78 Old Fishermans Wharf

Monterey, CA 93940

Open Daily

10:00AM - 6:00PM

(831) 372-7245

Info & Reservations

Meet Our Staff

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Paul and Tina

Owners

Paul and Tina own and manage Sail Monterey. While Paul’s full time job is here sailing the MMAD Catter, Tina owns her own company creating and selling jewelry made from sea glass found on the beaches in Monterey and Pacific Grove. Paul and Tina live in Pacific Grove and enjoy sailing, backpacking, and golfing. Come meet us at the end of the Old Fisherman’s Wharf and tell us what you love doing here in the beautiful Monterey Bay area!

Vince

Captain Vince

Captain and Instructor

From kayaks to motorcycles, even sailboats to classic cars, Captain Vince does it all. A Monterey native, Vince has spent his years restoring VW cars with his dad, sailing the Monterey Bay, and fishing any chance he gets. Sail Monterey is grateful to have Vince not only as a Captain, but as a jack of all trades who can find a solution to any problem with a smile on his face. 

Sierra

Sierra

Experience Coordinator

Sierra is here to find the right sailing experience for you! She was born and raised in Monterey and attends Monterey High School. She is the Captain of the Monterey High girls golf team. Sierra is enrolled in the Monterey Academy of Oceanagraphic Sciences and is interested in persuing a career as a marine biologist! 

Captain Dan

Captain Dan

Captain & Instructor

Dan fell in love with the ocean the moment he first saw it, watching surf roll in on a beach in Oregon, a love strong enough to pull him away from clear lakes and streams in his native Colorado where he spent his formative years with fly rod in hand trying to fool trout.

He moved to California after college, and immediately began to look for ways to get on the water.  He questioned whether he had the instincts of a craftsman required to build a boat, and so picked the simplest design he could find, a plywood dory.  The experience proved that, as a boatbuilder, he was even more incompetent than he thought, and his dory was unique in all the wrong ways.  Despite all of that, Dan launched it, and spent many hours rowing with migrating gray whales in the Santa Barbara Channel.

In the late 1970s he took a basic sailing class through the Coast Guard Auxiliary taught by Harry Davis, a seasoned mariner and boatbuilder.   About the same time, he bought a used plywood skiff to tow behind his VW Bug and joined the rest of the Santa Barbara sailors praying for wind- prayers often not answered.

In the early 1980s he went to work at sea as an ordinary seaman, the lowest rank on the boat, and started working his way up, accumulating time and sitting for Coast Guard tests, first for Able Seaman, then 100-ton operator.  He took his first captain’s job in December 1984 running a triple-screw 100-foot crew boat out of Ciudad del Carmen, Campeche, Mexico.  By the late 1980s Dan held a Master, 1,000-tons, freight and towing license.

In the late 1980s Dan worked running tugs in San Francisco and taught sailing on the side.  When the company where he worked shut down harbor services in San Francisco, he went to Venezuela to run tugs in the Orinoco Delta. After six months he became the port captain for the next 3 years until the operation closed-down after the election of Hugo Chavez.  Following Venezuela, he took assignments in the Arctic and in Trinidad, before moving into salvage and hurricane recovery operations. 

He had the dubious distinction of running from Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico aboard a Crowley salvage barge and coming back to his mooring just in time to make tow again and run from Hurricane Rita.  His tendency to attract storms earned him the nickname Hurricane Dan.  Given that, he offered to go to New Zealand for the season and lure the hurricanes south.  Alas, nobody took up the magnanimous offer.

Marcus and Baloo

Marcus and Baloo

Diver and Fabricator

Marcus (Human on the right) and Baloo (Doggo on the left) have been valuable team members and great friends to Sail Monterey. Marcus is a commercial diver and fabricator and Baloo is a black lab who enjoys barking at sea lions. At Sail Monterey, Marcus maintains and cares for the bottoms of the sailboats as well as repair just about anything that breaks. While Marcus is working underwater, Baloo stands guard to make sure birds and sea lions give Marcus space to work. You won’t find one without the other, and they are both a part of what makes Sail Monterey a great place to spend time.

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Captain David

Captain and Instructor

Originally from London, England, David moved to the US in his early twenties. A few years later he fell in love with and settled in Santa Cruz where he is currently based.

When David isn’t teaching, you can find him open water rowing, hiking, surfing or spending time with his grown children. David loves to teach and employs a calm and cohesive teaching style, allowing and encouraging students of all abilities and dispositions to learn, advance and progress while thoroughly enjoying the experience.

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Danny & Andrea

Our Best Friends

Danny and Andrea are the previous owners of Sail Monterey and great friends to all of us here. They own the MMAD Catter and Phase 3 and lease them to Sail Monterey. We owe a big thanks to Danny and Andrea for having great taste in sail boats!