Over 10 years of full-time cruising from the Bahamas to French Polynesia, Captain Nina Preuss has mastered the art of keeping a crew fed and happy across 15,000 nautical miles.
As Chief Provisioning Officer on her 42’ S/V Enjoy, Nina has dealt with the challenges of provisioning in remote areas, dealing with limited refrigeration, and managing fresh food across long passages, including the 30 day passage from Costa Rica to French Polynesia. Beyond provisioning, her comprehensive sailing expertise spans fiberglass and sail repair, engine and generator maintenance, watermaker systems, head rebuilds, and the critical weather routing and navigation planning that enabled a decade of successful full-time cruising.
This technical mastery grew from a twenty-year career working with scientific researchers from around the world, before Nina exchanged government corridors for open water. This leap of faith, from a life built on data and structure to one shaped by wind and tide, flows through the core of her storytelling and speaking engagements.
From early days on the US East Coast, Caribbean and Mediterranean, to co-captaining a thirty-day Pacific crossing, her journey parallels her protagonist Captain Nez’s evolution from coastal sailor to ocean navigator. After years of mastering progressively challenging waters, Nina earned her USCG 100 Ton Master license with pride, expanding her expertise from weekend cruising to the complex demands of a 4,000-mile ocean passage.
Her debut novel “Uncharted Waters: From First Mate to Captain of Her Own Life” will be published Spring 2027.
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