Team Log

The Salish Seasters will be convening in Port Townsend in just over a month for the run up to the start on June 14th. It’s a balance point of too-soon-to-get-hyped, too-close-to-let-up. The preparation is its own endurance race, requiring its own pacing to sustain.

A lot has changed just in the last few weeks. We got two(!) new-to-us asymmetrical spinnakers from one of our fellow Bellingham-based teams, Makika Masala. A spinnaker is an extra-large, lightweight sail, usually used in lighter winds and downwind directions.

These new sails are smaller than our original, which means we can put them up in stronger winds. Our current spinnaker (also called a “kite” or a “chute”) is SO big that we can run the risk of getting overpowered if the wind builds too much while we are using it. Spinnakers are a really magical part of sailing, but when things go wrong with them, they can go really, really wrong.

Another local Bellingham team, Menage et Deux, lent one of their teammates to our first practice for the new spinnakers. It’s always valuable to sail with other sailors, compare notes, and learn from each other.

But, for a race, probably not the norm!

It’s one of the things that makes Race to Alaska so special. To paraphrase the Race to Alaska documentary, the winner is the least interesting thing about this race. We agree, and we think it shows.

Few boats are truly competitive for the first place finish (though, anything can happen!). That leaves the rest of us to a race that is mostly about personal achievement. Did we do our best? Did we feel prepared? Did we have a good time? Were we excellent to each other?

Even those that are genuinely competitive (and Makika Masala might be one of them, though they’re quite humble if you ask them) seem hell-bent on raising up the teams around them.

The Fly Girls are another team who has given endlessly to fellow racers. Team Captain Chris has shared so many resources along the way, we’ve likely lost track of them all! If there’s anything she’s NOT sharing, we wouldn’t know the difference.

We also have been consorting with Christian from Make Fetch Happen, whose technical prowess even outstrips his team-naming skills (which is saying a LOT). He’s provided a steady stream of resources and perspectives on navigational strategy.

And if you can believe it, these are just some of the many teams, past and present, that we’ve been in touch with to swap resources, work out logistics, and share knowledge

We are happy for every chance we get to give back to our fellow racers, and look forward to helping up-and-coming teams that will come in the future.

Last but not least, we hear from Anna (that’s me!). I had been looking for an R2AK team through fall and winter, finally joining the Seasters in March. They took a gamble on me since I am from Portland, OR and had other races that would keep me away for two months leading up to the race. I think we’re all glad they did!

Q: What’s your sailing background?

A: A few years back I had a Nordic ski buddy who had circumnavigated for 14 years. All winter he told me these wild stories and it cracked open this world I’d never known about.

When i finally got around to learning, I thought I just wanted to get good enough to hop on boats as crew and see the world one bit at a time. Like, section hiking the Pacific Crest Trail.

But everyone said racing would make me a better sailor. I originally had no interest but I took the advice to heart and badgered my favorite skipper until a spot opened up on his boat. The first time I raced it was 20 knots and gusty and loud and adrenaline-filled and I was HOOKED.

I’ve been sailing for two years as of this month. I’ve done some boat deliveries (Port Angeles to Portland) and some cruising in the Caribbean and Desolation Sound. Mostly I’ve buoy racing on the Columbia River here in Portland, OR.

Q: What kind of professional/recreational background do you bring?

A: I’m a data analyst at Nike for my day job. The best application of that seems to be an unrelenting desire to put everything into a spreadsheet. My undergrad degree was in environmental science, driven by an infatuation with the natural world. That’s something I definitely share with my team and probably most R2AK racers.

I’m relatively new to adventuring, especially compared to the rest of my team. I’ve dabbled in backpacking, skiing, mountaineering, horseback riding, paddle things, and search and rescue. I’m always saying, “there’s only so many hours in a week!” I wish I could do everything all the time.

Q: Why do you want to do the Race to Alaska?

A: I originally wrote an answer and it got all long and deep and I decided to save it for some other time. Basically, R2AK is filled with the kind of maniac I want to be. There’s a compass inside me that points towards the things I admire in this life, I’ve never gone wrong following it.

Q: What’s the best part so far?

A: The team, hands down. I did not expect a lot of cohesion, especially since I joined the team late and am from out of town. But, we’ve gelled very quickly and been a huge joy. Everyone is so kind to each other. We support each other’s decisions. We’re silly and playful but also diligent and focused. These are people I can be myself around. And a version of myself that I really love. It’s rad.

Q: Has anything surprised you?

A: That I have a lot of knowledge and experience to share. I’m used to being the rookie on all of my teams. Getting into a new context has highlighted some of the places that I have a specific background. Like with buoy racing, you get very comfortable crossing really close to other boats without flinching.

Q: Anything you’re nervous about?

A: Mundane things that don’t really need airtime. Will my new friends still like me after I poop in front of them? Will my houseplants be ok while I’m gone? Will I survive the comedown after the race ends? What on earth am I going to do to top this?

Audrey was third to the team, answering a crew call posted by Melanie in the fall of 2025. Audrey brings an abundance of experience from a variety of backgrounds, which she goes into in more detail, below.

Q: What’s your sailing background?

A: I grew up sailing with my family on the coast of Maine; we had a Rhodes 19 centerboard sailboat and would usually sail to an island in Casco Bay for lunch. My sister and I would climb around the island on the rocky shoreline trying not to fall in the water, then we’d cruise back to the South Freeport harbor on a downwind run just in time for seafood dinner. Sweet, uncomplicated summer days – I remember sailing being some of the most peaceful days of my life back then.

I didn’t sail during my college/grad school days (too far from the ocean, a big mistake!) but when I was finishing up my PhD I bought a Morgan 41 sailboat to live on in Anacortes’ Skyline Harbor. I wrote my dissertation aboard that boat and had fun learning to sail a much larger vessel than our little Rhodes.

I sold that boat when my husband and I moved to Anchorage, AK, but we had this dream to sail across the Pacific with our daughter, so in 2019 we bought a Cascade 42, named her Unbelievable, and spent a couple years outfitting her for long distance cruising. We left Bellingham, WA in August 2022 and made it to Australia in November 2024, with many stops in the South Pacific and a cyclone season detour to New Zealand along the way. We shipped Unbelievable back to Mexico in early 2025 and spent last spring sailing her up the west coast of the US, which were definitely some of the hardest-fought ocean miles we did on our whole journey. Hoping to get Unbelievable up to Alaska sometime in the next few years, so the Race to Alaska will be a preview of all that amazing country.

Q: What kind of professional/recreational background do you bring?

A: I’m a wildlife biologist by training, so I’ve spent a lot of my life planning and coordinating remote fieldwork, much of it in the Arctic. Some of the skills gained from that sort of expedition-style research definitely transfer to things like long-distance, unsupported sailing. During our Pacific sailing adventures, planning for passages (where we’d be out of sight of land for anywhere from 4-30 days) is also an experience that helps me be comfortable with thinking through what could happen during R2AK. I’ve done some longer mountain climbing expeditions (Rainier, Pico Orizaba in Mexico, a few peaks in the Alaska range) that also require that sort of forward thinking: imagining the worst but hoping for the best.

Q: Why do you want to do the Race to Alaska?

A: Ummm, this one was harder than I expected to answer. Simple answer – why would I NOT want to do this? Longer answer – I sailed across the Pacific with my husband, who was always the default captain. It’s been hard for me to assess what I learned from the experience as an individual, not just part of the overall sailing team. Prepping for this race and actually doing the race gives me a better sense of what I gained personally from our family sailing adventures, aside from the obvious (incredible memories). In addition, I love a good challenge, especially one that tests me physically and mentally, and I feel like R2AK is exactly that on so many levels.

Q: What’s the best part so far?

A: Sailing with 3 other badass women who bring different skills and experiences to the table and are an absolute barrel of fun besides! I love how we are building a team where everyone has certain strengths to contribute and yet we’re all determined to learn all.the.things so we remain equal partners in the R2AK adventure.

Q: Has anything surprised you?

A: Re: the previous question – how quickly we HAVE become a team! And how right it feels that we are in this together. I had no idea it would happen so easily and so fast.

Q: Anything you’re nervous about?

A: A little nervous about that team spirit, and of course our safety, after a week or more of little sleep. We have a decent sleep schedule worked out, and I think if we are able to stick to that we’ll be fine…but I know from my family’s Pacific adventures that chronic lack of sleep really wreaks havoc with team dynamics, personal satisfaction, and memory. So I’m hopeful we’ll all be able to sleep perfectly well right off the bat and arrive in Ketchikan totally stoked and ready to party. But also realistic that we might be a little crazed and sleep-deprived when we get there. I’m also nervous about encountering barge traffic up narrow passages at night. And about hitting a whale. Let’s just not think about that.

Q: What are you going to want to eat when you finally get to Ketchikan?

A: Salad. And French fries. With salt and ketchup. Oh, and ice cream, lots of it :)

Here we dive in with Anya. She and Mel are adventure buddies that go way back. When the time came to regenerate Salish Seasters for the R2AK, Anya was the first to join Mel and is still always ready to dive into boat projects and race to-dos.

Q: What’s your sailing background?

A: A love for water and boats inevitably landed me in my own sailboat in 2020. A few friends and I got together to shake off the Covid blues by purchasing a 24ft, swing keel, monohull we dubbed Kula, which means “community” in Sanskrit. Half the group knew how to sail, the other half didn’t, including myself. Together we fixed Kula up; ripping out some sweet, shag carpeting that inexplicably lined nearly the entirety of the interior, modified the oversized wing table over the keel hold, gave her a fresh coat of bottom paint and painted her namesake on her transom. My friends were great teachers and I learned a lot over the few years we had Kula, like how to deal with a troublesome outboard, how to step a mast and what to do when you lose a rudder. But we did fun stuff too, like grabbing crab pots under sail, learning points of sail by dodging anchored boats in Fairhaven and discovering freediving spots by beaching her onshore, swing keel and all that.

Q: What kind of professional/recreational background do you bring?

A: For me, just add water. Sports? I was a college rower and raced surf skis and outrigger canoes. Career? Fish Biologist. Hobbies? SCUBA diving, sea kayaking, whitewater rafting.

Q: Why do you want to do the Race to Alaska?

A: Interestingly, I’ve noticed this is a question that has a more introspective answer than I anticipated. On the surface, I could say the decision was a might bit impulsive; I was awed by the excitement and adventure of watching my friend race WA360 and wanted to be a part of the next challenging adventure. It was a spark, just something I had to do. And then you start to wonder, why is it that I have to do it? So, it is interesting to recognize all these little pieces in your life that start to put together the “why” and realize how much of the race reflects what is already there. For example, grade school Anya once answered the question, “If you could travel back in time, where would you go and why?” and her answer was, “The Lewis and Clark Expedition, because they travelled untamed wilderness not really knowing what to expect.” That was a marvel to me as a kid. On top of that, I love a good challenge, I love learning and solving puzzles, I love community, teamwork and comradery and I love an opportunity to push myself out of my comfort zone and see what is on the other side. Oh and don’t forget the obsession with water and boats...

Q: What’s the best part so far?

A: Oh my gosh my team, for sure! Have you seen these ladies!? We have a wonderful blend of experiences, strengths and talents. They are fun, caring, communicative, joyful and strong women that I love hanging out with. My second favorite part is seeing myself slowly sinking into the reality of the endeavor and finding comfort in it. It is a lot to take on, no doubt about it, but in just a few months, I’ve noticed the needle has moved for me in what is possible. And that’s why I’m here, I wanted the opportunity to grow and see how I evolve through the process. But like I said, I have three amazing women behind me, and I’ve got their back too.

Q: Has anything surprised you?

A: We recently had our shakedown sail to Point Roberts and back; 18 hours in mixed wind conditions. I wasn’t nervous, but having never sailed at night, having never done watch rotations, I didn’t know what to expect. I still laugh because the feeling I had as the sun rose over Mount Baker as we made our way back to Squalicum Harbor was just so intense and yet peaceful. I didn’t know what to do with that kind of energy! It was very empowering, I felt, for myself and for us as a team to have that experience and I was surprised how much it resonated within me.

Q: Anything you’re nervous about?

A: There are a lot of obvious things to be nervous about. Logs, reefs, shipping traffic, unexpected weather, the Kraken. An engine can bail you out of a lot of bad scenarios, but we don’t have that luxury. I believe a healthy level of nerves is appropriate here. Complacency breeds contempt, as they say. I think I am most nervous about sailing 750 some miles and not seeing a single Orca. That would be devastating.

Mel is the owner of our boat, Wildcard, and the mastermind behind our team. After successfully completing the 2025 WA360, she rounded up a fresh gang of adventurers for Race to Alaska, 2026. We hear more from her, below!

Q: What’s your sailing background?

A: I learned to sail in 2021 on a J24 and quickly fell in love with the sailing. I then graduated to exploring the San Juan Islands in a co-owned Telstar trimaran 28, which was amazing for covering ground, but I found myself missing the healing and carving feel of a monohull. With the trimaran in the past, I am the owner of Wild Card, Santa Cruz 27 and I’ve raced in local races including the WA360, but nothing quite like the Race to Alaska.

Q: What kind of professional/recreational background do you bring?

A: I love all things water - from sailing, sea kayaking and diving to whitewater kayaking and rafting. I’m the proud owner of three boats: Wild Card, a Santa Cruz 27; La Boheme, my sea kayak; and Tiny Dancer, my sporty 13-foot whitewater cataraft. Professionally, I’ve spent the past 10 years working in social justice, and I currently support solar energy adoption by underserved communities. I bring a mix of hands-on adventure experience and problem-solving skills to the team - both on and off the water.”

Q: Why do you want to do the Race to Alaska?

A: I honestly can say that I just really really want to do it, and it’s hard to say specifically why! It’s the challenge, the difficulty, the learning, the boat maintenance the logistical problem solving, the camaraderie and community – I suppose. When I first learned about the Race to Alaska I just knew it was something I wanted to do!

Q: What’s the best part so far?

A: The training has been an absolute hoot – filled with laughs, strategy sessions and great company. We’ve also had some learning lessons and some intensity out there, and we continually push the boundaries of our comfort levels. I also love problem solving and a good logistics puzzle and I really get into the planning and logistics.

Q: Has anything surprised you?

A: I’m kinda good at boat projects!

Q: Anything you’re nervous about?

A: Big, downwind following seas at night with no sleep.

Q: If you could add one thing to the race to make it easier what would it be?

A: A flux capacitor.