Captain Vicki Staudte

Vicki has been sailing for over 20 years, having learned as an adult, by cruising on 30’+ sailboats on Great Lakes (Superior, Michigan and Huron, with a goal to sail Ontario and Erie. She has also chartered and sailed in exotic locations such as Turkey, Croatia and Tahiti, as well as the northeast and west coasts of the U.S.

Realizing that she wanted more formal training and knowledge, she enrolled in Northern Breezes Sailing School’s Coastal Navigation course and took on-the-water classes in the Twin Cities and Bayfield, WI as well to fill in the knowledge gaps. “I joined Northern Breezes for sailing on monohulls and catamarans in the British Virgin Islands. Thom encouraged me to become a sailing instructor. I found teaching sailing so rewarding that earned my U.S.C.G. Coast Guard Captain’s license, and now spend my summers teaching on Lake Superior.””

When Vicki began sailing she realized it was the perfect companion to diving, so off she went to get PADI-diving certified, doing her first open water diving and off shore sailing in and around Grenada. She’s dived on sailing trips in Tahiti, Croatia, and the British Virgin Islands. As she furthered her sailing to include her ASA instructor certifications and USCG Captain’s license, she also pursued her diving instructor’s certification by hanging out in the BVIs. She prefers warm water diving to that in the Great Lakes, having made over 500 dives in the Bahamas, Mexico (Cozumel & Mahahual), Belize, the Seychelles Islands, Wakatobi, Thailand’s Gulf, the Similian and Surin Islands and northward into Burma, and most recently in the Red Sea from Egypt into Sudan.

In addition to recreational sailing and teaching, Captain Staudte has been racing on Lake Minnetonka and Lake Superior for about 7 years.

TOP