Last Friday, Everett’s Single Sailor program took 22 Sailors out to the Methow Valley mountain bike festival for a weekend of off road excitement in Washington’s picturesque Methow Valley near Winthrop.

The trip was part of Everett’s Leisure Services and lasted for three days of high speed cycling fun. But that’s nothing new for Liberty and Outdoor Programs Manager Marijo Umlor. As the head of Everett’s Single Sailor program, Umlor specializes in finding entertaining things for Sailors to do outdoors.

“The purpose of the Single Sailor program is basically to get our Sailors off base and experience what the Pacific Northwest is all about,” said Umlor. “It also gives them a better quality of life so they can enjoy their time here in Everett.”

GM1(SW) Omar Ochoa, Intermediate Maintenance Facility Detachment Everett, was one of the 22 Sailors that took advantage of the Single Sailor program trip last Friday. Before then, Ochoa couldn’t remember the last time he’d pedaled a bike.

“The mountain biking was awesome,” exclaimed Ochoa. “I was stationed on the USS Shoup before this and we were always in and out of port. But I kept telling myself that I wanted to get into some of the outdoor stuff available here but I just didn’t have the time to do it.

“When I transferred to shore duty I had the opportunity and I said, ‘I’m going to try something new,’” said Ochoa. “I went into the [Single Sailor] office and poked my head around. They were playing an extreme mountain biking video so I started asking about it and found out that they do mountain biking trips the first and third Wed. of every month.”

Ochoa signed up for a mountain biking night and has been hooked ever since. He said that the Single Sailor program has given him a chance to do things he’s never been able to before while stationed in Washington.

“The programs here on base are awesome and I’m glad that they’re available,” he said. “They offer a lot more variety than I thought they would when I first walked in there. I had no idea they offered scuba diving certification, mountain biking, hiking or snowboarding trips.”

Mountain biking is only one of the many trips and events that the Single Sailor program offers. All programs are at a discounted military price and usually include a guide, supplies, food and transportation, said Umlor. 

“We offer everything from ski and white water rafting trips to beginner back packing courses and overnight tours of Vancouver,” she said. “In the next few weeks we’re having a day hike to the top of Mt. Forgotten and a trip to a Seattle Seahawks football game.”

Umlor encourages Sailors to take advantage of Single Sailor trips now because if they don’t they won’t be around in the future. With budget cuts anticipated in the future, those programs that aren’t attracting enough interest may be given the axe. Umlor said there are many reasons to sign up for a Single Sailor trip, but the most appealing is the price.

“We do awesome things for cheap prices compared to out in town where’d you pay around $145 for the same sea kayaking course that we offer here on base for $50,” she said.

Single Sailors and geographic bachelors are eligible for all trips offered by the Single Sailor office. Anyone wishing to attend a trip should pre register as soon as possible. If a trip doesn’t have enough people signed up three days before the scheduled date, it’s usually cancelled.

Without taking half their paycheck, Umlor just wants to provide Sailors with a good time and show them what the Northwest is all about.

“This is what we’re here for, to get people away from the everyday life of being a Sailor. I think it’s really important because just like anybody else Sailors need vacations too,” said Umlor. “If you can’t get off the base because you don’t have a car, you never really get a vacation from it even if it’s your day off. I think the Single Sailor program gives you an opportunity to get out and do something different that you wouldn’t have the opportunity to do otherwise.”

For more information about the Single Sailor program and a schedule of upcoming events contact Marijo Umlor at (425) 304-3579 or stop by the Leisure Services Office in The Commons.