SWAMP CHIC: Life as Kermit crew

Published 4:52pm on 2 Oct 2026

For the first time, OWSA's BOAST program this year featured a boat meant to promote women racing on the Columbia -- the newly acquired, green and dainty, Ranger 20: Kermit. 

I was ecstatic.

I only like racing.

I only like small boats and sexy tillers. 

I love how deeply connected I feel to the river when I'm on a ranger.

But five-ish years as an OWSA member and five race clinics later, I was still slow and clunky on foredeck. I was not confident at the helm. I was confused which lines went where. And I was just a bit too shy to invite myself on racing boats.

BOAST was the answer to all my questions. It filled in my knowledge gaps and gave me confidence that only comes with repetitive practice. Weekly races on the same vessel for months built muscle memory. 

Our Ranger 20 Demagogue, excel spreadsheet organizer, teacher and girl crush, Ericka Koss, has an infectious love for the ranger fleet. She worked tirelessly to place racing coaches with us who had a variety of experiences and teaching styles. She connected us to other boats who needed extra crew. She encouraged us to sign up for longer races. And most importantly, she gave us loving pep talks when we each had our moments of feeling like terribly inadequate sailors. 

If a tack goes awry while racing, you lose minutes and (it can feel like) you let down your crew. But on Kermit, there were no disappointments that were bigger than our belief in ourselves as a team. We were slow. We were silly. Sometimes we were downright confused. Sometimes we danced. Sometimes we sang. Our goal was to finish each race and mostly we did just that. We worked so hard to cross the finish line. Last place never felt so luxurious! But even more, our goal was to learn, support each other and try new things. Every mistake was deeply educational. 

We were a crew of six, rotating positions throughout the season, with Ericka supporting us every step of the way. We each got to practice our skipper leadership skills, but we were still a very democratic boat. We constantly talked through strategy and minute-by-minute decisions together. We worked so well as a group on and off the boat. 

This sailing season was a lot of work and it was also so dreamy. Things kept breaking (thank the frog gods for Zumi!) and at times it felt like I was sailing more than I was home! But the boat was also where my favorite summer memories happened: the long-distance race, creating new lifelong friends, becoming part of the ranger fleet and jumping off the boat to take a swim in the river.

I loved it so much! I hope Im not done yet. I will be applying to the BOAST program again next year and hope you do too!

Lots of love,

Nicole Hayden + Kermit Crew