We were lucky to catch up with Chris Mulone recently and have shared our conversation below.
Chris, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Naming anything – including a business – is so hard. Right? What’s the story behind how you came up with the name of your brand?
Hold Fast Rigging came from the common saying ‘Hold Fast’ and its significance in the sailing world. As traditional sailors, we wanted to name the company after something other traditional sailors would appreciate! The term ‘Hold Fast’ in the sailing world originated from the Norwegian saying “houd vast”, meaning hold tight. When sailing, the rule is to keep one hand for yourself and one hand on the boat. When someone says ‘hold fast’ you designate both hands for the boat. Typically when walking around a sailboat, the hand you designate to hold on to the boat is holding on to rigging. A common sailor’s tattoo is Hold Fast across the knuckles, it’s the only thing you see when you’re holding on to rigging! Sailboat rigging is the wire and rope that holds up the mast and rigging, it’s our job to make sure those ropes and rigs are the appropriate tightness!
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
Hold Fast Rigging is a sailboat rigging and repair shop. Our specialty is sailboat rigging, Standing and Running. Standing rigging is the wire shrouds that hold up a mast, and Running rigging is the rope that is on a sailboat. We are a small business servicing the Tampa Bay and Bradenton areas located in Salt Creek, downtown St. Pete. We have two captains who can deliver your boat to our wet slip, and two master riggers who will replace your rigging, and then our captains can return your boat to her home slip for you! As the sailing industry is typically pretty leisurely, we strive to keep you updated regularly with pictures and videos of your boat, as well as we only work on one project in our wet slip at a time. This makes our typical rerig average a five day turnover. A safe and timely installation is our number one priority!
How’d you meet your business partner?
I met Bob Wingate when he approached me for sailing lessons on his 34′ Catalina. I quickly learned that he had quite a bit of sailing knowledge, he was actually a live aboard in the process of getting his 100 ton US Coast Guard Captain’s License. We regularly joke about him just looking for a sailing buddy that day. Bob and I spent a day on Tampa Bay sharing stories and enjoying a good sail, and then I went back to work as an independent rigger. A few months later Bob approached me again with an opportunity to go into business together, buying what was formally SSMR. I was familiar with SSMR’s wonderful legacy as they had been rigging in St. Pete for almost 30 years. With the idea of learning from Andrew Cheney, a Master Rigger and Sailor who’s been running these waters for over 45 years, I made the decision to come aboard with Bob!
Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?
My biggest pivot in life was when I decided to live aboard for the first time. I bought and moved onto my Watkins 36′ Center Cockpit in April 2019. While I had been sailing competitively my entire life, I had never made the jump to living on my boat. I was working in the rigging industry and I saw all of the sailors who lived aboard and traveled with their boats and I couldn’t resist. Living on a boat was a drastic change to my every day life. There’s the typical things you would expect to change when making the switch, like a smaller space, accommodating a lack of kitchen, and weather. But I quickly learned there’s much more to it. It is extremely hard to find a wet slip for live aboards in St. Pete. I spent a lot of time docked at the shop where I was working. When I traveled, I learned about some of the realities of pirates in the area. Pirates aren’t always people with eye patches and parrots sailing in the middle of the ocean, but likely other people in your area waiting for you to leave your boat so they can ravage it completely. Not only do they take your belongings, but they also take your safety gear, tools, and equipment to keep your boat safely running.
My longtime girlfriend, Katy, also moved onto my boat with me after some time. This adds a whole new set of challenges and rewards. It taught me a lot of patience, she was from South Dakota and the sailing world was completely new to her. It brought so much joy to us to share my old love with her, and to see her new love for sailing flourish. There aren’t a lot of young sailors in the Tampa Bay Area, and I’m thankful every day that she shares this passion and encourages other young people in the area to make the leap to live aboard even without a strong sailing history. If we can do it, anyone can!
The downsides to living on a boat are almost completely muted by the joy it brings. There so much care that goes into maintaining a sailboat, and to see it reciprocated to you when it houses you, takes you to beautiful places, and keeps you safe during storms is a love like nothing else. Boats can bring so much joy, and I wouldn’t trade my experience living on mine for anything.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.holdfastfla.com
- Instagram: Holdfastriggingfla
- Facebook: holdfastrigging
Image Credits
For the picture of Andrew sailing Kelly- Dennis Kelly Photography 727-581-1512 (picture is from 1990)