For our 2026 season, we’re starting off in Cyprus and heading up to Northern Italy, Croatia, and back to the Aegean for the fall. Our 2026 route is framed by a few races, with cruising in between. We’re looking for crew who are interested in racing, and/or cruising. You don’t have to do both, and we hope to have a good mix of folks throughout the season.
Who Are We
We’re Steve and Olga, a 50’s married couple from Seattle, WA. Steve is originally from New York, and Olga from Russia (way back before the cray-zeeness). We each have grown kids who are on their own, enjoying “our time”. We’re both pretty active, enjoying constant activity, with occasional downtime. So, what better way to have an adventure than to sail the Mediterranean?
After 20 years working in Tech and startups, and building some houses, Steve was ready for a change. Olga is a nurse and was also ready for something different. We took the 2025 season as a retirement year to navigate the Mediterranean on our new-to-us 2023 Excess 14. It was quite the journey, and we had a blast, with friends and some folks we’ve met along the way joining us.
For 2026, Olga wasn’t ready to be on vacation full-time, so she’s back in Seattle working as a nurse, with occasional trips to join Steve. Steve will be aboard, getting another year of sailing across the Mediterranean. Steve is looking for a crew to explore the Mediterranean, cruising, and some racing.
We live and eat “healthy”, enjoying the great foods of Europe. We tend to cook aboard after finding great markets, and go out to enjoy the local cuisine. We don’t smoke and have occasional drinks to relax and enjoy the amazing views. We’ll also find the best ice cream places.
Our Sailing Experience
Steve has been racing in Seattle for over 10 years on J/105s, a King 40, and other boats along the way. He’s worked with amazing crews to gain the experience of the unpredictable. For the last 10+ years, Olga and Steve have chartered boats across the Caribbean, Malta, Greece, the French Polynesian Islands, and, of course, the Pacific Northwest of Seattle. Olga became a fearless and talented crew, taking on the bow for forward sails and anchoring. Steve also crewed on a 1700 Russian replica (Pilgrim) from Seattle to Ketchikan.
In 2025, we purchased the Excess 14 and sailed ~1,800nm from Cyprus, through the Aegean, Ionian, and back to Cyprus. We’ve worked through “Meltemi Tantrums” and enjoyed amazing locations.
To end the Season, Steve joined another Excess 14 and crossed the Atlantic from Las Palmas to St. Lucia before heading back to Seattle for the winter.
Some interesting tracking links since the beginning of 2025:
Our 2026 Sailing Plans
I’ve written up this post for our 2026 Sailing Season Plans. As you can imagine, the first half of the season is more confident than the latter half.
The Boat
Our boat is 3 cabin Excess 14 “performance cruising” catamaran. Some details of the boat are here: Excess 14 Layout – Hull Yeah!
Joining our Crew
We typically start with a planned week to ensure it’s a good fit, and if it is, you’re welcome to stay for longer periods that make sense for our mutual plans.
We have two free cabins that can host a couple or singles. I don’t know if we’d have two couples join, as it just feels more crowded.
If you’re interested, we’d start with a video call to get to know each other and see if it’s a mutual match.
Some bullets:
- Hull Yeah is a non-smoking, non-vaping boat
- We drink socially, when not needing to be on point for sailing
- We like to be active, which includes everything from diving (snorkeling) the anchor, swimming ashore for stern lines, walking, biking, and hiking.
You should:
- like to sail
- want to help with destination planning and research
- be a non-smoker
- like to cook, and be ok with non-vegetarian meals for others aboard
- be comfortable swimming, as we stern tie in some locations
- be good with unstructured plans, between structured plans (open time between getting to planned races)
- be able to join us where we are, and depart where we wind up (there are many ferries across the Mediterranean, so this isn’t really a problem)
- look to help with cleaning
- be a balance of active and casual, ready to jump in when needed, or just as comfortable reading a book
Your Experience
For the cruising sections of our season, no sailing experience is required, although it is helpful. As long as you’re interested in learning, a good communicator, and ready for adventure.
For the racing sections, we would really like experienced racers to join us. If you’ve been with us for the cruising portions and are interested in racing, that’s a possibility as well.
Shared Costs
We ask that you contribute to food, fuel, and marina fees. Boat maintenance items are on us.
Anchorages & Marinas
For 2025, we spent most of our time at Anchor, which was great for the cooler breeze and avoiding expensive marina fees. But we met the most amazing people through Marinas, and the best marinas weren’t very expensive (ok, forget about Turkiye). We found many marinas for €20-€60/night. We’ll make conscious choices about which Marinas we’ll dock at. With a mix of amazing anchorages and Marinas that enable crew to walk ashore at anytime, it’s a better balance to give everyone the flexibility to enjoy their own time.
Are You Ready
If you’re interested, please reach out here. We’ll schedule a video call to meet and see if we’re a match. Prior to March, we’re in Seattle, WA (UTC-8).
Hull Yeah! 