Dreams • Courage • Grief: Sailing After Loss | Salty Podcast #89

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The wind doesn’t just move a boat; it moves a life. Captain Tinsley sits down with her longtime friend Mark to chart the real story behind her voyages—from Atlanta freeways to the Gulf’s passes, from small-boat frustrations to bluewater confidence, and from a hurricane’s chaos to the quiet, stubborn act of healing after losing Salty Scotty. What unfolds is a clear-eyed look at seamanship and the inner weather that shapes it.

We get specific about the money and mechanics of cruising: why smaller, tougher boats keep budgets sane, how anchoring versus marinas changes monthly costs, and which upgrades actually matter offshore. Tinsley walks through ASA training, a game-changing Key Largo refresher, and the Catalina 25 that taught her the value of autopilot and a wheel. She opens the logbook on a night when an alternator belt failed, electronics died, and she and a crewmate lined up on stars until the Coast Guard guided them to safety at dawn—proof that redundancy, calm, and paper backup are not optional.

Then the storm hits. Hurricane Sally’s last-minute turn brought surge that snapped lines and wrecked a marina. Tinsley lost her Island Packet 27 and came away with hard insurance lessons: document every upgrade, update coverage, and triple-line for real surge, not the forecast you want. The rebuild led to a new boat and a sharper standard for “yacht quality” installs—tight through-hulls, clean wiring, and maintenance that pays dividends when the Gulf turns mean.

The most vulnerable chapter is also the bravest. After Scott’s unexpected passing, the sea felt different. She kept moving anyway—Miami slips, Bahamas weather windows, two cats learning the rhythm of passages—leaning on cruisers’ communities from Women Who Sail to the Georgetown anchorage where skills and spare parts circulate like tide. We also get candid about safety as a solo woman, reading water and people, ICW etiquette, rental-pontoon chaos, and the moment a shadowing boat peeled off when boundaries were made unmistakable.

If you love real-world sailing—budgeting, training, storm prep, solo tactics, and the quiet holiness when the engine clicks off—this story will meet you where you are. Subscribe, share with a salty friend, and leave a review with your biggest sailing lesson or question. Your voice helps keep this voyage going.

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SALTY ABANDON: Cap'n Tinsley, Orange Beach, AL:
Oct 2020 to Present - 1998 Island Packet 320;
Nov 2015-Oct 2020; 1988 Island Packet 27
Feb-Oct 2015 - 1982 Catalina 25

SALTY PODCAST is LIVE every Wed at 6pm Central and is all about the love of sailing!

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GEAR FEATURED IN MY UPCOMING VIDEOS:
🛟 Boat Fenders → https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08S1PXKKR
⚓ Dock Lines → https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BS4BNYR9
🧽 Exterior Cleaning Kit → https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BL533KR7