So after
buying a Bayliner buccaneer and having zero experience, I set off in the
Puget sound to learn about sailing I have wanted to know so much about. Hours and hours of sailing videos on YouTube and plenty of scares where I thought I'd lose my
boat and my mind, I finally got the hang of actual sailing. But unable to turn itself into the stronger winds of the
Puget sound to properly tack, I decided to find something a bit bigger. I bought her for 1500 and with some
work and a few upgraded things I
sold her for 2,100. And that same day purchased my beloved Wolf Pack. (I'm a lover of the hangover movies) Wolf Pack is an
Ericson 27. And so far I have traveled the sound extensively and just this last week made the greuling trip from
Seattle Washington out of the sound into the straight and stressfully into the big blue. After reading much about the people who naysayed the boats capibilities always offset by
Ericson fans saying they were completely able boats I decided to try for myself. Leaving port Angeles and hitting 4 to 6 foot
wind waves at night and having to
motor into a bay 10 miles away to
anchor and rest was the scariest part. Even the 12 foot swells entering the Pacific were much less daunting then that long violent night. But 160 miles of pacific later my girlfriend and I with little sailing experience followed another
boat named Fred Again III all the way. We kept in contact the whole time whilst we settled our fears of using mobile platforms of
navionics charts despite the negative thoughts associated with not having a chart plotter. Now safely into Astoria and through the
Columbia River bar in some of the smoothest
weather. I finally feel ready to introduce myself to the community of fellow sailors whose words I have read to braveheartedly or foolishly inspire myself to make a big leap into the deep blue. My name is Brandon Hiza and I also am a professional photographer. (Instagram: @illectrec) thanks you for being there for me unknowingly as a means of self reassurance and constant answers to my questions. I look forward to a long future of living on and cruising with my sailing heart and hopefully meeting some of you along the way.