JOHN "sean" BOLEBRUCH

John moved to Rockaway in 2009 hoping to foster a deeper connection with water. At first it was the ocean which drew him, but soon enough the bay began to whisper.

From 2012 to 2017 he managed and maintained the fleet of wooden fishing skiffs at Marina 59. Around the same time he acquired a Seidelman 37 sloop that was sailed locally for fun, without an engine no less; thereby putting his true sailing skills to the test. Since then he's twice circumnavigated his Norfolk Oyster sailboat  around the entirety of Long Island.

John grew up in Port Washington NY, located on the north shore of Long Island. Port Washington boasts a strong boating community and a lively harbor known as Manhasset Bay. His experience in boating began at a young age when his father John Sr. propped him up at the helm. Many childhood summers were spent bopping around in dinghies or on extended voyages aboard the families Herreshoff cat ketch 31 "Splash".

Over the next three decades, the continual pursuit of sailing would lead John on many journeys throughout New England, the Caribbean, Mediterranean and especially right here in his own backyard of New York.

John continues to grow Sail Rockaway to further peoples connection to the water in creative, meaningful and fun ways.

SAM JACKSON

Sam Jackson developed his sailing skills from a young age in the waters of Cape Cod, where he excelled racing Optimists and 420s.

As an instructor at Chapoquoit Yacht Club for more than a decade, Sam taught and inspired many students who have since achieved greatness as racers and mariners. After graduating from Colgate University, where he competed on the sailing team, Sam's love of classic racing sailboats led him to a job as crew aboard Nefertiti, a 1960's America's Cup racing yacht docked in Newport, RI.

After moving to NYC, Sam served as Port Captain aboard the Nantucket Lightship WLV-612 in Brooklyn Bridge Park before buying his own classic sailboat, fixing it up and sailing it down the Hudson River to Jamaica Bay at Marina 59.

Sam has been a main instructor for our youth program. We sail, swim, and explore shoresides in Jamaica Bay. 

TYLER DROWN

.Tyler Drown is a mariner who possesses more than a little bit of knowledge for everything sailing and sea oriented. Getting his first taste of sailing in Maine as a youth, Tyler pursued his nautical path that evolved into a passion.

At the age of 17 he built his first boat, the Stephenson Project’s Weekender, a gaff rigged pocket-yacht and several homemade skiffs. Tyler went on to compete as an intercollegiate sailor and serve as Vice President, Regatta Chair, and Alumni Relations Manager of the Drexel Sailing Team.

He quickly found his way into the sailing crews for races and regattas of Long Island Sound and New York Harbor. At the beginning of 2020 Tyler was the Port Captain of the Nantucket Lightship WLV-612 docked in Boston Harbor. Later that year in June 2020 he acquired a permanent workspace at Marina 59 for restoration and repair of classic sailboats, Worthwhile LLC