Welcome Aboard!

For over a decade, boating enthusiast Doug Heil has been helping others discover the same love of the water he enjoys. In 1996, he helped start the Martha's Vineyard High School Sailing Program. Shortly thereafter, Doug, a sailing instructor since he was 15 years old, took over as the team's head coach, showing new sailors the ropes (literally) during practices out in Lagoon Pond in Oak Bluffs. Ten years later, Doug and the Vineyarders proudly hosted the biggest competition of the season, High School Team Race Nationals, on-island. Doug hasn't fully hung up his coaching hat, but he has continued to be involved by taking on an even bigger post, President of the New England Scholastic Sailing Association, the governing body of all high school sailing in the region.

These days Doug has launched into a new venture: Last summer, he was approached by the owner of the iconic Harbor View Hotel in Edgartown (the one with the lighthouse as a front yard) to create specially tailored waterfront programs for its guests. Like most things Doug does, he dove in head first and immediately focused his energies on all things aquatic, managing slip space and organizing charters and cruises on the Inn's majestic 1966 Bunker and Ellis picnic yacht, Stardust. The boat is currently in the middle of a three-year restoration, but Doug has no plans to wait until that project is finished before he starts working on the next. With one of the best spots to bounce out into the Sound at his fingertips, he sees an excellent opportunity to create the town's ultimate boating adventures-from kayak tours to motorboat cruises. All we know is that if past experience is any indication, future visitors have a lot to look forward to.