Episode #240: Elliot Aron on Singlehanding at Any Age, With Host Ryan Foland

This week we chat with 16-year-old singlehanded sailor Elliot Aron about sailing solo at any age. Tune in as Elliot chats with host Ryan Foland about his first solo crossing from LA to Catalina Island when he was 12, about the joy of being responsible for everything and about circumnavigating when he turns 18.

Hear why there’s nothing like singlehanding, how to learn about your engine, the top spots on Catalina Island, his aspirations for a solo circumnavigation, and how to break the norm and follow your dream.

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

• Circumnavigating at 18 and why the decision is already made
• “If you don’t die, it’s all a fun story”
• The throttle-cable disaster: zooming into Avalon Harbor at full power, solo
• Elliot is 16 years old and has been taking the bus to his boat every day
• Why sail solo? The freedom, the quiet, and the joy of being responsible for everything

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!

Learn more about Elliot at ElliotAron.com and Ryan at Ryan.Online

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

Show Notes

• The Power of Your Personal Brand Series: How to Figure Out Your Big Thing
  • [0:14] Welcome to Good Jibes with Latitude 38
  • [0:53] Welcome aboard, Elliot Aron!
  • [1:20] Meet Wildflower, a 1974 Cal 29 that used to be black
  • [2:19] The throttle-cable disaster: zooming into Avalon Harbor at full power, solo
  • [5:37] ASA 101 during COVID and an obsession that never stopped
  • [7:00] The Flicka: slow, heavy, beautiful, and the perfect first boat
  • [9:26] Elliot is 16 years old and has been taking the bus to his boat every day
  • [11:22] Buying Raven as the first sail home from Ventura, an overheated engine, and man-o’-wars
  • [15:13] Elliot’s lesson #1: know your engine and fix it yourself before you call a mechanic
  • [17:38] Why sail solo? The freedom, the quiet, and the joy of being responsible for everything
  • [21:56] The boat build-out, adding solar, Hydrovane, composting toilet, and an electric dinghy outboard
  • [22:54] Ginger Marine: “I guarantee to take it apart, but I don’t guarantee to make it start”
  • [23:52] Check out our Classy Classifieds at Latitude38.com
  • Catalina Island and Beyond
  • [25:01] Top three spots on Catalina Island: Rippers, Cat Harbor, and Big Geiger Cove
  • [27:25] The 14-mile hike to the airport and the famous cookies at the top
  • [33:34] All the Channel Islands, solo (mostly) plus sailing with 80-year-old grandma Elaine
  • [35:58] Summer plans to sail to San Francisco or San Diego, and eye the Baja Ha-Ha
  • [36:26] The German tall ship adventure, 1,500 miles from Panama to Mexico with a crew of teens
  • [37:54] Want to sponsor Good Jibes with Latitude 38? Email [email protected] 
  • The Circumnavigation
  • [38:22] Circumnavigating at 18 and why the decision is already made
  • [41:44] “If you don’t die, it’s all a fun story”
  • [42:12] Documenting every step of the journey at elliotaron.com
  • [44:06] Why it’s harder to follow your dream in his world than it sounds
  • [47:23] Could Elliot be a future Good Jibes guest host?
  • [50:12] Learn more about Elliot at ElliotAron.com and Ryan at Ryan.Online 
  • Check out the April 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 transcript is not 100% accurate.

00:03

It’s just ridiculous. We are so dedicated to this uh sport that it’s just nuts. It’s absolutely nuts.

00:14

Ahoy everyone, welcome to a very special episode of Good Jibes. Now I say that every time, but that’s because every episode is a special episode. And today we are in for a treat because one of my newest Instagram friends is here live with us, not on Instagram, but on the Good Jibes podcast. And the Good Jibes podcast is a podcast for us to talk about sailing, adventures, high seas, no wind, whatever it is.

00:41

commonality here is that we’re talking with West Coast sailors  and it takes plenty of different stories to complete the larger picture.

00:53

Today, Elliot is gonna talk with us. This is Elliot Aron.  again, as I said, we met on Instagram and I was seeing familiar places that he’s sailing.  His boat is a cow boat, just like mine. And I’m like, dude, we gotta get you on the podcast. So we are here. Elliot, how are you doing today? I’m doing amazing.  Just got back from the boat.  Yeah, as always, I’m so excited to be here. This is so fabulous and it’s so nice to be here with you.

01:20

Yeah, this is gonna be fun. tell us about your boat first, and then we’re gonna learn about you when you tell us a story of a sailing story that shaped you. Well, so I, I’m Elliot, and my boat is a 1974 Cal 29 named Wildflower. She’s a beautiful yellow, yellow boat. You know, she’s got everything you could imagine. I’ve done so much work on her in the past couple years. And yeah.

01:49

It’s incredible. I absolutely love that boat.  I  am, yeah, I’m just sailing her around. That’s kind of how it’s going.  Sweet. All right. Well, let’s jump into some storytelling. And I want to know of a sailing story on Wildflower that sticks out as something that shaped you, something that was crazy or cool.  And you’re now a different person as a result. And the problem is you probably have all kinds of stories. So  picking one off the shelf is not easy, but no pressure.

02:19

But pressure. Yeah. I have plenty of stories. I’ve had so many things go wrong. I mean, I in my time sailing, but let’s see. Okay. Well, one story I remember is this one time when I was sailing, I think from Big Geiger Cove, I think it was right after I met your mom, actually. Oh, nice. She’s amazing. She’s super cool. And then I was nearing Wait a minute. That was you?

02:48

I remember her talking about somebody who came on a cow boat and she spoke your praises and you know, we’re always looking for members of Blue Water. So she’s like, I think she was trying to get your information, but she lost it. So there was this like mystery cow boat and here we are full circle. can’t wait to tell her. That’s Yeah. Yeah. No, that was, that was it. I was, remember I got, I sailed there and she was like, Oh, do you want the guest flag? And I was so excited.  Had you ever been to Big Guy group before?

03:15

Yeah, I’d been there before  with like Margie and Brendan. Yeah. talked with them about it.  And yeah, I mean, that is such a gorgeous cove. And for those who don’t know, this is on the west end of Catalina Island. And people are usually familiar with Emerald Bay. And so that’s like so if you’re looking at West End Emerald Bay and you come back towards the Isthmus, then you have Howlands Landing and then Big Geiger Cove. And what’s unique is that it hasn’t changed ever.

03:42

It’s basically what it’s been since the club took it over in 1945 and it’s an anchorage. It’s totally beautiful, protected from all  of the storms and stuff. But OK, back to your story. So you’re  sailing from Big Yager Cove. You goodbye to your mom and  she lost your information. But here we are. Yeah. And so I’m putting down the sails  nearing Aviland Harbor. And so I turn on the engine, of course.  I completely  lose throttle input.

04:11

As I’m entering the harbor, I’m trying to talk to the harbor master. Does the throttle run or you just have no, you have no throttle? I know. mean, okay. was going, it was originally, it just went full throttle, like full, full RPMs. was like, oh goodness. I was crazy. So then I, pulled back and I was able to pull back on it. And then I, go forward again and nothing. I don’t know. I don’t know what, you know, click down there, throttle cable messed up. So that was crazy. And so I, I had to explain to these people, I was, I was

04:41

zooming, I started by zooming around  the harbor patrol boat trying to, uh uh,  everything’s fine. full power and you’re doing loops. Yeah, like all good. Don’t worry. I can get to the mooring.  It’s going to be fine. And then, you know, I dial it back and I’m completely powerless.  And so I realized that the only way I’m going to be able to get into the harbor is if I, because you, I can, I can pull back on the throttle. You know, I can, I have the control to

05:09

slow down, but I can’t see back up unless I go down and manually press it on the, you know, in the engine room. So, I mean, this was maybe, I mean, I’ve had so many catastrophes or feeling like catastrophes, but this moment I was, I had to  zoom into Avalon under full power because I couldn’t,  there was like no control. was like full power or nothing.  As soon as I start going back engine dies. So I’m zooming into Avalon.

05:37

right, know, the, you know, the moorings are right near the beach zooming past these people to cut the engine and drift into the mooring. And I was like, you know, what I did. This is you. This is all solo. I didn’t mention that. I mean, all my trips are solo basically. And I’ve been doing it. I’ve been sailing solo since I was 11, I think. And my first trip to Catalina alone was when I was 12. Wow.

06:03

Now, do you come from a family of sailors? How did you get the itch? What happened? No, no one in my family sails at all. Wow. And where do you live? Where are you posted up at? Where are you living at? I’m like in Santa Monica area. Yeah. So pretty near to Marine Del Rey, where my boat is. Yeah, I was in the beginning of COVID when we were trying to figure out, you know, some outside easy things to do. And so my dad and I took a sailing class at Bluewater Sailing, if anyone knows that. So then

06:32

We did the ASA 101, we did that and we started running boats for a while and he kind of didn’t really care that much about it over time and I was really obsessed. I was just like, wow, this is so cool. This is going to be my dream to sail and to sail around the world and this is all I want to do in my life. And so we ended up getting a boat, a Flicka 20. Oh, Flickas are sweet. Yeah. Do you know Katie Scott or Katie Remington now or the last name?

07:00

She has a little Flicka. She’s a Blue Water member too. Oh, yeah. I’ve seen that boat there. Absolutely. Yeah. So I had this Flicka for a couple of years and that was a great boat. who don’t know what a Flicka is, explain a Flicka because it’s such a cute little functional crazy boat. It’s a nuts boat. I think the waterline length is like 16 feet or something. 17 feet. And it’s… God, I forgot all the specs of it, but it is a full keel, crazy…

07:30

crazy heavy 20 foot boat. Yeah. That is, I mean, it is the slowest imaginable boat that was designed as like, and then use, mean, it was so immensely ridiculous because they use, was Pacific, you know, Pacific Seacraft. So they used all these like larger boat, like heavy duty,  like all this  gear and just stuck in under this tiny 16 foot waterline boat. And it was heavy and slow and beautiful.

07:59

And it’s a fabulous boat. So did you, how long did you have that? Did you track to Catalina on that as well? was that just? Oh yeah, oh yeah. No, I did that. I sailed like for I think four years on that. Okay. On that boat. So I have a lot of experience in the Flicka. It’s a fantastic boat and I think it would be great. But I don’t really know for who, honestly. Because it can go anywhere but so uncomfortably.

08:28

Right. You know, it’s what was what was that? What was the engine in that thing? What was it powered by? It a Yanmar 1GM 10, I think. So like a 10 horsepower. Yeah, it was like a 10 horsepower or something. Yanmar diesel one cylinder was incredible. So easy. So much access on that boat. But I mean, for Southern California, where we have no wind ever, it’s really difficult to sail in that boat.

08:56

Yeah, you know, I how did you how did you meet? How did you meet your next boat? What was the story behind that? Well, so I ended up selling the flicka, which I was really sad about two and a half years ago or something to yeah summer 2024 and I really didn’t know what I Wanted I was really lost because obviously for me at my age. It’s money is a big concern And share your age. Nobody knows at this point. Oh, yeah. Oh, have we not gone to that? I’m 16 years old

09:26

Nice. all of this is, I mean, I’m a minor. My parents have to, you know, approve everything I do. They own the boat,  um, technically.  And so, yeah, it’s kind of nuts. was, you know, I, I was, I literally, uh, just got my license two weeks ago. So  for the first five years of my sailing, was just taking a bus from my school, which is an hour and a half  every time I wanted to go to the boat, which was like every day.

09:55

Right. So yeah, it’s crazy. But yeah, so I really didn’t know what I wanted to get. And I didn’t I couldn’t get a larger boat because money I ended up going with a boat that I thought could sail more efficiently in Southern California and also had the potential to go offshore. And the Cal 29 is surprisingly capable. mean, the cow boats have a huge following. And there’s a lot of people who

10:25

have sailed Cal 29s to Hawaii and beyond and the Cal 40 is famous for that. Yeah, I’ve got a few clicks up from you. I’ve got a 1977 Cal 34 named Bingo. She’s got a little red instead of yellow, but yeah, they’re amazing boats. What kind of engine do you have in the 29? So I think it originally had an Atomic 4, but now it has, it was replaced I think in 2008 with like…

10:52

um, Yenmar 2GM 20F, which is fabulous. Absolutely fabulous. it’s except when you’re going full throttle or no throttle. Yeah. Yeah. I had actually plenty of issues with it. Yeah. The first time I, when I, as soon as I bought the boat, it was actually, it was, the boat was named Raven and it was black when I got it. So everything was black. Everything that’s yellow now, if you’ve seen a photo of my boat was black. Yeah. And so that was kind of depressing and not, it doesn’t really fit my vibe, but

11:22

The first sail down from Ventura where we bought it to Miranda Ray the engine overheated  You know right after we paid all this money for this boat, which I was so, you know, so stoked I was like dad. This is the boat like I’m yes, you know, we’ve got surveyed fabulous perfect, you know, we sailed down and Completely overheats  and we didn’t know what to do  And so we jump in the water because we think something’s clogging I mean, you we were talking to people and we thought something yeah logging up water. We don’t

11:52

This is the thing with me, like I’ve never really taken like official sailing classes. Like this is all, everything I’ve done. You got your 101, right? You got your 101. Okay, I got my 101. You’re right. But that teaches you, you know, how to, how to tack and stuff. And so I’ve, I’ve learned so much just by messing up and somehow fixing it. And I think that’s fabulous, but also it leads to a lot of disastrous moments.

12:20

So you jumped in the water. Did you find anything that was wrong or no? No, of course there was nothing there, but I didn’t I didn’t tell my dad that there were uh like, what are they called man man array? What are like the jellyfish that can like, you know, oh, yeah, man of wars or something like that. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Man of wars. There you go. Yeah. Yeah. I don’t know how I come up with that. So I had the whisker pole and I was trying to  give them away from my dad because he was in the water. I was looking at vengeance and I was like, I was like, Dad, don’t worry. Don’t worry.  I was trying to make sure you didn’t die.

12:50

Of course we found nothing. It ended up being the impeller, which who knew we didn’t know about I know about that. I’ve had to replace an impeller quite a few times. I was actually just listening to that on the way back from the boat. That podcast you did about That was crazy. Yeah, for those that didn’t listen to the podcast, I was with two buddies. One of them knew how to sail. One of them didn’t. And we were just pinned. It was amazing when we were headed over, completely just healed and just bingo, it was just

13:20

fully just rocking. And then this large vessel came over to the starboard that had the right of way, but there was no way I could get the point of sail to avoid him. So I kicked on the engine just to head up a little bit, but we were so heeled over that I didn’t realize my mistake until I saw huge white plumes coming out from the cabin. I thought fire. I jumped down there, shut the engine off, and it’s the coolant that’s bubbling over and just steaming. And it looked, it was just white smoke everywhere.

13:49

buzzers going off and all kinds of craziness. And we literally were so healed over that the water, raw water intake was just out of the water. Cause normally you’re not, you don’t have the engine on when you’re like that. So sucked up a bunch of air and it just created this like, we literally had no engine and then we sailed down. We got to Rippers, the wind stopped just before we hit the island, but we still made it. And then we convinced campers to run me down to my mom’s boat in Big Geiger.

14:16

And I paid for his gas then I got the whaler came back and then we went to Avalon and went to the if you’ve ever been to the repair floating shop in Avalon  It is an experience and so we essentially got a new impeller that was the wrong impeller installed it with a little bit of glue  and She survived and we kicked on and we had a great time, but it is these catastrophes that are really exciting No, absolutely and I think I’ve

14:45

I mean, they just keep happening because there’s so many. mean, I’ve never. got a 1974 boat, bro. Yeah, for real. And I also, you know, there’s so many things to know about a boat. for someone like, I don’t know. I want to hear a checklist. I want to hear a checklist of the people who are excited to jump into boating and you’re going to give them a checklist. This is the let’s see. This is the Elliott 101 course. What would be up at the top of the lessons?

15:13

Well, you got to know everything about your engine. Yes, and  that means most of my problems with an engine related. Yeah.  I also  come from a family that anytime the engine is broken, you call the mechanic. know, like they took good care of the boats,  but  my dad and I were never wrenching on the engines. No.  And for me, it took the pandemic with an overheating engine with no mechanic.

15:43

coming to the boat, that was the catalyst for me to take matters into my own hands, calling people, YouTubing, just physically taking it apart and then putting it back together.  when you, engines are so intimidating until you take them apart and then kind of realize what works, like what it is, and then you like put it back together. Like things like gaskets. It just ends up making sense a little bit, you know? Like the engines, they seem so daunting.

16:11

and like these big black chunky things or gray chunky things in my case, but they really, I mean, they’re not that crazy. If you like, you can really master your engine. feel like if you, if you just spend some time and you, things break and you don’t have the, you you don’t resist the temptation to call a mechanic and you watch a YouTube video and fix it yourself. And next time, whenever that happens, you know, forever, you’re going to be able to fix it yourself. And you’re not, you’re going to save so much money, so much time, so much stress. And also if you’re in a situation where you’re out at sea,

16:41

You need to fix it. You don’t have to go without an engine. You can just fix it. Yeah. Fantastic. So you’re working on your engine. You’re figuring it out. Yeah, that’s still work in progress. um But  of course.  But yeah, I mean, there’s so many there’s so many parts to the boat. There’s like the, you know, freshwater system, the blackwater system, that all the electrics and the, you know, rigging and the sails. I mean, there’s so many things. There’s so many components and there’s no like.

17:09

all around course that just teaches you all of this because it doesn’t really  make sense to do that because every boat’s different. But it’s like there’s just so much you need to know that it’s  so daunting to  go out alone or to own a boat. It’s crazy. What keeps you going out alone then?  What is the…  I love it. I absolutely love it. mean, people think I’m ridiculous for doing it, especially, you know…

17:38

my age but it’s like I am I’m obsessed with the feeling of just being out there and there’s no one to bother you there’s no one to  you know I feel like I’m  an extrovert  with my friends and at home but I really need that moment of like just having to talk to no one and just being in my head and processing everything  and everything on the boat can be fixed and everything on the boat I understand basically.

18:06

And so it’s like a world where I can control  and my actions. don’t, know, if I have someone else on the boat, which I also love to do, I love sailing to Catalina with a friend, but there’s this responsibility for them where, you know, obviously I’m going to make sure that they’re safe and they’re taken care of. But it’s like, you know, it just makes it a lot harder to have to  worry about that. And also, you know, if, if something goes wrong in any capacity when I’m alone, I just turn around and I’m like, okay, it’s fine. I’ll go home.

18:36

If I have someone there who, you know, I just recently had a  friend fly down from Berkeley to come, you know, for a Catalina trip with me and we had issues and I was like, okay, we’re just going to deal with it and keep going, which, you know, it wasn’t really, it wasn’t a safety concern. It’s just minor engine issues. like, you know, it was like, cause it’s, you have this responsibility for others and I don’t want to disappoint them. You know, it’s hard to not disappoint others with, cause sailing is so like fluid.

19:03

Here’s a rule that my wife and I have on our boat and it’s rule number one, which is you are responsible for your own happiness. And we share that with our guests. We’re like, because it almost the way you’re describing this self-sufficient, not worrying about anybody else,  you’re in control of everything.  You’re responsible for everything if it breaks. You can turn around if you need to. You can keep going. You can just float for a while. can call like all these things is independent. Choose your destination. Do whatever you want.

19:31

Yeah, wherever you, you don’t know where you’re go. You just end up going towards the island. And I think that when you have guests on, it does create this extra pressure and expectation. So we tell them right out the gates, you are responsible for your own happiness. If you want to do this, do that. You know, and especially when you get to the island too, because when you get to the island, you’re like, you can just chill and do nothing. But sometimes people are stir crazier. They’re like not sure what the activities are.

19:58

So it’s like, if you want to jump in the water, jump the water. If you want to go for a hike, we go for a hike. you’re right. People are activity focused a lot of the time. And it’s like, you know what? I don’t know. We’re just here. Like they’re like, what are we going to do next? Like we’re here. That’s the thing about the sailboats is that you’re always there, right? It’s not about like a power boat. Love power boats. But you like you kind of like jam over to get to the destination, whereas on a sailboat, you’re kind of a floating destination and you end up wherever you are.

20:27

Like most of the time nothing’s happening,  you know, other than like the five percent of the time where you think you’re gonna die. It’s like a fantastic like, I  don’t know. It’s like actively,  actively doing nothing, which is fantastic. I feel like I’m doing something, but also I’m  actively doing nothing. Yeah. And the disconnect. I always, I’m so connected in the real world and there’s so many things that are happening and so many alerts and buzzes and pings. And what I love about Bingo and I’m sure same with Wildflower,

20:56

Like I don’t have refrigeration. I don’t have fancy electronics. I don’t have all kinds of crazy stuff. It is like bare bones. It is like the basic shit that you need and it’s timeless  and less shit goes wrong, but still shit goes wrong. Yeah, shit goes wrong and I have refrigeration. So,  oh,  oh, that’s good. Yeah.  Well, not to say that I don’t want it, but the less things, the less things go wrong. No, I do agree. You’re right. You’re absolutely right. I think I think it’s.

21:26

It’s really jealous. I’m just jealous of your refrigeration. It’s really is it a cold play? You’re really jealous. What is it? it? no, it’s a Dometic. It’s just it’s like a standalone unit, but it uses like no power. And then do you have do you have like an auxiliary solar panel to keep that up? Yeah, I have 200 watts of solar now and I’m expanding that and I have I mean, yeah, my boat I’ve really sounds like you got her dialed in. Yeah, I have I have a hydro vein on the back.

21:56

Okay. So that’s sick. So self-steering system, which is really fantastic. And I have a great engine. I have a composting toilet. have a dinghy with an e-propulsion outboard. So electric, which is great. Yeah. I’ve made the boat so that I can comfortably hang out on it. But also I’ve been very careful in that everything I install, every like

22:24

you know, fun little upgrade. I know everything about, you know, I like, you know, it’s something that I also could live without. you know, I have the abilities to do without like the refrigeration, for example, and or the solar, like I put in the solar myself, I know how to fix it. And also, and if you know how to fix it, you can install it cheaply. And so, you you might as well just go for it. I know I’m very into my book. I started during the pandemic when I started work on the engine, I jokingly started my own

22:54

business and I called it Ginger Marine and my logo,  my slogan is I guarantee to take it apart but I don’t guarantee to make it start. Like the whole thing was just like take shit apart  and I don’t know if it’s gonna work but to your point when you take it apart you learn it you have more of a chance to put it together and if you think about how I don’t want to say easy but how easy life is on the mainland like you know everything is within a touch there’s no

23:23

There’s no electrical issues. You your engine in your car is not that big of a deal. But it’s like, I don’t know, when you get on the boat, it’s your own island  and you are responsible for everything, which again, has its like advantages and disadvantages. Some people think we’re crazy, but it’s, it’s, I don’t know. I agree with. I mean, it is objectively pretty crazy. uh I think it’s kind of nuts and it’s a lot of

23:52

money and dedication to be doing having a little better like I don’t know the experience is slightly better than camping in my opinion. But and yet I love it. I will never stop doing it. And there’s this appeal that I’ve have and I know all of us have it’s just ridiculous. We are so dedicated to this sport that is just nuts. It’s absolutely nuts. Hey, good jobs listeners and latitude 38 readers.

24:20

If you looked in our classy classifieds lately, it would be impossible for us to know how many boats have sold to new owners over the last 45 plus years of publishing Latitude 38. But we’re sure they have helped countless people realize their sailing dreams. Every month there are new boats listed that will fill someone’s sailing adventures. If you have a boat you want to sail or are looking for that next boat in your life, the pages of Latitude 38 will surely have something to suit your fancy. Pick up a magazine at a local marine business,

24:50

or visit our classy classified pages at latitude38.com to find boats, gear, job opportunities, and more.  Then tell us your next sailing story.

25:01

Catalina is your, it sounds like your stomping ground. Have you gone? I want to talk about the places that you like in Catalina, because I really enjoy following on Instagram. You do a great job at just like capturing the vibe of your little Cal 29 in the middle of nowhere. What are your favorite spots at Big, I almost said a Big Geiger, that’s a 40 inch slip. Big Geiger is great. Yeah, where do you like to go on the island? I love to go everywhere on the island.

25:29

I’m trying to have three spots, top three spots. I have this new, I was going to say I have this new map that I’ve been making, like an Anchorage review where I’ve been writing my entire experience at every Anchorage and I’m obsessed with that. I can, I don’t know. Wait, is that like in a blog format or a website? No, like, well kind of, it’s like a Google My Maps. It’s like a Google map where you can just like, there’s little pinpoints and all these little places. And I write this like a couple of paragraphs for each one. So that’s been my new goals.

25:57

to write more little reviews. But  wait a minute. Is this pub? Is that public? Is that something people can check out?  How do find your how do people find your anchoring review?  I if you go to  www.laDarren.com,  you’ll find it. You also say a little slower. LA  LA Darren. No, no, Elliot Aaron. My name  is www.eliotaron.com. Boom. oh

26:27

There you go. What else are we gonna find? What else are we gonna find on your website? You’re going to find information about my boat. You’re gonna find how to contact me. You’re gonna find a link to my YouTube channel, which I’m just starting. Tell me about that real quick. Tell me about your YouTube channel. are you gonna be I just started it like, I don’t know, a couple of days ago. So I haven’t really put a real video yet, but I’m planning on documenting

26:55

everything I do to get to my goal of circumnavigating in two years.  okay, so the wait so okay, so this is big.  Yeah, we’re talking about Catalina and we jump from Catalina to circumnavigation.  Yeah, I’ve got more place than Catalina. Don’t worry guys.  Okay, well give me the top three spots in Catalina. let’s go to the star. We’re dancing around that. I love rippers. Rippers is the place to be.  Number one reason. Do you go on shore there and see all the crazy rocks?

27:25

Oh my god. I love it. It’s nuts. It’s so cool. And the best part about Rippers is you can do the, I don’t know, what is it, like 14 mile hike to the airport and get the cookies. Oh, cookies. you done that before? I have not. I know that there’s like a canyon back up in there, but I didn’t know. You go, okay. You go, you just follow this road. It’s crazy. It takes a really long time. And it’s like, it’s been my whole day. Yeah, 14 miles is long time. Yeah, it’s nuts. And…

27:53

I’m not sure I’m sure I know if I’m right about that, but it takes like well what kind of cookies this is a real question It had I mean they have every type of cookie and I’m talking chocolate chip Chocolate chip peanut butter oatmeal raisin and these are famous cookies. Okay, you know the people with their planes they fly there fly in for the cookies Yeah, and you say you know, I’m feeling for the cookie. It’s crazy. So I don’t know. I highly recommend them That’s the highlight of Rippers

28:20

And real quick, I want to give a shout out to the rocks because if you haven’t been to the beach and you explore, it’s like  you’re on a different planet that’s filled with gold and gems and greens. It’s ridiculous.  Everything shines. Everything like you see the craziest rocks. It’s like a geological experiment. And  you’re like, this has to be worth something. This looks like gold. And it’s  it’s amazing. It’s really cool. it’s and the water there is so clear.

28:50

And there’s why do they go? Why do they call it rippers Elliot?  It’s really wavy. It’s really It gets really rippy in there in the wind I’ve been in there when it is ripped so hard  like off the shore like 20 knots of gusts off the shore I know I know it’s nuts and but you know you put out you put out your bouncer in Anchorage a lot of road  Yeah,  you’re All right. That’s number one is rippers. What’s number two? Okay rippers

29:17

Okay, I think this is basic, but Cat Harbor. I love Cat Harbor. Because you get, I’d say like 50 % of the beauty of being at one of these like really remote places, especially because I usually anchor like way out like by the- you’re not in the muck. Because sometimes I see the dirty muck that’s on the inside with all the morians. I’m like, it doesn’t feel like- No, no, I’m way out. my view there is of the entire backside of the island, all the way to Ben Weston.

29:45

And so that’s all you can see. The boat’s always oriented that way because of the wind. so you’re just seeing that. You can forget about the moorings and then it’s completely calm. There’s no concerns ever about it being not a great boat to be in for the weather. Because it’s literally, I mean, it’s like, what is it? It’s like one of the two coast guard safe harbors in all of Southern California. Yeah. So it’s great. It’s fantastic. so- And you can walk to get cookies as well.

30:12

You could walk to get different cookies. mean, cookies are really the key to Catalina for me, guess. If I do, yeah, you can get cookies from the general store or their ice cream.  highly recommend their ice cream. Or you can buy $30 pizza. They just upped the price to $30. So oh that’s another option there. Okay. You got options at least. All right.  So Rippers, Cat Harbor, what’s number three? Okay. I’m probably going to say Big Geiger. Yes. Big Geiger Cove, top three. Big Geiger is sick.

30:42

Um, because it’s really gorgeous  and the people they’re always really like into it because you know, it’s the mainly the club members. Yeah. And so they’re really, they’re really fun. They’re really nice. Then they’re excited about the Cove and they’re excited about to meet new people. And also of course, on shore, you have access to the, the like real hiking trail or like the like walking trail, which is lovely to go on. You can walk up later.  Um, they dismiss and also.

31:09

Yeah, I mean it’s nice. We’ve got that. We’ve got a hut. You’ve got a little water, a freshwater shower. You got the swing. You got the moon deck. All kinds of stuff. See next time get the guest flag and get ashore. So for anybody who’s curious to check out the one of the top three spots on Catalina, it’s our facility. It’s our facility is Blue Water Cruising Club and we’re always looking for new members. So we are friendly. We’re always eager to invite people over.

31:37

and we’ve had a lease on the cove since like 1945. So we’re the stewards of the cove. It really is one of the most beautiful places. uh But if you ever want to come down and if you have a sailboat, because we’re a sailing club, cruise by and if you are going there randomly in the winter and you want a fellow boat to hang out or you just want to have a connection, you can connect with me. Get me  on email is easy. Ryan at Ryan dot online. All right. Those are the top three places in Catalina. I like your email.

32:07

What do think my website is? Oh, Ryan.online. Yeah. That’s sick. That’s it. I’m the only Ryan.online. Yes, that’s it.  And if you do want to check out Blue Water Cruising Club,  can you guess what the Blue Water Cruising Club website is? Is it BWC? no. It’s not abbreviated. Oh, Bluewatercruisingclub.org.com. don’t know. both. We got them both. .org and .com. both?  Oh my gosh.

32:37

Nuts. So cool. All right. So we talked about Catalina. Honestly, we should come back and talk about, you know what we should do? I’m going to throw this out there. This summer, you’re going to be over there quite a bit, right? Oh, yeah. Yeah. So you need to connect with me. Let me know when you’re coming over. I might either be there or I will have an excuse to go over there. And then we should do like a we could do like a maybe we do like a I don’t know what we would call a podcast. Like like we go.

33:06

Create like a little tour, like we go and we record live from Rippers and then we cruise over to Cat Harbor and we do it live.  And your YouTube will be up by then, so it’d good practice of like, it’ll be a boat cast. A boat cast. A boat cast. It’s gonna be great. It’s gonna be really great. That sounds fantastic.  I’m so excited for summer. It is so hot out and every day that it’s hot, I’m like, it is almost summer. So close.  Okay, let’s talk. Where else have you gone? So you went to Catalina.

33:34

We know that you’re going to circumnavigate, but what are some other adventures? done Santa Cruz Island, I’ve done Santa Rosa Island, I’ve done Santa Barbara Island, I’ve done San Nicolas Island, These are all by yourself, you and your little cowl 29? I think some of them, okay, some of these trips have been done with my grandma, which is, so she’s, so yeah, so some of it’s solo. And so some of these, but some of these other islands have been done with

34:03

She’s like 80 years old. She’s named Elaine. I’m sure she’s gonna be listening to this podcast. absolutely love her. Elaine, shout out to Elaine.  Yeah, she doesn’t really know much about sailing at all. She’s never really sailed, but she’s  loved the islands and she loves going with me. And so she’s not, um I would say, help in any way. Yes, we  still love you. We still love you, but it’s just, yeah. No, we love her so much and I love her coming with me. It’s so fun,  but it  kind of, yeah.

34:30

It feels like I’m alone. And then at night, you know, she just goes to sleep and I have to do the, I have to do the watches on my own and he just closes the door and he’s like, how long y’all see you in the morning,  But so, yeah, that’s fabulous. And I love going with her. But yeah, so I can’t say I’ve done all those alone. No, no, that’s cool. And it’s, that’s cool. mean, honestly, the fact that you’re hanging out with your 80 year old grandma on a boat in the middle of the islands, like that’s even, that makes it better. So you’ve done all the Channel Islands.

35:01

Yeah, well I haven’t done, yeah, missing some, but it’s my goal to be part of the A-Club. Okay.  Which one’s you missing? I’m missing, I haven’t done San Clemente yet. I was gonna do it this past week, but there were other issues.  And I haven’t done Anacapa, which I don’t really know if you can do Anacapa. eh And uh Santa, what’s the other one? St. Nick? The one farther up. What? St. Nicholas? No. No, St. Nicholas I’ve done.

35:30

I mean, the one that’s one that’s where Santa Rosa. So it goes Anacapa, Santa Cruz, Santa, this is depressing. We have to know this. No, no, we’re going to we’re going to we’re going to pull in a lifeline here. So hang on a second. See if we can get this to work. Then Miguel. San Miguel. OK, I was going to bring AI into the conversation, but you mean it. You humans win. The humans win. We do. When? Yeah, I haven’t done San Miguel yet, but.

35:58

I’m excited. I got to do those. Those are going to happen soon. And yeah, this summer I’m going to either probably sail to San Francisco or to hard way. Nice. Yeah. Yeah. Have you ever thought about doing the the latitude 30 Baja? I can’t do it. I love to do it so much, but it’s during school for me. OK, it happens during school. I’ve been eyeing it for years.

36:26

But you have to take off like a month of school to do it. Maybe we just need to get you a remote permission to go to classes remotely and then get yourself a little Starlink. So that’s that’s a crazy story, too. Right now I’m off school  because I just got back from a unexpectedly from a German sail training ship  in Central America. Wait, where they’re all German. Yeah. So it’s a tall ship. They sailed

36:55

from Amsterdam all the way to Panama,  group of 17 German teens. They’re all teens? so I joined them. German, yeah, teens. It’s like a,  it’s like a teen program for German kids. Okay. And I don’t speak, I don’t speak German. I’m not German,  but I like doing crazy things. So I joined them for a month. Yeah. And so that’s I’m here now. school, on a tall ship. And we, we sailed from Panama.

37:26

to Mexico and in between we went to Costa Rica and we had, there were lots of issues. I don’t wanna, I this is public, so I can’t, I’m not gonna say the name of the program, but there were a lot of issues with the ship. And so I had to leave. Okay. Out of my own choice, but it was. But you guys were good sailing on a tall ship. That’s like, that’s crazy. Yeah, I sailed, I think it was like 1500 miles on a tall ship in a month. So.

37:54

You know what? It’s Dude, that’s great. Chalk it up.  Hey, listen up. We hope everyone is enjoying listening to the stories of West Coast sailors on our Good Jives podcast.  We’ve heard lots of great feedback from the 150,000 listeners  who’ve tuned in over the last couple of years. And if you have a marine business, we’d like to give you an opportunity to connect with them during upcoming podcasts.  If you’d like to be a sponsor of future podcasts,  you can email LATITOO38.

38:22

learn more about how your company can benefit from sponsoring Good Jives. Tell me about the circumnavigation. How’s that working out? When is that happening? Yeah, so that’s the ultimate goal. Since my first sale to Catalina alone when I was 12, it’s been circumnavigation. have to do a circumnavigation. When I’m 18, so I’m 16 right now.

38:45

My parents are the most fantastic parents in the world. I love them so much, but they shout out to your parents. Give them a round of applause. That’s my parents. Yes. And grandma. But they don’t they don’t want me sailing around the world. Oh, which is very understandable. So wait, wait, Are you planning on wild wildflowers being? Well, that’s a. It’s up in the conversation. OK, it’s a conversation. It’s definitely possible on wildflowers.

39:15

I mean, that’s a real, that’s a lot of what I’m thinking about right now is this is the moment where I’m, you know, committing. This is what I’m doing. You know, I’m putting in the money, I’m putting in the  equipment  and so that my time and, you know, it’s what I’m doing. So  I’m trying to figure out the boat. I mean, what are your opinions? I’m interested. You know, maybe other people are interested. Well, have you ever thought about  getting a sponsor for this or, you know, having,  have you thought about some sort of financial backing for this that might

39:45

put you into a different boat or, you know, think of the story behind it or…  Yeah. I mean, I think, yeah, that’s definitely uh possible.  I think that you get so connected to your boat  as a sailor, especially as a solo sailor. Like, have so much, you know… Well, you know every inch of it as well. You know, I know every inch of this boat and I spent so much time learning about it and putting… Maybe you just need to… How’s the engine?

40:14

I mean really. Killer. Okay. this point. I know, I know. know we… Drop a new engine in there just to make your… Tell your parents. Be like, hey, mom and dad, I’m gonna sail around the world, but you the only thing that could possibly go wrong would be this engine, so help me drop a new, brand new engine in there and then maybe your life would be mitigated. But the boat… Yeah, the boat’s pretty great. Go for it, dude. I can tell that you want to… The decision’s already been made.

40:44

You just need to… It’s just figuring out how it’s going to happen.  And it’s going to happen. I mean, there’s just no doubt in my mind. I know that I don’t… I think a lot of people, you know, spend a lot of time being caught in like, okay, I don’t know enough. I need to keep learning. I need a more expensive boat. I need more, you know, just time. But, you know, then if you do that, you’re just… I mean, I completely understand the reasons, but at the same time, eventually it just becomes less and less possible to actually go out, you know, go out when you can.

41:14

and go out with the boat you have. Like it really is, if you know about your boat and you can’t handle it, then go for it, you know? In this day and age, like there are obviously immense risks to doing it alone, but you know, we have E-perbs, have satellite, we have Starlink, we have life rafts, we have all these things like, you know, there is financial risk. You could definitely lose your boat and you could be not saying there isn’t a risk that you could, you know, have a real… But life is for living, my friend. Life is for sailing. This is it.

41:44

I really think that the concerns are more about the boat at this point than yourself. Yeah. I think that, yeah, you could have to sink the boat if you got airlifted out, but you’re not gonna die. Yeah. And so if you don’t die, it’s all a fun story. Yeah, that makes the best stories when you almost die, the 5%. Exactly, the 5%, you got it. So yeah, I mean, I think in two years, I’m gonna set out, I’m gonna sail to Hawaii.

42:12

And I’m gonna keep going. Okay, so here’s my challenge for you. Yeah. I like to share that people are less concerned with your story of success, such as successfully circumnavigating, and they’re more excited about seeing themselves in your story. Like, I’m channeling my 16-year-old self  in this conversation. I feel  lighter and like I can take on more risk, and I’m excited about

42:39

the shared engine troubles and all these things. I may be jealous about your refrigeration, but besides that,  like there’s like, I see myself in your story and  that is still value, whether or not you circumnavigate around the world. Yeah. So you have two years to share your story. You’re launching a YouTube channel. And so, yeah, this all comes from a, like an authentic, genuine place. You’re not out there trying to be like, give me money or find sponsorship. But I think,  I think if you

43:09

genuinely share your story, share your excitement, share the pathway to your journey, you could very easily find a whole supportive community that might help you out financially, might hook you up with equipment, might just be there for moral support, will be cheering for you the whole time, will be a basis and a following that they can live vicariously through it. So you never know what would end up, but keep making these decisions, do with what you have, sail the boat that you have.

43:37

and build a community at the same time. And basically all of Latitude 38 Nation is going to be following you and supporting you. And then you’re sailing alone, but with like 30 or 40,000 grandmas virtually in the boat with you. Yeah, oh yeah. And Elaine following along, absolutely.  Yeah, no, it’s I you’re going to write a book about this. You’re going to launch a podcast about this. You’re going to motivate people to get out there. And like, you have no idea where it’s going to go, but you know you want to go. So-

44:06

That’s the exciting thing. Don’t get caught up in all the minutia or the naysayers. And I think it’s, uh you know, in this day and age as a uh teen living on the west side of LA, like there is so much, I love my friends so much and my, you the world I live in, but at the same time it’s like, there’s really this like strict,  like set of rules that you’re kind of supposed to play by. Like you’re supposed to do these like…

44:32

Nonprofit organizations in high school and then you’re supposed to go to a nice Ivy League school and then you’re supposed to Get a good paying job and marry someone. It’s like this This just isn’t to get a house marry someone. It’s like that isn’t and even you know It just doesn’t people think it’s ridiculous  to go to not do that route in like the world I live in and it just it’s really  You know, it’s it really  is Ridiculous to me how much how much people are?

45:02

kind of scared to break the norm, but also at the same time, I understand. It’s like such a, it’s really like, I don’t know. There’s this really easy, there’s the easy route to do it. And then there’s like just following your dream. And I think that I’m trying my very best to try and follow my dream, but it’s- You’re not trying, bro. You’re doing it. You’re out there. You’ve been doing it. Yeah.

45:28

But it’s like, you know, no, none of my friends know what I’m doing really.  And, you know, they’ll come out sailing with me, but they’ve never experienced going, you know, being in a Santa Ana for 34 hours, like I just did,  you know, alone  with like  barely any sleep. Like, like that’s really the exciting sailing. And that’s what, you know, that’s what I live for. Like that’s, that’s my most fabulous thing in the world.  And, you know, it’s like people don’t understand. And I think that

45:59

I think that maybe this sailing community is like the only people who are ever going to understand. And still it’s hard to understand. Like it’s just it’s such a. It’s just so crazy what all of us do. What you just talked about literally plays out in in everybody’s head that’s listening to this and everybody’s head that reads latitude 38. And you’re at an advantage because you’re you’ve caught that bug so early.

46:27

And the later you catch that bug, the harder it is  to really cash in on it. So that’s exciting. Yeah. Yeah,  it’s really exciting. But yeah, we’re going to see what happens. That’s  whole thing. See, guess what? We’re going to see where the wind, we’re going to go where the wind blows, right? Oh, where the wind blows. That’s the slogan, isn’t it?  That’s the Latitude 38 slogan. Yeah. No, it’s really about the community. I like

46:55

I’ve been really fortunate recently to  meet some new sailors who have been helping me with what I have to prepare for the boat and how I should prepare myself. But I I love getting more opinions and  having more people to talk to because it’s really like,  I,  once again, like I do things by trial and error, like I don’t know.  And there’s no real way to teach  me everything that someone else knows who’s been doing it for like 60 years. so.

47:23

I love getting advice from people and meeting with people and you know, like it’s, literally the way I’m able to keep going. So, you know, it’s, it’s really cool. I’m excited to get more into this lot of 238 world. Well here, I’m going to, I’m going to go out on a, out on a bow pulpit here and throw, throw an opportunity for you if you’re interested. If you ever find somebody who you’d love to learn from or a sailor that you see online or somebody that might be

47:53

I don’t want to say harder to get in front of, but somebody that maybe has this crazy sailing experience that you’d like to get a piece of. If you ever want to reach out to them and invite them to be  on Good Jibes as a podcast, it creates a platform for you to be able to have these conversations  in an open public format. And I’d be happy to be there as a co-host, but you being the co-host, I’ll be your grandma hanging out in the cabin there to support.

48:21

until you’re ready to go sail off and why not be a guest host when you find somebody crazy cool interesting or you meet somebody on an island somewhere and you want to share capture that story it could be a build up to a video that you make or it could be doubled as a video that you make for your YouTube channel but what you just said there about

48:47

you would love, like it’s impossible to learn everything from somebody who’s been doing this for 60 years. It is possible. You just got to talk with them.  And this platform is a place for us to talk about that, but also for other people to listen. So if you have anybody out there that you meet that’s part of your community that you’d love to like have a fun public conversation with, you let me know and I’ll help facilitate you as a guest host. I’ll be there in the background just to support until you’re comfortable to go for it. That’d be so cool.

49:16

I love talking with sailors of all different types and I love listening to stories from sailors. So with your passion and your excitement, you’re going to bring out the goods that people like are really, really willing to share. But maybe they’re hanging out with people that have been doing it for 60 years. So it’s like common knowledge. They’re not talking about it. Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. That’s a really that’s cool. Yeah. I mean, there’s so many inspiring sailors in this world. I’m so inspired by

49:43

all the stories and all the good jobs I’ve listened to. mean,  everyone’s amazing. I can’t believe this world of  Now you’re part of the crew and you have an invite to be a guest host whenever you want. Oh, cool. Thank you. That’s really, really cool. Wow. Yeah. I mean,  it’s all so exciting. I mean, yeah. Exactly. Yes, it is exciting. Well, how do people…

50:12

who are excited about getting to know you connect with you. What’s the best place other than your website, which is www.elliot.com. That’s it. So there you go. I I’d say I’d go from there because on that site, you’ve got, I don’t want to confuse people, but there we have the YouTube channel linked on there. And we also have my Instagram linked on there.

50:41

And so my YouTube channel, I’m going to be getting more into, but yeah, so that’s going to be exciting. And that’s going to be my whole journey. And my Instagram, I’ve already been posting a lot of just like random things that have been, uh you know, going on in my sailing world. Like, you know, as every day I’m at the boat at this point. And so I just, I’m always posting things about what’s going on. And so, yeah.  And, and your Instagram is  sv underscore wildflower.

51:10

That’s it. Yeah,  that’s the sailing Instagram. So go for that one. Perfect.  have another Instagram, I would assume then your personal Instagram or something. Yeah, you can also follow Elliot.Aaron. Okay. There you go. mean, I know. you want to follow me as a person or if you want to follow my sailing or if you to follow both, you can do it all. You can become an Elliotinator.

51:34

Yes! He’s even got a name for his crew. Alienator. fans. Sweet. Well, hey, I’m an alienator. I’m in it. We’re bonded with the Kalboats. I’m a Rhinonator. This is great. We all show up in fan clubs. Awesome. You know, there’s so much darkness in the world and so much drama in the world. It’s just fun to have a conversation with excitement around getting out into the unknown. So keep fighting the good fight, bro.

52:03

Let’s go sailing this summer. I’m excited for all your adventures. Find somebody to interview as a host and we’ll get that lined up. And then, yeah, once you’re out there in the world, don’t forget you can contribute to Latitude 38 as a writer. If you have a crazy story or an adventure, just send it to Latitude 38. CC me. I’ll maybe help you get you in there. But start sharing your journey, man. Start spreading the awesomeness. Fantastic.

52:31

All right. All right. Well, we are now back at the boat after a journey. Grandma, let’s go. It’s time to go. We’re at the dock. And if this is the first time you have listened to a Good Jives podcast, this should not be your last. You can follow us on everywhere that you get your podcast. And whether you have a cow boat or not, we still want to hang out with you. Go cow. Yeah, we mainly want to hang out with you if you have a cow.

52:59

Yeah, pretty much you’ll get preferential treatment if you have a cow boat. And if it’s like, you know, 1974 to 77, we like the older school ones where things break, we get to fix them. 1978, you’re out of the club. Sorry. Sorry, too bad. have to get a new boat. All right. And I’m excited to see where all this goes, man. From Catalina to around the world and a German ship in between. I’m excited for you and all the adventures. All right.

53:27

But you know where to follow Elliot if you want to follow me. We know my website. My website is Ryan Dot Online.  And I actually have a new book out, which is Speaker Ship. It’s part of my Getting Your Ship Together series. So I’ve spent about a decade perfecting the art of public speaking and I’ve got them  all into a boat size book. It’s a little six by six book, can fit anywhere. Take them as you go.  I’m writing entrepreneurship now and then leadership.

53:56

And then my wife and I are going to co-author  relationship and I have a whole fleet of ships after that. So I’m excited if you want to check that out.  I think that communication, communication is the wind in your sails that you can control. Right. As soon as you open your mouth, you share who you are. And so we want to share our best selves and  get good at it. So anyways, Speaker Ship, you can find it on Amazon. You can find me on Instagram, Ryan.Foland  and

54:23

That’s it. We’re back at the dock. Let’s coil up the docks nice and good. Let’s hose her down and get ready for the next adventure.  Oh yeah, let’s do it.  All right. Peace out, buddy. We’ll talk to you soon. Sail sooner. Toodles.  Toodles.