About Captain Heather
Heather Richard is a US Coast Guard licensed (100 ton) captain for hire. Interested in classic schooners or racing catamarans? Classic teak or modern carbon fiber? A gentle cruise or a foiling fast ride? Learn-to-sail lessons or private coaching? Event spectating, sightseeing, whalewatching, crabbing or swin support on the Bay… Captain Heather is deeply connected to the waterfront community of the California Coast and can find you the right boat and the right experience. Almost every day is a fine day for sailing somewhere, so call or text to discuss the possibilities!
Heather has been sailing since the age of 4. She raced competetively on the Boston University sailing team while earning a BFA in sculpture, and worked on charter boats and in community boating programs in Boston. She has worked for the US Navy in Japan, Sail Carribean Voyages, Olympic Circle Sailing Club (now Inspire Sailing), Modern Sailing School, Schooner Gaslight, Captain Kirks Charters, ACSailingSF, Cruisers Academy, Call of the Sea, Brig Niagara, Spaulding Marine Center, Swim California, SF Efoil and the Saint Francis Yacht Club coaching young sailors.
She currently lives aboard with her three children in a maritime co-op. In the off season she can be found in her floating art studio and is active in her community volunteeering with youth programs and bringing waterfront access to underserved populations. She is a board member of the Spaulding Marine Center and Galilee Harbor Community Association. She is a traditional tall ship and schooner captain as well as a foiling and wing coach. In winter she teaches all-women's and co-ed offshore cruising classes with Brady and Blue of Cruisers Academy in Mexico and manages several private yachts for their owners.
In 2014 she purchased and refit her own vessel “Carodon” to the charter fleet as well as sailing with the America’s Cup Yacht USA 76 and Prosail 40 catamaran “Tomcat”. In winter of 2018-2019 she took her 3 children on a 5000 nautical mile round trip to The Sea of Cortez in Mexico and back, "boatschooling" them along the way. When her middle child gratuated high school and showed an interest in a career as a professional racing sailor and oceanaograoher, she decided to gift him the chance to race the Pacific Cup regatta from California to Hawaii and the mother/son duo successfully finished the Pac Cup, double-handed, in 2024 which was an especially windy year, for which she was granted the 2025 Qualifyer's Mug Award from the Ocean Cruising Club. An article in Flying Fish Magazine recounts that voyage HERE.
After 10 years of successful chartering she sold Carodon in late 2024 and purchased the aluminum performance cruising sloop "Passiflor" in Tahiti. Sailing Passiflor home from Tahiti proved challenging as Heather and her crew lost steerage 700 miles offshore and had to sail back steering with only the sails. She managed to fix Passiflor in Tahiti and sail to Hawaii, dodging hurricane Hilo and eventually landing safely in her homeport of Sausalito, California, but not without significant damage to the boat due to winter storms. The log of her voyage can be found HERE.
This wide range of experience in a huge variety of vessels is rare among sailors, and even more rare among women in this industry. In addition, her safety record and attention to customer service is outstanding. She especially believes in welcoming people of color and populations who have traditionally not had access to sailing to enjoy the water and have a generous dose of vitamin sea!