Hi! I’m Captain David Ryan. Welcome to our web site, and welcome to Montauk! Since I’m going to be your host when we go sailing, how about I tell you a little about myself:

I’ve been in and around the water my whole life and I love it. I grew up just blocks away from La Jolla California’s famous Wind’n’Sea beach. My father taught me to surf and skin dive, and his father taught me to fish.

But sailing wasn’t a part of my family’s heritage. That gift came to me from my best friend, when we were both 10 years old, when he taught me to sail over a weekend visit, in a boat not much bigger than a shoebox. That was more than 35 years ago, and since then sailing has become a very important part of my family’s life.

My wife Amelia I have lived in Montauk since 1997. I built my first boat in 1999, and my wife and I took our maiden voyage in the Lil’ Winnie when my wife was pregnant with our first child. As our family grew, the boats grew, and the adventures got bigger. In 2008, when our daughters were 8 and 2 we cruised the Bahamas in a 38′ sloop. In 2010 we visited the Lesser Antilles in the Caribbean.

In 2011 we began construction on S/V Mon Tiki, the first US Coast Guard Inspected Passenger Sailing Vessel built on the East End of Long Island and the only Inspected Sailing Vessel that calls Montauk its home. Mon Tiki was launched in October of 2012, just in time to face the wrath of Hurricane Sandy. (Mon Tiki came through the storm just fine, snug in her berth at Diamond Cove.)

I hold a US Coast Guard Master Captain’s license with a sailing endorsement. I am certified in CPR, AED, First Aid, and am a PADI certified Open Water SCUBA Diver.

Sailing Montauk/Mon Tiki is a family run, community-oriented business. We built Mon Tiki ourselves with a team of local craftsmen. My wife Amelia runs our web site, and I take the photos. This is our life, our livelihood, and our passion. Every day on the water I go a little deeper into my love affair with wind and waves, I learn another lesson, discover something new about the place we call home. I’d like to personally invite you to come sail on Mon Tiki and continue that voyage of discovery with us.

I’d also like to invite you to discover your own personal paradise on the East End. Whether it’s paddleboarding and kayaking in the early morning quiet on Lake Montauk, a lively afternoon sailing on Block Island Sound, surfing our A+ tropical swells in the late summer and early fall, or just taking in one of our picture perfect sunsets, Montauk truly has it all—and we can’t wait to share it with you!