Holly Scott, a fifth generation native Californian, began sailing as an infant. Her earliest memory of steering the family sailboat was at three years of age. The boat was a wood 16-foot daysailer which her parents trailered to Newport Beach from
Pomona, California. Often, they would camp in
Newport and spend several days sailing around the bay. Her first trip to Catalina Island was at the age of seven aboard the SS Catalina.
By the age of ten, she had her own Sabot, a gift from Santa, and her family had purchased a Holiday 24 and began sailing to Catalina. The three of them visited various coves and especially the town of Avalon. Trips to Avalon go back several generations to the early 1900’s and have continued to the present. Holly enjoyed sailing Alamitos Bay in her Sabot and while she did well at racing, she never really got excited about the racing scene. Her imagination took her to tropical islands and distant shores aboard her sabot and old sailing ships full of crewmembers from exotic places.
By High School, the Scott family had moved up to a Cal 36 and took ever more interesting trips to Catalina and the Channel Islands. They joined Blue Water Cruising Club, which leases Big Geiger Cove on the west end of Catalina and began spending more and more time there.
Holly spent her college years majoring in Industrial Arts and freezing in Gunnison, Colorado. It was there that she realized that her life on the water in California was even better than she thought. She bought her first cruising boat, Catspaw, a Santana 26 from the Sea Scouts at the age of 24 and began a love of restoring boats and sailing them on her own. The learning curve went straight up and when people on the docks began asking her advice on restoration matters, she started her own business, Catspaw Marine Services. It was a hit and kept her busy for 15 years doing repairs, restorations, lessons and consulting. Holly has worked in various aspects of the marine industry since.
In 1997 Holly became the first female commodore of Blue Water Cruising Club in the club's 52 year history. She is a Staff Commodore of the Long Beach/Los Angeles Women's Sailing Association, and is a member of Catalina Island Yacht Club and Long Beach Yacht Club.
In 1999, she earned her 100-ton Master’s License and began skippering the 73’ gaff schooner Dirigo II on charters to Catalina, the Channel Islands and to Ensenada, Mexico. She skippered the schooner to a second place finish in the Mc Nish Classic, a race for traditional wooden vessels. She has also chartered various types of sail and powerboats all over the world with family and for hire. West Marine asked Holly to prepare and skipper the corporate Santa Cruz 40, ProMotion in the 2007 Baja Ha Ha from San Diego to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico and back.
She owned and restored a 1964 Cal 30 Catspaw for 24 years and is upgrading and customizing her current boat, the 1968 Cal 40 Mahalo. She uses Mahalo as a teaching platform and as a way to visit those tropical Islands and distant shores that she dreamed of while sailing her Sabot.
Holly has a way of explaining sailing and especially cruising in a simple and humorous way that puts students at ease and makes learning fun and doable. Remedial sailing for women is her favorite teaching topic. She also organizes and leads chaters for various groups all over the world. It’s a great way to learn while they sail, but some groups just want to enjoy the experience as “Deck Fluff”. Either way, it’s always fun.
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