ABOUT ALL ABOARD NOLA
Sailing is an ancient birthright for all humans. Unfortunately, in modern times, sailing can feel as though it's not for everyone. The vessels can be expensive, the yacht clubs can be a less-than welcoming place, and even the history of sailing ships can be very loaded, in particular for those whose historical association with sailing includes slavery, conquest, or colonialism. All Aboard NOLA seeks to change that, one charter at a time.
We at All Aboard NOLA are thrilled to share with you what we love to do most: sail and watch sunsets, to commune together, and to learn and relax. Our tours will promote the cultural, social, and ecological well-being of our community. Misogyny, racism, and homophobia have no place on the Mai Tai Two. All passengers will be treated with respect and addressed by their preferred pronouns.
OUR MISSION
Capt. David and his partners decided to restore a beautiful old ketch—a stunning boat that had been neglected for a while—and bring her from Morgan City, Louisiana, back to to New Orleans, to provide inclusive, respectful, and progressive-minded sailors an intersection with the many communities that have experienced little outreach from the sailing community.
The vessel, while fundamentally sound, sat in a hot Cajun country sun for many years. David and his team have been hard at work since February to prepare the boat for her next adventure.
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The Mai Tai Two will be ready to begin tours
in late
2020.
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#ALLABOARDNOLA
FEATURED PACKAGE | TRUELOVE
TEMPORARY HIATUS FOR MAINTENANCE PERIOD​
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Hey everybody, we have to take a couple weeks off to perform fall maintenance on the _TrueLove_. Captain Peragine and Captain Lewis will be taking her around 24 miles to the North Shore to have her hauled and surveyed, and will be sure to post a video of that process! A fifty-year old boat needs a certain amount of time and work to keep her going, but we'll let you know as soon as we have her back in service. Happy Halloween, and in the meantime, be sure to check out our new "Services" page!
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MEET THE CAPTAINS
CAPTAIN DAVID LEWIS
Having served in the U.S. Navy, worked commercial boats on the Mississippi River after Hurricane Katrina, guided fishing charters, and worked as crew on several tall ships (including the schooners Amistad (New Haven, CT) and Alliance (Yorktown, VA), working on the water has been a life-long passion for Captain Lewis, who bought the battered Formosa ketch Mai Tai Two in 2018. He spent a year working her back into shape in Patterson, Louisiana, before piloting her back to New Orleans last February. He has a passion for the poetry of rigging, boatswainry, and seamanship, but exposure to society's foibles as a longtime journalist dove his idea for a sailing charter company positioned to serve those communities long excluded from the sailing world. Captain Lewis's dream is to run the Mai Tai Two as a charter vessel for half the year and as a sail training ship for students in the remaining months.
USCG-Licensed Merchant Mariner, Master
USCG-Licensed Merchant Mariner, Master
With more than 50 years; experience behind the helm, Captain Peragine brings a tremendous amount of energy and expertise to All Aboard NOLA. A New Orleans native, he grew up racing catboats and gaff-rigged fishboats on Lake Pontchartrain and in the Mississippi Sound, and competed in the world-famous Bermuda races on numerous occasions. Later, he moved to the Pacific Northwest, and spent 35 years there, sailing the Straits of Juan de Fuca and on Puget Sound, before buying the Morgan sloop _TrueLove_. Re-rigging her as a yawl, he sailed her down the West Coast from Seattle, was becalmed for 14 days (!) and boarded by the Ecuadorian military (!!) before passing east through the Panama Canal and making his way home to New Orleans. He and Captain Lewis have made several voyages of note into the Mississippi Sound on _TrueLove_, exploring the Gulf Coast barrier islands and reveling in the old mysteries of sailing.
CAPTAIN CHRISTOPHER PERAGINE
CONTACT US
504-444-5776
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