Allison McIsaac
Land to Sea
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‘Allison's journey begins in St. John's, Newfoundland, where her childhood love for the ocean reignited after a sailing trip with her mother. With degrees in Biochemistry and Nutrition, she embraced the sea alongside her partner, James, overcoming challenges and embarking on adventures like a 2000 nautical mile journey to Alaska. For Allison, sailing symbolises freedom and empowerment, shaping her dreams of exploring remote destinations and inspiring others to pursue their own maritime adventures.’
Background
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I was born on the most eastern tip of North America, on a rugged rock in the Atlantic Ocean - St. Johns Newfoundland. The weather there is harsh and folks there are hardier for it😅
I spent a lot of time outside early on as a kid, but the outdoors unfortunately took a backseat in my teenage years and into my twenties. My mum was single handling my brother and I and our focus was helping her and keeping out of trouble.
As a young girl I was completely obsessed with the ocean. On family trips by the sea, I would collect tidal critters and make ‘aquariums’ for them. I wore whale T-shirts to school every day (kids made fun of me) and I had decorated my bedroom to be a replica of the sea. When I reflect back it makes sense that I would find a way back to the sea eventually.
I was always a very curious kid, nerdy about nature and enjoyed learning about science from a young age. I went on to complete a Biochemistry degree from Memorial University of Newfoundland. During that time I became really interested in the study of Nutrition so I went on to complete another bachelor degree in Applied Human Nutrition from the Mount Saint Vincent University in Nova Scotia.
Photo by Allison McIsaac
What initially sparked your interest in sailing? Was there a specific moment or experience?
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I never dreamed of sailing. That was never something I pictures myself doing. It wasn’t until I had a break between semesters in my mid-twenties that I had an opportunity to go sailing. The opportunity? To sail with my mum.
We hadn’t grown up sailing. But our last years of living in Newfoundland, my mom met a sailor and fell head over heels. Having never seen her with a partner I was surprised when she quit her job, sold her house and reduced everything she owned to two duffel bags in order to move onto a sailboat with a man she’d just met.
But things were serious and this sailing man had serious goals - after he solo circumnavigated the Atlantic, sailed around Cape Horn and attempted the Drake passage to Antarctica - she met him in Chile with her bags and away they went across the Pacific for a decade.
The opportunity for me to sail with them arrived when they landed in Fiji. But I was still pretty young and viewed the trip like a beach vacation, I wasn’t at all interested in sailing.
Photo by Allison McIsaac
Fast forward a few years, I graduated and have space and capacity to learn new things! I decide to meet them in New Zealand and embark on my first solo backpacking trip. That trip changed everything.
During that time I met some wonderful vaga bonds, I hiked and sailed and was completely changed by the whole bit.
When I returned home life as I knew it was over.
I was enchanted by travel, by mountains, by life on the water. I packed everything I owned into my Honda civic and drove west across the country to the Pacific Ocean.
Photo by Allison McIsaac
How did you first get started in sailing? Did you take classes, or were you introduced by family or friends?
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Once I landed on the west coast, I started a job working in an indigenous community on a remote island. The island was ‘home of the killer whale’ - I couldn’t believe it because I was completely obsessed with orcas… Thank you universe! I quickly learned of all the incredible places that were only accessible via the water, and it all sort of culminated into my next move of buying a boat.
Photo by Allison McIsaac
I was keen on the idea of travelling with the wind and felt good about the lesser impact of sailing vs motoring on the environment. But I knew nothing about boats, still didn’t know anything about sailing. During this time I met my now partner James and he was down to try this sailing thing to. So together we bought a small sailboat (a Catalina 30) and began the steep learning curve of teaching ourselves how to move with the wind.
Photo by Allison McIsaac
Gosh, it’s almost scary - we really don’t know what we were doing haha But it all worked out in the end! We could have taken courses sure, but you learn quick on your own boat. Knowing what I know now, I wouldn’t have done it any differently.
Did you face any challenges when you were starting out? How did you overcome them?
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Oh my gosh, did we ever! Our boat is over 50 years old and although she didn’t require major structural repairs, she needed a complete overall. We had to learn and replace every system from electrical to steering. We spent five years refitting her while taking her out as much as we could learning more each time.
Photo by Allison McIsaac
During the first year alone, we experienced total engine failure, steering failure, a scare taking on water and an electrical fire. It was an extremely steep learning curve, but we kept pressing on learning more every time. You’ve gotta be prepared for anything out here, that’s part of the adventure.
Photo by Allison McIsaac
Can you share one of your most memorable sailing experiences? What made it special?
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I don’t have a most memorable sailing experience per say, but our most memorable days out here usually include great sailing, incredible mountain vistas, a visit from whales or dolphins and a solid haul of prawns or crabs for dinner. Oh and cold beers!
Photo by Allison McIsaac
What’s the longest journey you’ve taken at sea? What did you learn during that trip?
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We sailed over 2000nm to Alaska last summer (2025) from Vancouver Island to Glacier Bay and back. That was an incredible trip that took us about three months and is the furthest we’ve taken our 30ft boat, Uintah.
Photo by Allison McIsaac
Our longest consecutive passage though was crossing the Tasman sea with my mum and stepdad in 2023 - 1800nm, 14 days across a pretty notorious stretch of water (including Bass Strait). On day five of that trip we sailed through a pretty good gale with 40ft waves - that sort of experience changes your perspective on things…
What skills do you think are essential for a sailor? How did you develop these skills?
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- Being adaptable, open, accepting of change and comfortable with the unknown - you have to be able to go with flow out here and take whatever comes with stride. Things change without notice, and plans are written in the sand at low tide.
- Good worth ethic and a willingness to learn new things
- Strong sense of adventure, healthy desire to get out of your comfort zone and confidence to take risks
These are essential ‘personality traits’ more-so than skills. But folks with these traits will find a way to thrive in the sailing and cruising lifestyle. The skillset of a sailor is maybe more easily learned.
Photo by Allison McIsaac
Are there any resources (books, websites, mentors) that you found particularly helpful in your sailing journey?
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We learned a lot from videos on YouTube! It’s also a great place to find inspiration. We ended up starting a sailing channel a few years ago since there weren’t many folks on YouTube creating videos about cruising here in the Pacific Northwest - there we’ve shared the ups and downs, trials and tribulations of learning to sail on this coast - sailing to Alaska and back. You can find us @allisonandjamessailing. There are heaps of other great sailing channels out there as well whom you can learn a lot from.
@AllisonandJamessailing YouTube Channel
59 degrees North also has great sailing Podcasts - On The Wind and the Quarterdeck - those are excellent audible resources for folks who like to download info that way.
There’s wonderful cruising guides out there specific to where you’d like to sail and cruise which can be super helpful.
There’s Facebook forums with good discussions etc.
Can also just walk the docks and chat with folks! Salty sailors are a wealth of information and they’re often more than happy to share :)
What does sailing mean to you personally? How has it impacted your life?
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Sailing to me personally feels like freedom! It’s incredibly empowering to move freely with the wind wherever it takes you! Whilst many places via land are made inaccessible to folks, the sea is still fair game. You can cross oceans travelling on your own accord - it’s a truly powerful thing. And you meet so many amazing people!!!
How has sailing impacted my life? It’s all I want to do now! We’re building our future completely around being able to cruise for the rest of our lives. I didn’t see that coming haha.
Photo by Allison McIsaac
Do you have any future sailing goals or dreams? What are they?
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Yes! We have goals of sailing many of the high latitude destinations - Patagonia, Antarctica, Scandinavia, Greenland thru the Northwest Passage. Not in any particular order. We’ll need to upgrade our sailing vessel for all of that ;)
If you could sail anywhere in the world, where would it be and why?
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Right where we are now, probably! The Pacific Northwest has got to be one of the best cruising grounds in the world.
Photo by Allison McIsaac
Advice for Others
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What advice would you give to someone who is interested in starting to sail?
Just go for it! Walk down to the dock, find someone with a boat, ask them to take you out. Do it :)
The common misconceptions about sailing are that it’s too expensive or something you can only do if you’re rich or retired. I thought that when I was younger. I didn’t see any young females sailing!
There are good cheap boats everywhere, you can learn how to sail on them or even live in them! You can sail solo as a young female too, you don’t need a partner to live this lifestyle. I wish younger me knew all of this was possible.
Photo by Allison McIsaac