Dustin Allen (Sailor, Technician, Instructor)

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I was the lead marine technician at OCSC in the San Fransisco Bay for years.  I helped take care of an entire fleet of 50+ sailboats (J24s and Catalina 30s, 320s, 36s, J105, Beneteau 37s, 38s, 40s, Hans Christian 43 Christina, a Lagoon 42 Catamaran and some other large boats.)  I learned a lot at OCSC.  I got my captains license along with a multitude of ABYC certifications.  I handled post charter inspections, parts ordering, budgeting, maintenance schedules, small to large repairs, and overall problem solving.  J24 outboard wont start for the guest?  Catalina 30 came back with a blown motor?  Olson 25 crashed into the rocks?  Beneteau 38 lost its mast?  My job was to first get the guest home safe and also to fix the issue with budget in mind.  Any problems that came along were my responsibility.  Rescues and on the water problem solving in stormy conditions were all part of the job.  I took my responsibilities very seriously to ensure safety of myself, my crew, the guest and the clubs asset aka the boats.  OCSC gave me great exposure to many situations and scenarios.  These experiences would ultimately shape me into the confident sailor and experience technician that I am today.  

I also worked for Modern Sailing in the San Fransisco Bay.  I helped take care of Catalina 30s, 320s, Beneteau 38s and 40s, Seawind 1160 Catamaran, a Lagoon 400 Catamaran and a Spencer 1330/44. Our job was to make sure the boats were ready to go sailing in the San Fransisco Bay. Imagine 30+ boats just trying to sink all around you all the time.  A fleet service technician has to know everything about the boat.  We have to know about the engine so it starts for the guest when they come into dock, We have to know about the head so the guest can use it while out on charter.  We have to know about the thru-hulls because they can sink a boat.  We have to know about the bilge pumps and the batteries and the water tanks plus the sails and the rigging plus plus plus and the kitchen sink literally.  I developed my skills and ideology while working at my second sailing school.  

After working for local sailing schools, I decided to go into business for myself.  Thats when I started NorthStar Marine Services.  I had lots of success for many years working on boats for clients.  However, I quickly realized that working on boats constantly can be very hard on your body.  I also realized that my clients wanted to learn how to fix their own boats.  I decided to shift my focus towards doing more consulting, Instructing, brokering, inspecting and surveying.  I decided to pivot and thats when I closed down NorthStar Marine Services and opened up Discover Sailboats.  I am now able to help others become capable technicians and confident sailors.  That is what it's all about for me and I love helping people just like you realize their dreams.  

As soon as I could hold a wrench I was in the garage with my uncle (a top level mechanic) learning how to work on old muscle cars (1969 corvette, 1970 SS Chevelle, 1955 Chevys and many more.) We also always had dirt bikes, quads, jetski's and wakeboard boats growing up as well so I learned to work on those.  My brother is also a serious mechanic.  He's got a pair of C6 corvettes all set up for drifting and those things are insanely fast.  Over the years I learned engine swaps, painting, electrical and everything in between.  Learning from experts and owning a lot of different vehicles myself really helped develop my mechanical expertise.  Once you have the confidence to work on one machine, its pretty easy to transfer over to other mechanical machines.  With over 20 years as a mechanic, I can confidently say "I can fix just about anything".

Back in 2016 I moved out to the midwest and spent some time with my Aunt helping her build a few condos.  Through that process, I learned a lot about home renovation, electrical, carpentry and all the skills it takes to rebuild/remodel a house.  These skills became very valuable when I started working on Sailboats.  Sailboats are like a home and a vehicle all in one.  

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Ask me about them anytime