimeNewportBeach.com and Ryan at Ryan.Online

Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and your other favorite podcast spots — follow and leave a 5-star review if you’re feeling the Good Jibes!

Check out the episode and show notes below for much more detail.

Show Notes

• Chris Jester on Starting a Sailing Business, with Host Ryan Foland
  • [0:14] Welcome to Good Jibes with Latitude 38
  • [0:43] Welcome aboard, Chris Jester!
  • [1:14] Chris’s origin story: sailing to Portugal at 18 on a Beneteau 35
  • [4:28] From corporate telecom to chasing the dream: the MBA pivot
  • [8:45] Quitting jobs, selling everything, and traveling the world for a year
  • [12:04] The birth of SailTime Newport Beach: fractional boat ownership explained
  • [15:53] The Newport Beach Sailing School and the ASA certification ladder
  • [19:46] Learn more about Shearwater Sailing at ShearwaterSailing.net
  • The Fleet Expands
  • [20:11] The Great Recession pivot: launching Newport Beach Sailing Charters
  • [23:31] How skippered charters work and who they’re for
  • [26:53] COVID sparks business #4: Pacific Electric Boat Rentals and the Duffy fleet
  • [31:59] The Duffy vs. ElectraCraft rivalry and the old harbor/lakes gentleman’s agreement
  • [36:13] Section 179 and the tax write-off strategy for boat owners
  • [39:31] Learn more about Shearwater Sailing at ShearwaterSailing.net
  • Rounding Out the Fleet
  • [41:29] Business #5: Newport Beach Yacht Sales and the try-before-you-buy pipeline
  • [44:21] The empty nest plan: taking the Lagoon 450 cruising on the Baja Ha-Ha
  • [47:16] Full circle: the member journey from lessons to ownership to cruising
  • [50:04] Foil boarding obsession and a possible business #6 on the horizon
  • [53:26] Why leasing a fractional share beats even a free boat in Newport Beach
  • Learn more about Chris at SailTimeNewportBeach.com and Ryan at Ryan.Online
  • Check out the March 2026 issue of Latitude 38 Sailing Magazine
  • Make sure to follow Good Jibes with Latitude 38 on your favorite podcast spot and leave us a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts
  • Theme Song: Pineapple Dream by SOLXIS

Transcript

Please note: this is not transcript not 100% accurate.

00:03

you buy a boat, get a big tax write-off, and at the point where you’re about to retire, you take your boat out of sailtime and go cruising.

00:14

Ahoy everyone, welcome to another podcast of Good Jibes, a podcast that’s brought to you by Latitude 38 to talk about sailing with West Coast sailors, about all things on the water. Today, I have a very exciting guest, Chris Jester. he has not one, not two, not three, not four, but five startups, or maybe they’re past startup, but five businesses in the boating sphere. And we’re gonna learn all about them today. And I was introduced to him by somebody named Forbes.

00:43

who is in Arizona of all places. And so we love those connections.  And let’s talk, we’re going to talk about sail time. We’re going to talk about who knows what, all kinds of things. I’m your host Ryan Foland and  I  love to talk with sailors if I don’t have a chance to sail and the ocean is my potion. And I’ve been sailing these days  on a foil. So I’ve been foil boarding, which who knows, we might get into that, but eventually it will add a wing to it so it technically becomes  sailing.

01:14

Chris, to get to know you a little bit more,  we always ask the same question. It’s a simple but deceivingly  interesting one.  I’m sure you have plenty of stories, but can you think of a story off the shelf that really shaped you  as a matter of that happening? You’ve changed as a person or you’ve had some crazy insight that makes you live a little bit differently. Yeah, yeah, actually,  as it relates to sailing,

01:40

My mom was a French teacher and she would bring French  foreign exchange students to  California  and I got to meet them  and because of that I was invited to France.  And  did you, where did you live in California?  In Anaheim Hills. Okay. So I went to Canyon High School and my mom was a teacher at Villa Park High School. Okay. Actually my dad was a teacher at El Medina so we had the whole,  you know, orange. You my parents were also educators  and it

02:09

opened up the summertime for us to all boat together. I’m curious if that ended up being the same thing for you guys as well. We definitely traveled together and  ended up doing a little bit of sailing. We never had a big boat. We had a little like Hobie Holder 14 that oh I’d flip over in Big Bear Lake and sail it and all that kind of stuff. Sweet. Yeah. All right. So you’re in Annaham Hills. The French people are coming in. Yeah. Getting getting to know them. And then I was invited to France to go sailing with one of the families.

02:37

And so we had a, they had a Beneteau 35 in La Rochelle, France, which is on the Atlantic side, Bay of Biscay. And so I had really hadn’t done any ocean sailing. How old were you at this point? 18. Okay. And so I hadn’t done any ocean sailing, just kind of dingy sailing. Yeah. And all of a sudden we are like, okay, we’re going to Portugal. And I’m like, whoa, that’s kind of a big trip. But I’m like, come up for it. 18, I’m healthy, I’m like…

03:03

Love adventure. Cast a line. So yeah, let’s let’s go. And so we were with a guy that was my age, the dad, and then the like the cousin who is a who is female. And we left port. She went down below and puked for three days. But so me, the guy was my was she new to this? Were were these people grew up in a sailing family? OK, yeah, it’s just part of OK. Yeah. And so it was so.

03:30

So we had to do the night watches. And so I’d never done a night watch. And so we’re there. This is like 1990, right? There’s no chart plotter. There’s no radar. There’s no GPS. There’s follow that compass and keep us going towards Spain. Yeah. Look out for ships. Yeah. Yeah. Scream if you need help. Yeah. And so he’s down below and there’s a guy, there’s basically us two 18 year olds that are captaining the ship. And we’re like, oh man, you know, big swells going through it.

03:58

And it was just like an eye-opening, like really kind of cool experience. Like, let’s write a message in a bottle. We had a bottle of wine, finished that, popped the cork in it, put a little message that said in a few different languages, like, if this is found, know,  rescue us.  So,  well, we made it  after three days of crossing the Bay of Biscay, made it to the top of Spain. And it was just like, wow, you know, I don’t like doing ocean crossings, but I really like this coastal cruising life of

04:28

just popping from the part little island to another little island, to another little peninsula, walking on a deserted beach just seemed so magical to me. And it kind of shaped my destiny of wanting to blend business with sailing. That’s awesome. So at 18, you knew that. I didn’t 100 % know that, but I knew there was something in my heart that loved the ocean and loved sailing and loved the adventure of…

04:57

travel and sailing at the same time. So when you came back from France,  when did you get the genesis for one of your first ideas?  when did the first inclination of this match between business  and sailing travel happen? So  I went to UCI for my master’s in business.  And so I’d spent, prior to that, after graduating from college, University of San Diego, I spent a decade in high tech telecom.

05:24

and working for big Fortune 500 companies and high tech telecom. And I’m like, this isn’t for me. So the dreams just sat dormant for a bit. Yes. Now during that time, did you feed the passion to get on the ocean? I mean, you’re in San Diego. Yeah, I really didn’t have the means at that point to have a boat or have that. I went out with some friends and watched the America’s Cup down in San Diego in 93. So it’s just stirring. It’s just hiding somewhere inside of you. Yeah. And you got lost in the big tech. Yep.

05:52

Mm-hmm. Okay. I… Slowly ate away at your soul. Yeah, so after about seven years of that, I’m like, I have to do something different. know Fortune 500, working for a big company wasn’t my… Wasn’t making me thrive in my personality. What was it? Was it the culture or the cubicle? You know an entrepreneur, right? Yeah. They want to run their own show. Yes. They want to  be able to be creative and make decisions that influence…

06:16

the matter and not just be a cog in the wheel, right? Cut the red tape, get things going. Yeah. Yeah. Just action. Get ship done. If you see a demand from a customer, you want to be able to make that decision and do it. In a big company, a guy in his 20s, you really don’t have that decision-making ability. so while working, went to UCI MBA, the fully employed program. OK. And so from there, it was three years of

06:46

thinking about what do I wanna do with the rest of my life in this age 30 transition, right?  So what works for your personality that will make you thrive in the future? And that was, I knew from in the high tech telecom industry that the best  business form was a recurring stream of income. Yes, the old subscription. Yep, subscription model. And I knew that  I personally needed a business that was half indoors, half outdoors. I needed to be outside in what I did.

07:16

Could we say the vitamin B for business? Okay. Or vitamin C. Yeah, wait, what is the sun? D. oh ABC, D. Yeah, yeah. And so… I’m a ginger, so I’m afraid of the sun, so you know. Stay out of the sun. Sunscreen.  And so from there, I also knew that I had to work, my parents were teachers, I wasn’t born rich. um And so I knew I wanted to work in my business.

07:45

You know, a lot of entrepreneurs are of the idea of, you you work on your business, not in your business. But I was young  and I really wanted to work in my business. And so I had to create a business that I like to work in. Right. Which, by the way, many people don’t think about that before they get into business. And then they want to work on the business, but they get stuck in the business and then they drive themselves crazy. Yeah. Yeah. And so I really wanted to work in the business. was, you know, like 32 years old when I started.

08:15

knew I wanted to work in the business. so I also knew that I didn’t want a transactional business. I wanted a small group of customers I could get to know that paid a  recurring stream of income that I  could have fun with and bond with and  kind of make a life out of. And so after  graduating from UCI’s MBA and quitting my job, I had met the right woman during that process.  And she was also

08:45

in grad school  and she wanted to travel as well. And so we literally quit our jobs, sold our house, sold everything we could and traveled the world for a year. That is beautiful. And so that started this  kind of love affair of travel and then also had an additional year to  relax, get creative. And then when I came back after that year, it was like, I do not wanna go back into the high tech telecom industry. I want to do something in  adventure.

09:14

creative, outdoor, but also business. Business was a big focus of it.  And so when I came back, I started thinking, there must be some opportunity with the Channel Islands and boating. Yeah, because they’re so accessible. they’re right there, but have you been there? No. No, it’s like the least used national park.  And so started doing search on that. And then I’m like, oh, there’s this concept called sail time. It sounds brilliant. So it was a concept?

09:40

It was basically there was a few bases that and there was a couple of guys who had come up with the idea a couple entrepreneurs in Austin, Texas of all places. Okay.  And  you know, they’re like, how do we get a nice boat where we are? We’ve done these bare boat charters in Greece and the Caribbean and stuff like that. And like, how do we get a nice boat here? Yeah. And like, as busy business people who have families and kids and stuff like that, like nobody uses our boat all the time. No, they sit there and like, I mean, I want to be in the bottom paint business because like

10:09

The boat just sits there and, you know, yeah, just. So like, why wouldn’t people want to share an expensive depreciating asset that requires maintenance whether you use it or not? Yeah. And so I looked into that and I’m like, wow, this is like a really like a great idea that time has finally come. But of course, this was 2004. OK. And then by 2005, we had bought the boat and we’re starting the business. The economy’s doing good right there. Things are doing good. Things are going up. It’s not 2008 yet. Yep, exactly. And so.

10:38

I’m like, okay, I mean, but we were kind of ahead of the curve, right? Nobody is really doing fractional at that point. And it wasn’t like the sharing economy wasn’t even really around, right? You own your own car, you like pride of ownership. Everything is like yours. Yeah. And so we were definitely ahead of schedule and we definitely had to fight up market to build the whole concept, not even just the brand, but the whole concept of like sharing. do you mean? I’m going to share a boat. And the thought might be like, well, what if we want to use it on the same weekend? Like I want that boat, even if it’s one weekend a year. And so I…

11:07

I talked to like 50 boat owners and they’re like, no, I wouldn’t want to share. But then I was thinking, I would talk to the wrong people. I should be talking to people that don’t have boats. Right. And so,  but also in learning and talking to those people, I found out what’s the average amount of time you use your boat? I don’t know, two or three times a month, right? So that’s 27 days the boat’s not used. Yeah. And what’s the average amount of time you spend working on your boat versus actually sailing your boat?

11:33

Depends on if you’re hands-on or if you’re hiring, but there’s still a lot. the average person was like 50-50 between cleaning and working on it. So if you have a day and a half to actually sail, so if we give you four days, if we give this one of our fractional partners four days, that seemed to be plenty of time for the average guy. Now, does that time that you’re allocating initially for the person that is the fractional to sail it and also clean it? No, they don’t have to clean it. They don’t have to maintain it. We take care of all that stuff.

12:04

So essentially that business, you know, in concept was developed. And then we basically just started at it, you know, in 2005, first boat show, April of 2005 here in Newport Beach. Sweet. So you didn’t have to buy a boat. just found it. I didn’t. I Yeah, I had to buy a boat. You did. Yeah, I was. You were the test pilot. I was a test pilot. Yeah. So I had. you buy? What was the first boat? It was a Hunter 33. OK. So a 33 foot Hunter, brand new boat.

12:30

And you know, just something that could be used between here and Catalina. So perfect coastal little coastal cruiser. And why a sailboat? I know why a sailboat. But did you entertain between the difference? The company was called Sail Time. Oh, I thought that was a concept that was just out there. No, that company was called Sail Time. OK. Yeah. So the concept of sail time was not a known term, but then your business was Sail Time. Well, no, concept and the business.

12:59

that we bought a license to was called Sail Time. Oh, so you were just, this is like a franchise? It is a franchise now. But you bought the licensing to Orange County. Okay, and did they already have the process set up, the software, and this is out in Yeah, they had the software, like the calendar, which was really brilliant on how to share the boat with seven other people. Got it, so you’re building off of the existing momentum, people in Texas, and it was not out here at all.

13:27

There was, yeah, there was a base in Channel Islands. And that’s how I had kind of found it, because I searched Channel Islands in boating. And so they had a couple boats there. Okay. Yeah. So you took the name Sail Time, you bought your own Hunter 33, and then you became the first customer and you just tried that out. How long did it take you to see, test or trial that part of it? You know, we went to the boat show and I think maybe a month or two later we had filled the six spots on the boat.

13:57

Okay. Yeah, so it didn’t take too long. mean, we had… And did you use the boat as well just for your own leisure time? Oh yeah, absolutely. Okay. Yeah. But I mean, you know, as an entrepreneur, right, you are cleaning the boat,  fixing the boat,  and then you’re meeting the prospective customers to sell them on the concept of sale time, and then you’re training them. Yeah. Now, tell me about the training, because I have a lot of people who always want to go sail, but they have no idea what they’re doing. And so did you just… Like, what was the extent of the training? What was the requirement?

14:26

And I say was, but same question is now because you’re just fast forward through it. Yeah, so it’s pretty much the same. it was, we became an American Sailing Association sailing school. Okay. So we followed their curriculum, their books, and we sold a package of five days of private personalized instruction on the the boat, okay. And so they had to learn the boat, learn the systems, learn the docking, learn how to sail past the test, and then they could go out on their own. So get their ASA 101. Yeah. And then,

14:55

You hand over the keys and they get it for a certain amount of time? Correct. Right. So after they pass their 101, they are able to go out, use a boat during the day in light winds. And then after they do that, say three or four times, then let’s take it up to the next level. Let’s do the 103. Let’s go out a little heavier wind. Let’s a little go a little farther offshore. Maybe come back after sunset. So each one just unlocks a little bit more. Think three stairs. Yeah. And then after they’ve done that, say they’ve gone down to Dana Point or they’ve gone up to Long Beach, maybe come back after sunset.

15:25

Now let’s do the ASA 104. Now let’s do a three day, two night trip to Catalina. Let’s cross shipping lanes. Let’s use radar. And that’s all of the training part. So you’re going over there with them. Yep. Physically you. Yep. Okay. And then they’re familiar with the boat, they’re leveled up and then they get the keys. Right. Yep. So they’re learning how to pick up a mooring, learning how to anchor in cool coves like White’s Cove, all those kind of things. And now they can go to Catalina on their own. So this is maybe like a five month process. Okay.

15:53

And so now fast forward, obviously, I’m not doing all that. running a bigger business, but we have nine captains that work for us and that do this kind of training. So the captains are doing the training now. Are people still wanting the captains? Like, could they accelerate if they wanted to just go to Catalina now, then they hire a captain as part of it? Or is it strictly you learn, you do? They could, but I think most of our sailors come in wanting to  earn the certification themselves and take their friends and family to Catalina without a captain. Such a great

16:22

Endpoint because you get your certifications and then you still don’t have a boat That’s a challenge and then getting a boat as a whole bring on another task bring on another thousand bring on all kinds of yeah stuff Yeah and I think that’s the probably the unique thing about our our sailing school the Newport Beach sailing school and sail time combo is That  so many of the brokers that are selling boats  in our industry are just turning over old blood, right? Oh, I have a 35 foot boat and I want to sell that boat get a little bit newer get a little bit bigger

16:50

Right? Yeah. So it’s the same blood that turns over. And so the industry has  really kind of stagnated because of that. Right. And what we’re trying to do is bring new blood into the industry. And so really, you know, bring new people that haven’t been sailing. Maybe they sailed um as a kid, but they’ve been out of it, raising their family, working hard. And so now they’re empty nesters and they’re they want to do something with their wife or their new wife. And they want to get something that’s nice. Yeah. Do you feel that?

17:17

Your success works against you and that you get them trained there on your boat and then they go buy a boat on their own or do people do you find that they get hooked on this shared concept and even if they buy a boat do they then come back to you and and have it be part of your i mean it is funny though because we have it both ways we have people that learn they come in take lessons from our sailing school join as a member they become an owner member where they’re essentially buying the boat they put the boat into an llc they get a big tax write-off and they

17:46

keep in our fleet for five years, and then they take it out and go cruising. So that’s the traditional path that we see. Very similar to like moorings or something like that where you buy a boat, it’s overseas,  you are essentially owner for a certain amount of time, and then  you have a guarantee of that boat or something equal. Yeah. Now, the funny thing is we’ve noticed about 40 % of our members nowadays have owned boats in the past, and they got sick of the maintenance, sick of slip fees, and they’re like, I don’t want to deal with it anymore. I just want…

18:15

the enjoyment, the ease of use. so they become members. So I’ve seen it come full circle now. And if they are, say, a member, do they still have to go through the 101, 102, 103? Or if they’re at a certain skill level that they there’s a fast track of kind of passing out a 101, 103. And then they still have to do 104.

18:44

“Are you looking to spend some time on a serious offshore sailing yacht and you don’t have one? No problem. You can join Shearwater Sailing on their Custom Far 53 Fast Cruiser Atalanta.  They have a variety of sailing adventures just for you.  From day sails on Monterey Bay,  to coastal hops up and down the coast of California,  or ASA  sailing courses.  And guess what?  This summer, they even have a trip sailing to Hawaii and back. That’s right.  These trips are fun,  hands-on, instructional, and built for sailors like you,  who want real experience on the water.

19:13

Find more information about Atalanta and upcoming trips at ShearWaterSailing.net.  I have heard from Kevin that the Hawaii trip spots are limited,  so you need to act fast.  Departure is mid-August and the return will be mid-September.  And guess what? You can join either leg.  You can sail to Hawaii  or back from Hawaii  or you can do both.  Visit ShearWaterSailing.net  to secure your spot now.  Again, that’s ShearWaterSailing. S-H-E-A-R-W-A-T-E-R sailing.net.”

19:46

Okay, so you have sail time and then you also slipped the second business, which is the Newport Beach Sailing School. That’s two out of five. What else do we have on the table? So during the Great Recession, 2008, 2009, 2010, you know, for us it was pretty long. And so we had boats. But what happened during that time? Did you just just hold on to your ass and just…

20:11

Yeah, we just, mean, the funny thing was a lot of people, you know, wanted to sell their boat because they weren’t using it they didn’t have that big expense. But some of those people who own boats were like, it’s just less expensive to do the fractional. So  we gained those people, but the people that could barely afford the membership, we lost those people. Right. And so what we did was we were getting calls from like the resort of Pelican Hill by Concierge. was like, hey, do you guys have a boat that, you know, our guests could go out on? And we’re like, no, we don’t.

20:39

We’re not going to let some random person sail our boats like a bare boat. Right.  And then we had all these captains that were doing lessons and they were less busy during the Great Recession. And so we’re like, we created a whole business around captain charter.  And so we called it the Newport Beach Sailing Charters.  And it was a uh skippered charter business. And so the excess time that the owner wasn’t using or where there was an open membership, we were able to do corporate events. We were able to do day charters and also multi-day charters.

21:08

Now was that just at the six pack level or did you go more than that? Generally  it was  just a six pack type charter. And for those that don’t know the six pack and I’m getting to know more of it because this is super interesting to me. I’m an entrepreneur. I’ve got a new book series out called Getting Your Ship Together. I’ve always tried to incorporate sailing metaphors. So I’ve got a book series, Speaker Ship is out. Then I’ve got Entrepreneurship that I’m writing and then Leadership and then

21:36

Once those are published, my wife is gonna co-author relationship. I have a whole fleet afterwards, salesmanship, internship, all kinds of shit. And I have this vision  of the book title at sea. So, Speakership at Sea, Leadership at Sea, Entrepreneurship at Sea. Like, I can just see this filling my days.  But from my understanding, because I’m doing this research right now, do I have to have my captain’s license to do that? Or is it just the level, the number of six people? If you’re gonna take passengers for hire,

22:05

You need to have your captain’s license. it. So anytime you take a dollar from somebody You need to have your captain’s license. Okay, so my first beta run I’m not charging anybody and that’s totally cool. You just still have to keep it under six people or So, I mean if you’re not charging anybody you can bring as many as the capacity on your boat Okay, as long you have a low-end life jacket per person. Got it. Yeah, so we can have a big party with no money Yeah, as long as they don’t give you any consideration then

22:32

You can bring they can give me feedback though, right? gonna be back Okay, but they can’t give you a bunch of beer and exchange for a ride. Got it. Okay. Got you Can’t even get paid in beer. Yeah, but when you do get serious in your changing dollars Then you have your captain’s license that gives you the six pack that allows you to have six people on board question. Does that include?  If you have somebody else helping you like a  does not include. Okay, so the crew plus six. Yeah All right. So these executive events and things like this you’re under the six pack and

23:02

What I believe is the big value of that is that you don’t have to have the Coast Guard come in and approve the boat. It’s called an uninspected passenger vessel. There you go. Correct.  So during the Great Recession, you sort of saw the opportunity with people that were looking for experiences, captains that needed some time. You matched them together and it sparked. And that’s the Newport Beach Sailing Charter. Correct. And that survived past the pandemic. that is now. Yep. It’s a full business unit that we’ve had the whole time. OK. And  it’s a good business unit. So there’s some people, there’s a lot of people that

23:31

are not going to lease a boat for a year, right? They’re not from this area. It’s just they want to do something fun for a birthday or anniversary or something like that. Yeah. And so, yeah. Now, do you, let’s say someone asking for a friend, wink, wink, if I, because I have access to a 42 foot Grand Banks, I have access to my 1977 Cal 34, six people plus crew would be a little bit much on that. And I’m starting to sort of network and find other people’s boats that I could do that.

24:01

do my workshops on.  So would technically, if you had a boat that could handle six people plus a crew under your existing business model of Newport Beach sailing charters, would I or someone else be able to charter that boat with a captain then bring on my six people to have a workshop? Sure. Okay. Absolutely. Yeah.  So I could have this whole fleet, which would be your fleet,  to say these are the boats with the experience. And it would just be working between you and me of

24:30

what that is for the cost that makes it makes sense for you and then I can go out there half day full day or whatever that would be. Yep. Yep. You can literally just go on to our website sale Newport Beach dot com and then book a boat and then it comes with the captain. The boat’s set up for you. The boat’s clean after you. They take everything. Cost includes  the captain and the fuel insurance all that kind of sweet. Now what if I want to invest the five months. I’ve got my A.S.A. one on one but would need to get the other ones or do the fast track with that same opportunity happen if

25:00

I got to the certain level stage three where I could take that boat out on my own with those folks. Is that the alternative route? If you’ve leased a boat through sale time. Oh, so tell me more about that then. So you mentioned the year lease. How does that work? These are for people as part of membership. sale time members, right. OK. So he’s basically like a sale time member is a leaseholder. So there’s a small group of partners that share the boat with the owner. How many partners are on a boat? One owner, six leases. Wow. OK. OK. Why that number? Is that like the magic number?

25:30

Well,  so think about eight. So the owner takes a double membership and then we lease out six spots.  Think about the number of weekend days in February. The shortest month of the year is eight. We wanted to make sure that everybody got at least one weekend day. Got it. And then three weekdays. And so  that’s the easiest way to oversell. Some months  not to oversell. Some months have nine weekend days. Some months have 10 weekend days. But if you limit it to eight, everybody gets at least one weekend day every month. Sweet. Okay.

26:00

So we’ve got business number one, the sale time. Business number two, Newport Beach Sailing School. Business number three, Newport Beach Sailing Charter.  What’s number four? During, it’s funny, all these kind of concepts seem to come up during challenging periods, right? When you have to pivot. That’s a real lesson though.  Whether you have to, mean, talk about sailing, you literally cannot go in the direction that you want.  And oftentimes you get blown off course quite often and…

26:26

These are the moments of inspiration. Yep, and so April of 2020, what was going on? Yeah. so the Irvine company, CRC Marine is the company that owns like five of the big marinas in Newport Beach, had a small Duffy fleet of four Duffy’s, and they were pretty nice Duffy’s. Okay. But being a big conservative company, they’re like, we got to get out of this business right now, 2020. Okay. And I’m like, man.

26:53

this is when people actually want to get on the water. On the water away from people with their bubbles. all of our other ones were like captain. There’s a captain for the sailing school. There’s a captain for the sailing charter. And so I’m like, we need another business, you where people can shelter, you know, without anybody else there. And they’re just driving their family and friends out on a boat that they’re living with. so they’re like, do you want to buy these Duffy’s? And I’m like, yeah.

27:21

I’m a serial entrepreneur. want to start another business right now. Right. I want to pivot. I’m seeing that there’s going to be demand. I want to get out on the water with my family, you know, during COVID. Yeah. And so we ended up buying the boats in April, spending the whole month of May developing  the  electric boat business, which we call Pacific Electric Boat Rentals. I was going to guess it was Newport Beach. you know, that one was already taken. would have taken that. Okay. So Pacific Electric Boat Rentals  and

27:50

We did all the website, the creative, the photos,  the videos, all that kind of stuff and built the business  in the month of May and launched June 1st. Wow. And so…  It’s very entrepreneurship. Yes. Yes.  So yeah, and so we… that’s… And is that what we would guess? Just a Duffy rental business? Yeah. you have anything crazy about leases and partners and So we had nicer boats. We had better parking than everybody.

28:19

tried to keep them much in a better shape. And so that was kind of our, and with a little bit lower price. So you didn’t have a storefront or anything? Oh yeah, have, you know where Soul Restaurant is in Newport Beach? Yes. I say yes, but I really don’t. So the Balboa Marina on the corner of Bayside and PCH. There’s a marina called the Bayside, mean, Balboa Marina. And so that’s where our office is. You’ll see a sign on the one-story building. Is that where, I was gonna say, that where parking sucks, but that’s all of Newport? No, this parking lot, like…

28:49

We were up on Coast Highway for like 14 years.  And then  we saw an opportunity to move down there  in like, it was like early 2019. Of course, the price of this building was about four times the price we were paying. I’m  like- But pricing  is different when you look at parking because parking is 10 times worse. Yeah, and so this place had like  300 parking spots, no gate, no cost.

29:15

2020. And I’m like, this is really going to help our business. Oh, my gosh. Is your six business a parking business? No, I wish it was. Yeah, that’s Irvine company. And so so we moved down to this place and I’m like, oh, this is going to be good because we’re going to be growing our business. And all of a COVID hits, you know, in March of 2020. So you had already moved to that spot. Yeah. We a pre-duffy. Yes. Pre-duffy. And so we’d been there. like, OK, this is going to be good because we’re going to be able to grow our business in this new spot. And all of sudden, COVID hit. We’re like, oh, my God, we got all these expenses and.

29:44

You know all the stuff but it turned out to be very good because it actually was the biggest boom in really brought people back to the water. Yeah. Yeah. So I mean, you know, if you think thought about the demand for boats in June, July and August of 2020 versus any other time in the 20 plus years I’ve been in the industry, there was more demand during covid than we’ve ever experienced. Did you see the increase in fractional  ownership  increase as well? Yeah, absolutely. OK. Yeah.  So

30:14

You’ve got the Duffy’s and it’s classier, better parking and just a straight kind of customer service. Yeah, but it’s a similar business. Do they have to get their license? They’re one on one for the Duffy? No. oh Captain if they want a captain. Yeah, we do have a captain service for the Duffy if people want it. But I mean, Duffy’s a pretty easy boat to drive. Yes. You know, although it  does swerve quite a bit, it doesn’t track along like a sailboat. Right. So people are always complaining how Duffy boats don’t drive, but they actually the way they’re made, you know, is not is.

30:42

easy to track along as a sailboat. you know why they’re called Duffies? Marshall Duffield. Yeah, I had no idea. I just didn’t know if there’s a good…  Yeah, so they’re the guy who developed them.  His name was Marshall Duffield and he went by Duffy. Got it.  So he started it back like in the late 70s. Nice. Yeah. So now you initially bought how many of them? So we bought four of them. And how many do you have now?  Ten. Okay. So we just kind of grew them over the years and…

31:08

Yeah, do they have anything like wild on them to identify like a bulldog like in Long Beach or pink? No, mean one of the things that we wanted to do was  make a Duffy that looked like one that you have in your backyard. Got it. So incognito because I see these things and  I live in Long Beach so I see them all around like you know it’s just like aggressive dogs on the front or like hyper pink and it’s like yeah. I guess our motto was

31:30

you know, boat that would look like you owned it and it was parked behind your house in Newport Beach. Right. So you’re out doing those things. Yeah. So it was a blue hole with a tan top. It wasn’t just a straight white one. It just, it looked like something that somebody would have as their personal. And do they all look the same? Yeah. So those ones do, but  so to add a little complexity to this story, a few years ago, a company called Electra Craft came to us and said, Hey, we’re trying to get  our basically competitor to the Duffy.

31:59

in this market. The smuffy. Yes. And so that was called an electric craft. And the story goes that back in the  80s, the guy who started electric craft and Duffy used to go to boat shows and they’d be right next to each other and they would be literally like in their like, I don’t know, like 20s or early 30s and they’d get in fistfights over customers. grumpy young men. Yeah, just guys just fully competitive. Fundamentally the same type of boat? Very similar. Yes. Both elect, both 18 foot electric boats,  you know?  And so

32:28

Then, I guess, after a few fights and embarrassments, they went and had an agreement where Duffy would take the ocean harbors and ElectroCraft would take the lakes. Oh, okay. And so if you went to Lake Forest or Lake Mission Viejo or any of these other lakes in LA, there’d be tons of ElectroCrafts and no Duffies. And if you went to the harbor, like Newport Harbor, there’s tons of Duffy boats. And so that’s how they kind of segregated it. But what happened was the guy who owned ElectroCraft got old, sold,

32:58

And the new guy didn’t have this gentleman’s agreement with Duffy. And so they came in and said, hey, we want to put these boats in here. We’ll help seat them. And they’re nicer and newer and all this kind of stuff. And so they came in. They put four of those in our fleet. OK. What did Duffy think about that? Or is he not around to worry about No, he’s around. He didn’t say anything to me. No more pushing the faith? there’s like seven other like.

33:22

Yeah, he didn’t punch me in the face or anything like that. No stinky fish in your car or anything like that? No. mean we are in the same yacht club, but he hasn’t said anything. What yacht clubs are you in? Are you in multiple? We are members of the Newport Harbor Yacht Club. Okay. I’m a member of the Blue Water Cruising Club. Are you familiar with us? I’ve heard of them. Okay, so we have no land facility, but we have a spot in Big Geiger Cove, Catalina. Oh nice. Best spot in the history of world. Cool. Yeah, no moorings, so it’s in Anchorage. We’ve held the lease since like 1945. Initially got the lease on the place for $1.

33:52

All  of under the ocean, all the way up to the road. Oh cool. Yeah, it’s more than a dollar now, but it’s pretty amazing. And we’re a sailboat primary company, or primarily a sailing, you have to have a sailboat to get in. Oh that’s cool. And so it’s been hard to grow because the whole industry’s gone down. You don’t have a bunch of 18 to 20 year olds that are buying a bunch of sailboats. They’re buying fast boats or electric duffies or they’re just not even sailing. Yeah, yeah, I think that’s the challenge in industry. But yeah, we are in moonstone. Okay. Oh, love moonstone. Yeah.

34:23

Now, is your  series of  businesses here helping to lead people towards yacht clubs? I don’t think,  I mean, it’s,  don’t, I wouldn’t say that. I think it’s, I think we’re bringing in new blood into the industry and they are enjoying sailing and  kind of developing sailing. But I wouldn’t say there’s a vast majority of our members that become yacht club members. There’s a certain number, but I wouldn’t say there’s a

34:51

a ton of them that are going to yacht clubs. Interesting. I I guess we would kind of have our own club because we’re doing social activities on a monthly basis. With all the owners or all the leases or the members? What do you call them? What’s a crew? Members? Members, yeah. Okay. And so, like, for example, like, we are doing the Newport to Ensenada race together. Okay. So there’s like 30 of us that are getting on four different boats and we’re doing the Newport Ensenada race. And we’re also have a bunch of fun pre-races before that.

35:18

to kind of get people used to flying a Code Zero or a Genaker, get used to night sailing, all those kind of things. Yeah. Yeah. Have you guys ever participated in the Baja Ha? I did that last year. Okay. Yeah. That’s a straight Latitude 38 legendary  trip. Yeah. one of our guys who came in  as a sailing school student, he became a member on a Beneteau 38.1 and then he became an owner on a Lagoon 42.

35:43

kept in our fleet for several years. Real real cool. Just just interesting. So, Alisi is one of the six for the owners. then when he becomes, so he went and bought his own boat. And became an owner member. And then had six others that are on his team. Uh-huh. Yeah. So, what my company does is we help the owner find the boat, get a discount on the boat, you know, tell him what he needs to do to make it a real tax write-off so he can use Section 179 or bonus depreciation to excel at. that Section what? 179. Okay, tell me about that.

36:13

So it’s, think about this, the government wants to keep the economy rolling. Yes. Right? And normally when you, say you have trucks for a trucking company. Yep. And you’re gonna, and you’re thinking about buying a truck and you’re like, oh, can, I’m gonna buy this $100,000 truck and I have to depreciate it over 10 years. Right. So I get $10,000 each year. What accelerated depreciation does is it allows you to buy that truck and get a ride off of $100,000 in the first year. And so,

36:41

whether it’s trucks for a trucking company or servers for a computer company or a boat for a boating company, you can accelerate that into the first year. So if you buy a half million dollar boat, then you can take a half million dollar tax write off in the first year if you follow the right procedures. Right. Now the boat is part of what business? His business of? His business, yeah. He basically forms an LLC and puts the boat into that single asset LLC. And is the business him?

37:08

using fractional ownership? Is that the business? Yeah, his business is basically leasing his boat to us and we’re leasing it to the other people. Okay, so it’s still going through the businesses with your company, which is that business. So he’s like an independent contractor of… No, he’s more like he’s like a business owner. Like he’s like we’re us and our members are basically buying from his business, buying time on his boat. Got it. Yeah. That’s savvy. I like it. Yeah, so it’s been done.

37:37

you know, for 50 years.  It’s not a loophole. It’s not  a red flag. As long as you do it right, it’s  something that’s just, it’s an acceleration of the depreciation on the boat. And as long as you treat it like a business, i.e. have a business bank account, you’re trying to make money on this. You’re not just doing one charter and then you use it the whole rest of the time. People are paying you other than beers. Yes. Yes.  You’re making good money on it  and you receive money from sale time and you pay your boat’s expenses.

38:06

to the Irvine company for your slip, to your diver, your cleaning crew, all that kind of are all expenses, nice. And so he has a real business and he’s able to treat it like a business and he’s able to write it off like a real business. Like an entrepreneurship. Yes, exactly. That is it.  That’s fascinating, I love that.  Now, are all your boats in Newport? Yes. Okay, so nothing in Long Beach or other places, it’s all condensed there. Yeah, I mean, we had the opportunity to  form other business, sale time businesses in…

38:34

We could have done San Diego, Long Beach, LA, know,  all over. Because literally every other sale time during the Great Recession went out of business in sale time. We are the only one that actually survived with the same ownership  during that Great Recession. Why do you think that is? I think we had jumped in with two feet, my wife and I, and we had this kind of like, you know. Sink or swim? Sink or swim. Yeah, we’re not. I feel like I’ve had enough safety and sea courses. I’m going to be in the right position and, you know, take off my shoes and I think also like

39:04

We had, both of us had master’s degrees. Both of us  did not have other jobs. Like a lot of the other  bases said, well, I’m just gonna stick my toe in this sale time idea.  And if it doesn’t work out, I’ll go back to my other business. Versus we had jumped in and said, we are going to make this work. And this is how we’re gonna pay for our family.  And so we had,  we have two kids and  they’ve grown up with us.  Ahoy, Ryan Follin here.

39:31

One of your Good Gybes podcast hosts. And I’m here today to tell you that this episode is brought to you in part by a past Good Gybes guest, Kevin Waspbauer of Shearwater Sailing. If his story stuck with you, you can actually go sailing with him. Kevin runs Shearwater Sailing aboard Atalanta, a custom Far 53, a fast performance cruiser. They offer everything from day sails on Monterey Bay to coastal passages up and down California.

40:02

to ASA sailing courses  and offshore trips.  And coming up soon, they are sailing to Hawaii and back. That’s right.  The Hawaii leg departs  mid-August with the return mid-September.  And  spots are limited.  You can join either leg to or from Hawaii,  or  you can do both legs.  To learn more about Kevin  and see what’s on the calendar, head over to shearwatersailing.net.  That’s shearwatersailing.net.

40:35

S-H-E-A-R-W-A-T-E-R, sailing.net. Side note, and then I’m going to go forward with the fifth business. So I’ve got a sweet little ride. Her name is Bingo Two. She’s a 1977 Cal 34 with a tabernacle because I keep in Huntington Harbor. And I’m very close to selling it because I’m excited about the next step as I progress. So I just need to know if you have a good pulse on any

41:00

Tabernacle sexy boats that are out there or not because it’s Newport and I’m just finding that nobody is Stupid enough to have a sailboat behind a bridge like me.  I Don’t I mean I’ve sold some tabernacle boats, okay, but I have not really dealt with them much at all. Okay That’s not helpful at all, but I appreciate it. Okay.  All right. So we’ve got business number one, which is a Newport Beach Shoot, I can’t read my time sale time. Oh, that’s right. Is it Newport Beach sale time or just sale time? What’s sale time Newport Beach? Yeah. All right

41:29

So sail time Newport Beach and the Newport Beach Sailing School and the Newport Beach Sailing Charters and the Pacific Electric Boat Rentals hit me with number five. Newport Beach yacht sales.  Oh right that’s a logical thing to go next. All right. But not specializing in tabernacles. No no. Are you open to it though? Like can you keep an eye out for me? Sure. Okay I want something that doesn’t exist. I want a Beneteau 35.1 an oceanus  with a tabernacle mask which I just know doesn’t exist. Yeah that’s a

41:58

pretty big mass to Tabernacle. Yeah. Okay, you might just have to heavy. Okay, so Newport Beach boat sales, what was it? Yacht sales. Yacht sales. All right, what’s the difference between a yacht and a boat? I don’t know, a few feet. Okay, I don’t know either. There’s a good dad joke in there somewhere about it, okay. So when did this launch and was this a natural progression, it sounds like? Yeah, we were always selling boats. Yeah. And- Were you going through other brokers instead Yeah, we were going through other brokers.

42:26

when we first started, worked for the Hunter and Geno dealer, selling Genos and Hunters.  And then we, after- But working for, you were-  Like I was running my business  and selling boats on the side for them. Got it.  And so people would come in, become a member and say, I want to buy a new Geno 45.  With a tabernacle, probably. Yeah, with a tabernacle, yeah.  And so a lot of people came to sale time as a try before you buy. They said, I want to try this boat.

42:54

and see if the boating lifestyle is for me prior to buying my own boat. And so people would come in, lease a boat for one or two years and then say, okay, it really is for me.  And then  I would sell them, say a Geno 45 or something like that. And then we moved over to the Beneteau side and  I worked for the Beneteau  dealer. And then I said, well,  we’re selling so many boats  and why not have my own brokerage?  And so we formed that several years ago. How hard did that jump to go from

43:23

being somebody who’s selling to somebody who is owning the actual. I mean, you have to have experience to get your broker’s license in California. You have to form your own business. You have to follow all the rules and insurances and bonds and all that kind of stuff. But it’s, mean, besides money  and taking  the test, it’s not that hard. And you have to have experience. Yeah. Got it. So  now  you’ve got the full complete, but I feel like you’re not done. What’s business number six going to be? Not sure yet. No. OK. Yeah.

43:53

We might just need like a world catastrophe, like war or something, or like, you know, to sort of squeeze out with the next businesses. yeah.  Okay, but you’ve been at this for quite a long time. Yep, almost 21 years, yeah. At what point are you going to,  you know, go out, go back full circle,  go visit France, go tour the world, go hang out with your wife. When are you guys gonna stop working and enjoy all of this work?  It’s actually coming up very soon.

44:21

So we have a son who’s in college right now. He’s a junior at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. We have a daughter who’s a senior at modern day who’s applying to college right now. Okay, the nest is about to get empty. Yes, so we are going to be empty nesters in August. And so my wife, we have a lagoon 450, so 45 foot lagoon cat that’s been in sale time or it’s kind of it’s run it’s five plus years. And now we’re going to take that out after the nest is empty, we’re going to go cruising. to Catalina Blue Water Cruising Club, you interested in membership there?

44:51

It’s a boat. We’re gonna be… So we’re gonna start. Are you gonna actually sail it across? Speaking of Lad 238, we’re definitely gonna do the Baja Ha Ha. Sweet heat. So that one of those guys that I’ve sailed with in France, he’s coming flying back. And he’s gonna sail down with me. Wait, originally in France, the guy from 18, when you were 18? Yeah. No ship. Yeah. That’s awesome. Yeah, so he’s gonna be coming back and we’re gonna sail from the Do you need extra crew? How many people you need? We might. We might. Okay, just keep me on a short list.

45:20

So, you you sail from San Diego to Cabo. Yep. And over like a two week period and you stop in a few different spots. yeah. Some people bounce. So you’re going to bounce from there. Then you’re head out. Then from there, you know, the rest of the crew will fly home and my wife and I will enjoy the cruising. We’ll go up to La Paz. We’ll go, you know. So it’s going to be the Baja Ha for everyone else. And it’s going to be the Baja Ha. Yes. Yeah. So it’s a sabbatical, you know, for about a year for my wife and I. OK. Yeah. Now.

45:49

Maybe a full circle question we’ll see but in the initial year that you went traveling with your wife  and had your adventures This is like a full circle moment  Are you going to be traveling new places or are you gonna go back and relive the old days and or a combination thereof? I mean our goal is to go new places. Okay. Yeah, so it’s like we always want to kind of see new cultures new Lifestyles new so do you have an idea or you’re just gonna like see where the wind takes you? We definitely have some plans and it’s not gonna be all boats

46:19

You know, it’s like we’re gonna do a lot of boating, but then we may fly to Japan with the kids and go ski in a Seiko. That’s that’s, you know, laugh your way all the way to, that’s great. That’s just ha ha ha. That’s amazing. and then we may, okay, we have, I’ve always wanted to see the great migration, you know? And so we are gonna, you know, you can’t boat to Tanzania. So, so you gotta fly. Yes. Yeah, even a tabernacle.  Yeah, so there’s obviously gonna be a lot of sailing. I mean, I would love to…

46:47

take my boat down to Bora Bora and sail around this French Polynesia. That sounds amazing. And obviously the Caribbean and obviously the Med, those all sound like- the Middle East though. You should stay away from there right now. Yeah, stay away from there.  Wow, that sounds super exciting. And sounds well deserved because you’ve been at this for quite a while and now you can go actually play a little bit.  and uh that’s exactly what  is kind of the plan for  most of our members is you come, you learn to sail, you become a member.

47:16

you buy a boat, get a big tax write-off, and at the point where you’re about to retire, you take your boat out of sail time and go cruising. Yeah, you get all four weekends, you get all 12 months, you get it all. Yeah. And then what? If you come back, then you can just like re-up back into sail time and help to spread the… Yeah, I mean, that’s the idea is that at some point, you know, after we’ve gotten this year  off, then I’ll come back and get into the business.

47:40

This is exciting. I feel like I’m inspired by all of your entrepreneurship and ships, electric and not, tabernacle and not,  and it gives me a whole new vision of  how I can see myself having a whole fleet of boats without buying them, without maintaining them, and with having access to them. So that just sounds super exciting.  Well, I feel like there’s a partnership here  very much in the future. But probably also some mentorship, because it sounds like you’ve got a lot of experience that you’ve learned,  and it’s just exciting to see somebody who takes their passion

48:11

that was sitting inside of you as you were slowly dying in corporate America and then now you’ve created five corporations and I imagine the culture in these is probably different than the red tape, slow moving, I bet you somebody needs something you’re like, let’s get it to them now.  Hand delivered, there you go. Jump in the water. Well, super cool. If somebody is interested, I’ve run through these a couple times, but  how does somebody like find you?  you know, do we list off five URLs? Is there a centralized point? Do we find you on LinkedIn?

48:40

So how do you direct people to to you? So our main website, Sailtime Newport Beach dot com. OK. And there are links to the other websites up there, whether sailing school. That’s the mothership. Sailtime Newport Beach. And you can get a hold of us. And we’re right down at the Balboa Marina in Newport Beach, you know, which is 201 East Coast Highway. And you can come free parking. Yep. Plenty of free parking. And there’s we have twenty seven big boats between 30 and forty six feet. So whether you want

49:10

a Beneteau, a Genoa, a Lagoon, or even actually have power boats now. Are you interested in 1977 Cal 34 to sort of get that classic feel and look going? That’s a cool boat, but we only take brand new boats in the fleet, and we only keep them in our fleet for five years. Okay. So the oldest boat in our fleet right now is 2020. Okay. Yes, the joys. That’s awesome. Now, I’m guessing you’re going to start renting out paddle boards next?

49:40

I don’t think so. don’t think so. Foil boards? I would love to do that. Okay, we can talk on that. Yeah. Because the hard part is getting into the gear and knowing the right gear. Yeah. Do have a dock at your place? Yeah, we have a dock. Yeah. Okay, we can do some dock starts. We can create our own like lesson plans for FBDS, foil boarding dock start 101, 102, 103. Level sounds pretty cool. Oh my gosh. So you have your, you have a foil board?

50:04

Well, I do now and I saw initially I’ll never forget when I saw it for the first time and a wing foil and I heard myself say out loud I need to do that. I’m a big laser fan. I just love I love all this and I’m like, that’s it These guys are out of the water. So I was probably in 2019 when it first started to come out and It was just always so cost-prohibitive. mean just to get in it you’re looking like yeah, too Tons of like at least even on the on the super you side. You’re still like two grand easy. Yeah

50:33

And each foil has a different purpose, each foil is different, different brands that work together. So uh my buddy actually went to Bora Bora  and his wife surprised him with a ski trip, but the boat was not capable of skiing. It was just like a little merp merp.  But the guy had a foil board. So as a consolation, he just checked it out and he came back and all he could talk about is foil boarding.  So we strategically positioned, uh we told Santa Claus it would be a great gift for him from his wife, which just, you know, he becomes Santa.

51:02

So we got a foil board in the family and he’s got a 22 foot Rabaulot in Long Beach. So we’ve just been hitting Marine Stadium for about eight months  and  being towed behind the boat, getting some good foil time.  Then I decided to invest in my own equipment and did my best to get the right gear so that I could not only be behind a boat but also dock start and just run off the dock and get it going. This is not an e-foil by the way. This is like just pure wing.  And I got my Tacoma set up  only to realize afterwards the

51:32

company is out of business and then I’m on the dock just like falling falling falling falling and somebody comes and he’s like thought I was one of his friends that was part of this in Long Beach and I knew no one that was knowing how to do this and he’s like yeah  you might want to think about a different setup to be successful and it was an unintended consequence of just showing up not knowing what I’m doing  he invited me to a whatsapp group  the whatsapp group is full of all these people who know what they’re doing

52:00

So I actually got the setup that works and then I tried it again and now I’m flying and I’m like every week I’m there I’m on it. My whole leg regiment is like more motivated than ever to get my legs ready.  It’s a crazy workout. You’re flying. It’s like the floor is lava game where you’re not allowed to touch the water. Yeah. So you get up and you start flying and your legs are screaming at you and you’re like no you have to  and then I’ll even like not wear a wetsuit and go out when it’s cold just specifically to find that just extra motivation to get it going. Oh nice.

52:27

But it’s trendy and maybe we can start a new business around it. I did E-Foil twice and it was so much fun. Yes. It is so much fun. Because you all are just cruising, but the pumping is a whole different thing. Oh, yeah. No hate on either. Real big workout. It is. And it’s pure entrepreneurship. It’s like you’re just struggling and you fall and then you learn. You get better each time and people look at you funny. And then eventually you’re just up flying and nothing else matters. That’s awesome.

52:56

Then I was actually shopping on Facebook Marketplace recently for the wing. So that’s my next thing.  But I have to get a bigger board for the wing. It’s got to float more. So,  I see all these parallels.  Pain in the ass.  Well, listen, Chris, this has been tons of fun. I’m excited  to figure out how to just get connected more. And I’m excited for people to learn about this because so many people want to sail. They see the islands, but there’s no real direct path.  And let’s be honest, owning a boat is sometimes a pain in the ass.

53:26

Yeah, and if you think about Newport Beach,  from sale time you can lease a boat for less than the cost of a free boat, because even if somebody gave you a free boat,  the membership is less than the slip fee alone. Right. And so it’s a no-brainer.  It’s like the slip fees are so expensive now that it just makes sense to lease and share a yacht. Yeah, and we’re into this sharing economy where this new generation understands they don’t necessarily need to have their own car.

53:55

They can just pay couple bucks in Uber and  all this kind of stuff.  Way to be a harbinger for the future here and I can’t wait for the economy to fall apart and find out what your next business is.  Thank you. All right, well, from  a live podcast recording here at UCI, your alma mater, I’m super excited to close this thing out because we are going back to the real world. And for you, that means like playing on sailboats. For me, it’s a whole different thing and I’ll be foiling soon over the weekend.

54:24

But for everybody, hopefully you’re energized by the fact that a boat ownership is closer, even if it’s a fractional ownership. And if you’re not near Orange County or Southern California, may this inspire you to maybe start your own business to figure out how to do it somewhere else? Because when there’s a problem, an entrepreneur is there to solve it. So build your own entrepreneurship.  And you should also subscribe to the podcast. If this is the first time and you’re one of Chris’ crew and you’re like, this is cool. Well, there’s plenty of other episodes. We’re past 200.

54:52

And we love talking with new sailors. So Chris, I’m sure you have all kinds of people, salty dogs, and even maybe just like slightly salty that might enjoy being on the show. Tons of boat businesses that we want to highlight and just swap different stories. So you don’t have to have a French foreign student to start your journey. It could be this podcast. Subscribe where you get it. Follow Latitude 38 on social media. Join the Baja Ha. All of the other amazing things that the Latitude Nation sort of brings together.

55:22

And if you’re interested in a Tabernacle 1977 Cal 34, you should reach out to me because she might be on the market soon. If you want to learn more about me, you can find me at Ryan.Online and on Instagram if you want to follow my foiling fails and journey, it’s Ryan.Folland. Are you guys on social as well? Yep. You’ll find us on Instagram, Facebook. Well, what do we find? How do we find you on Instagram? you know, SailTtime or Newport Beach Sailing School.

55:50

Okay. Yeah, you’ll be sailing charters. All right. Well, you have one more follower  as of today and then we’ll see how many more hundreds of thousands we can get. All right. All right. Thanks Chris.  Bon voyage.  Thank you!