meet your
captain + crew
Captain Barbara USCG Licensed Master, 100-Ton — Sail & Power
There are captains who take the helm. And there are captains who hand it to you and refuse to take it back.
Barbara is the second kind.
The first time she sailed with us, she watched the men on board do what men on boats tend to do — take over, take charge, make themselves indispensable. She watched for about thirty seconds. Then she pointed at the helm and said, in a tone that left no room for negotiation: "It is your boat. Take the helm right now. You can do this. And you will do this today."
She was right. We did. We have ever since.
Born and raised in Germany, Barbara has spent thirty years falling deeper in love with the water — from small boats in Indiana to racing J105s on Lake Michigan to cruising the Caribbean. She has been teaching youth sailing programs for twenty years, has logged more hours on this lake than most people have spent thinking about it, and holds some of the most rigorous certifications available to a civilian captain: USCG 100-Ton Master with Sailing and Towing Endorsements, US Sailing Small Boat Instructor, PADI, FCC Marine Radio Operations.
She is also, by universal agreement, the German mom everyone needs.
What makes Barbara extraordinary isn't the credentials — though they are extraordinary. It's that she teaches the way she sails: with complete faith in what you're capable of before you have any faith in yourself. She believes the water belongs to everyone. She believes access changes people. And she will not let you leave this boat without having proven both of those things to yourself.
She is the reason Field Trip Chicago exists the way it does.
Skipper Angela: Chief Vibe Officer & Curator of Wonder
Skipper Angela has worn a lot of hats in her life—makeup artist, mom, acupuncturist, grad student, diesel engine tinkerer—but the through line has always been curiosity, connection, and a deep love of transformation. She studied math and communication arts in undergrad, minored in French, and spent years traveling, picking up languages and life experience along the way. She freelanced as a makeup artist for Chanel, and later earned her Master of Science in Traditional Oriental Medicine while raising two kids and building a life in Chicago. In 2010, she opened her holistic practice, where she’s been helping people restore balance ever since.
But the story doesn’t stop there.
In 2023, life threw her a curveball in the shape of a 44-foot trimaran—an absolutely wild, beautiful sailboat her family inherited with zero sailing experience to their names. Cue the crash course in boating, engines, solar, and suddenly seeing Chicago from a totally new perspective: the water. Something shifted. The peace, the power, the pure magic of approaching a city by sail—it had to be shared.
That’s how FieldTripChicago was born. It’s a love letter to transformation, to learning as you go, and to seeing the world (and your own city) with fresh eyes.
Come aboard.
Jules: First Mate, Bird Whisperer & Curator of Soulful Vibes
Jules may only be 15, but don’t let his age fool you—he’s been at the helm since he was six. Raised on the breezes of Harbor Springs and the shoreline of Lake Michigan, he learned to sail through Little Traverse Sailors and Columbia Yacht Club’s youth programs, where he fell in love not with speed, but with the rhythm of cruising—the quiet art of moving with the water, not against it.
When he’s not crewing Field Trip Chicago adventures, Jules plays upright bass in the Lincoln Park High School orchestra, rows with the Chicago Rowing Foundation’s Novice Team, and keeps time with the city’s heartbeat through the Merit School of Music’s jazz conservatory. His playlists? Immaculate. His instincts on the water? Impeccable.
But perhaps his most magical gift is with birds. Yes—birds. It’s not uncommon for one to land on his hand mid-sail, like something out of a Studio Ghibli film. We’ve stopped trying to explain it. We just enjoy the magic.
Calm, kind, and quietly observant, Jules brings a grounded presence to every trip. Whether he’s adjusting sails, tuning the music, or just spotting herons along the shoreline, he reminds us that adventure isn’t always loud—it can be soulful, steady, and full of wonder.