Member Spotlight: Eoin Keyes | He Dreams and Does. Boat owner, Surfer & so much more.

Every other week we publish one in-depth story from an Ocean Nomads member. To learn more about each other, to learn from each other, inspire and be inspired, and to accelerate our adventures.

This week we shine a light on Eoin Keyes. He just refitted his own boat, budget and resourcefulness style, he’s been captaining one of our flotillas, and he’s a fanatic surfer. He dreams and he does. Let his story inspire you!

Read the full interview and connect with Eoin inside the Ocean Nomads network.

About Eoin

Relaxed, confident, hard-working, logical, impatient. Eoin is the living proof you don’t need to be rich to live your dream life.

Eoin threw himself into sailing 100 percent in 2016 with very little experience, and since then turned it into a lifestyle and career, gaining experience and qualifications along the way.

• Originally from: Ireland
• Basecamp at the time: Wicklow, Ireland
• Outdoor and ocean sports: sailing, surfing, white water kayaking
• Favourite ocean film: Laura Dekker’s documentary, about her trip as the youngest person to sail around the world singlehanded
• Big life dream: to keep my life revolving around the outdoors and sailing, surfing and kayaking as much as possible

What’s your story?

This is a difficult one because it changes so often! I recently started a job with the Vikings TV show. I spend my days driving Viking longships around some lakes in Ireland, and shipping the boats between different locations. Over the last few years, I’ve worked as a sailboat skipper and engineer, lived on board my own boat, and taken a lot of time off between jobs to go on different sailing trips.

When and how did you fall in love with the ocean?

For me, the stand-out moment was the first time I stood up on a surfboard at the age of twelve. I still remember it vividly, and it sparked a passion that I’ve felt strongly ever since.

What was your first multiple-day sailing adventure?

It was a remarkably Irish weekend adventure to a good pub. Not the most hard-core sailing trip of all time, but definitely one of the most fun! We sailed on a little Beneteau from Fenit on a Saturday morning towards the tiny village of Smerwick harbour, where the pub has a reputation for an excellent atmosphere. We arrived in the evening, anchored just off the pier and rowed to shore in a tiny, heavily overloaded inflatable dinghy. After a lot of dancing we squeezed back into the dinghy, now dangerously unstable thanks to the impaired coordination of the crew, and rowed back to the ship. The most memorable part of the whole trip was the phosphorescence which we saw in the water on the row back. It gets very intense in Ireland at that time of year and the conditions at the time were perfect! The next morning we set sail towards Fenit again, and I learned how not to use a marine toilet when I tried to pump it with a seacock shut and blew a hose off. One of the crew was handy with fixing stuff so I escaped cleaning up the resulting pool. I think karma has definitely paid me back in kind over the last few years, being the designated toilet guy on sailing flotillas!

Why and how did you decide to become a boat owner?

Owning a boat was kind of a far-off dream, but in the end it happened because everything fell into place and it just felt right at the time. I originally left the rat race and office job to go surfing, and I travelled and surfed until I ran low on money. I started working on sailing boats after that because it sounded like a more fun way of earning some cash than sitting in an office. When I left the first sailing job I had some cash saved up again, and someone offered me a spot on a round-the-world sailing trip. I jumped at the chance and the next spring I was setting sail along the south coast of England on a Prout Snowgoose catamaran with three people and two German shepherds on board! I had been assured before I joined that the dogs were boat trained and comfortable with sailing and that turned out to be 100 percent not true! Instead of using a designated area of aft deck as a toilet like they were supposed to, they would hold it in for as long as possible and then take a massive dump in the boat owner’s cabin. They were also uncomfortable whenever the boat was at sea, so instead of skipping down to the Mediterranean in a series of multi-day voyages as planned, we were reduced to just day-sailing our way down the English coast and across the channel. Admittedly we had an amazing time exploring the Channel Islands along the way, but things obviously weren’t working and when we reached Les Sables d’Olonne in France a few weeks later the boat owner finally called it quits. I was basically abandoned in Les Sables d’Olonne, but luckily was able to put my new-found “offshore unsupervised night-watch” experience to use on a crew website, and found a delivery going from Gibraltar to the UK which would pay for my flights from France and back to Ireland afterwards. Sorted!

While on that voyage across the Bay of Biscay I had time to think about what I was going to do next. Since I was a little surf-mad kid I had always thought it would be nice to do a surf trip up the west coast of Ireland on a sailing boat. With a year of boat maintenance experience under my belt, some offshore experience, some cash saved and an open diary ahead of me, everything seemed right to go for it. I started looking at the for-sale websites, searching for the Goldilocks boat which was cheap, in suitable condition to launch immediately and capable of doing some serious offshore miles in the future. Most of the boats in my price range were little Hunters and Pandoras, in questionable condition and missing essentials like engines and sails. They were boats which would be fun to sail but not really suitable for sailing any great distances in. Somewhere in this mix of boats a Hurley 22 popped up, somehow ticking the boxes for budget and sail-away condition. I started researching the Hurley 22 online and when I came across stories of Atlantic crossings, Jester challenges and Pacific cruising I fell in love. Before I even got back to Ireland I got my parents, who have never sailed in their lives, to go to the boat and look at a few things for me. Condition-wise the boat seemed okay, and before I had even arrived in Ireland I had agreed to buy it! I was delighted, and about a week later I launched and was living aboard and exploring Ireland’s south-west from a whole new perspective.

Tell us about your boat!

My boat is a 1969 Hurley 22. They’re solid little boats with a remarkable history of ocean crossings and long-distance cruising. I have owned her for about two and a half years, and usually spend a couple of months over the summer cruising around and living on board. Unfortunately this year Covid delayed a major refit I was doing and I only finally launched her a few weeks ago. My goal for the whole refit was to make her as strong as possible and as reliable as possible. I’ve reinforced the structure and simplified the systems as much as I can, for example by removing the engine and replacing the winches with 2:1 purchase systems. A lot of the modifications I’ve made are quite unconventional, such as Dyneema rigging with glassed on composite chainplates, fibreglass stanchions, removing the engine, removing the toilet, sink and all associated seacocks, fiberglass rudder tube, backup dyneema outer forestay. I don’t have any destinations in mind just yet, but I’m trying to make her capable of going anywhere.

I’ve also allowed myself to have a bit of fun with the modifications, so now she’s got an IMOCA-inspired carbon bowsprit and very loud painted black and luminous green sails. It’s not exactly understated! I’ve already had some very confused people come up to me soon after docking asking if it’s a race boat, so mission accomplished!

What has been one of the greatest and one of the worst moments of your ocean nomads life so far?

There have been too many good moments to pick one, and no genuine bad ones. As corny as it sounds, the highlights are definitely some of the people I’ve met along the way. People who have travelled a long way on a tiny budget but with tonnes of guts, resourcefulness and determination. The times I’ve said “what on earth am I doing here” the most are definitely when bad weather shows up unexpectedly in the early hours of the morning on flotillas in Greece. You’re responsible for thirteen boats and the crews have barely sailed before. The phrase “character building” comes to mind!!

Reflections

What advice do you have for someone looking to own a boat or start liveaboard life?

Just do it!! There will always be 101 valid reasons not to do it. If you analyse it from a practical, logical point of view it’s a stupid idea, no matter how experienced, uncommitted or rich you are. But doing it will bring you closer to the ocean, closer to like-minded people and will open doors in the future that are impossible to predict right now. Just do it, and set your life down that path.

Read more advice, tips, and reflections from Eoin in the full interview story inside the Ocean Nomads network. Find answers to questions like:

• What are some of the most important skills he developed?
• A price breakdown of the boat and costs
• How is he balancing his time with earning income, sailing, boat works and chasing dreams? And what are the struggles?
• What are his tips on keeping the budget low? Which skills and tricks have saved him from spending lots of money?
• What was his sailing (and other relevant) experience before he bought his boat?
• What did he do to prepare before sailing away?
• What characteristics did his boat need to have? And why?
• Does he take on crew?
• What are the skills and traits he appreciates most from (potential) crew?
• Knowing what he knows now, what would he have done differently if he had to do it again?

And much more words of wisdom from this dreamer and doer! Thanks so much for sharing your story Eoin! We’re proud to have you part of our family.

Follow, connect and share: Eoin is @sail.surf.paddle on Instagram.

Eoin as Ocean Nomads skipper, 2023

Three years later Eoin skippered for us again, on the OceanMinded and Ocean Nomads fleet. We asked him a few more ocean questions.

Eoin! What’s your story?

I grew up in Limerick, Ireland, and was involved in outdoor sports from a young age. For as long as I can remember, I’ve been surfing, hiking, camping, and spending as much time as possible outdoors. I got involved in kayaking in a big way when I was a teenager and started traveling a lot, spending my summers on road trips across Europe to discover new rivers and work as a raft guide and kayaking instructor. Entering kayaking competitions was an excellent excuse to go traveling and see new places, but working in an office so that I could go on kayaking trips on my holidays got boring pretty fast. I wanted to kayak full-time, but kayaking just doesn’t have the industry behind it to allow that kind of thing. I discovered sailing in 2015 when I started crewing on boats in local regattas. I loved the buzz of racing, and immediately saw the potential alternative to the 9-5 engineering job that I was doing at the time.

I quit the office job and moved to Greece, where a company taught me to fix boats before putting me out on the water as a flotilla engineer, living on a little 30ft lead boat and doing all the maintenance on a flotilla of twelve charter yachts. I did that job for over a year before leaving to do some delivery work and then bought my own boat (a 1969 Hurley 22) and spent a summer sailing solo on the west coast of Ireland and crewing in as many regattas as I could. After that, I started working as a skipper, starting as a flotilla skipper in Greece and then spending the winter in the Caribbean doing engineering and skippering work for a small charter company. I also did some jobs in Croatia and Ireland, whenever the funds were running low. Since then, I’ve spent three months sailing with friends around Spain, Portugal and Morocco and did another three months of solo sailing in Ireland. It’s starting to get pretty cold and wet in Ireland now, so here I am, following the sun for another season.

The ocean is the boss; if it’s calm, it’s time to go freediving; if there’s wind, it’s time to go sailing; if it’s too rough to sail, then there’s probably surf somewhere.

Eoin Keyes

Why are you excited about joining the OceanMinded and Ocean Nomads fleet?

After seeing ocean pollution firsthand, witnessing the total lack of sub-marine life in certain areas, and the continuing destruction of what remains in others, I am looking forward to spending time with people who are passionate about solving these issues. Hopefully, people who enjoy the simple life, and value sights and experiences over luxury.

I am looking forward to being out of phone signal for days at a time, disconnecting from the online world. Life revolving around the absolute basics of ‘when am I on watch again’ and ‘what is my next meal going to be.’ These days, offshore sailing is an almost unique opportunity to escape the constant flow of Facebook updates and Instagram stories for days at a time. Yes, I know I could turn my phone off more often, but I lack the self-discipline, and I enjoy seeing what my friends around the world are up to!

Why are you passionate about sailing?

Sailing offers the chance to travel to amazing places in relative comfort with surfboards and other toys, like a camper van but causing no pollution and not spending loads of money on fuel, tax, and insurance. Yacht racing is a high adrenaline buzz and offers great satisfaction when you get a whole crew of people working seamlessly together. And jobs on boats tend to be in amazing sunny places where you get to meet lots of like-minded people and have fun together. I can’t think of any other activity which combines so many amazing qualities so closely together.

What has been one of your most epic sailing adventures thus far?

In April this year, I was put in touch with a friend of a friend who lives on board an old 33ft steel cruising boat. At the time she was in Portugal and was looking for some people to go sailing with her. I and one of my best friends who had never sailed before went and spent the next couple of months sailing with a crew of five amazing young people from Portugal, Spain, and Morocco. We had our share of ups and downs along the way, including contrary weather around the straits of Gibraltar and getting caught in fishing nets along the west coast of Morocco. Still, everyone on board had a great attitude when things went wrong. The rough times were made up for by surfing, hiking, and the Moroccan people we met along the way. Around the straits, we saw more whales, dolphins, turtles, sunfish, bioluminescent jellyfish, and tuna than I’ve ever seen before. In Assilah, we saw commercial swordfish and tuna fishing on a horrifying scale that I wouldn’t have believed possible. It was a trip of so many contrasts and intense, unique experiences that it will hold a special place in my memory for a long time. There are many more stories from that trip I’ll save for night watches somewhere between Gibraltar and the Canaries; see you there!

What does the ocean mean to you?

The ocean is life! The ocean is my means of transport, accommodation, sustenance, employment, entertainment. For a long time now, it’s been at the core of everything I do. The ocean is the boss; if it’s calm, it’s time to go freediving; if there’s wind, it’s time to go sailing; if it’s too rough to sail, then there’s probably surf somewhere. If you want to go west and that’s where the wind is coming from, well, you had better have some good books on board because there’s no point fighting it. There’s no point making plans and then getting stressed because they’re not working out. You do that a few times before realizing that there’s no point making solid plans because they’re just going to change anyway. Better to give yourself options; wake up in the morning, stick your head out of the boat and see what the ocean is telling you to do. If you keep doing that, there’s no knowing where you’ll end up, or what adventures you’ll have along the way.

What’s your wildest ocean-related dream that you would love to experience in your lifetime?

Solo offshore racing! I love racing, and I love sailing solo. Someday I would love to combine the two and enter the Mini Transat race or something like that. It’s not that I don’t enjoy crewed sailing too, but the feeling of independence that you get from sailing solo is pretty special. And entering a singlehanded race is something that I’m not sure I’ll ever have the funds to do.

Would you like to share your story? Become a member and reach out. By sharing your story you encourage, inform and inspire others towards a more adventurous and conscious lifestyle, and you show the Ocean Nomads community your personal adventure and impact projects.

Come sail with us. 💙