For those of you who don’t know, I enjoy sailing on boats when I’m not working. Yes, I trade 15 hours a day on set for what could end up being 4 hours on watch and 4 hours off watch 24 hours a day for as long as it takes until we reach our destination.

This past week, I sailed on board the Tole Mour during their transit down to San Diego from Los Angeles as part of the Tallships America’s Tallship Challenge race and enjoyed a pleasant respite from Hollywood with the much needed diversion of simply being a deckhand during our 18 hour run via San Clemente Island.

It’s always a welcome change to work with individuals all working towards a common goal, to reach the next destination quickly, efficiently, and most importantly, safely, as it would be impossible to able to handle all the needs of the ship by yourself, we are able to split the responsibilities fairly, and trust each other to keep us safe when we sleep in alternating shifts as crew members are required to sail and navigate the boat 24 hours a day while underway.

Tole Mour is a vessel I’ve worked on many times before, and am always in awe of the permanent crew’s dedication and enthusiasm. I’ve learned many lessons on team management from them, and their commitment to excellence was recognized with the award for fastest actual and corrected times on the run.

As we return to our normal jobs today after the long Labor Day holiday, I am grateful of the camaraderie and hard work that made this country what it is today as I voluntarily accept a responsibility that is more than just the job of sailing the boat, but to also to mentor and encourage fellow crew members, and willingly put my life into their hands as they put theirs in mine as we work together to achieve our common goal of reaching our destination together safely, regardless of how many hours or days we’ve worked without rest or whether it’s my job or someone else’s, and believe that my experience sailing has taught me to be more flexible, adaptable, and better organized when dealing with the ever changing environment that is film production.