Kathleen Wells, lifelong sailor and first woman to command Oyster Sloop Priscilla, dies

When Kathleen Wells died on Feb. 18, her wealth was lost.

Not financial wealth. Her wealth of boating knowledge.

Wells, 76, of Patchogue, a lifelong sailor, was dubbed Capt. Kathie after passing the U.S. Coast Guard master’s exam in 2023. She became the first woman to command the Long Island Maritime Museum’s 1888 Oyster Sloop Priscilla, a national historic landmark. Wearing Priscilla’s navy blue polo shirt and baseball cap, she carried passengers for public sails on the Great South Bay.

"Being out on the water and having the engine cut off and just having the sails flapping and the water lapping, there was just a peace about it," said her partner, Tom Bracken. "She always loved the peace of sailing."

Wells also taught boating safety as a member of the Patchogue Bay Power Squadron and was a past commander of that group.

"She was an indispensable person," current commander Bob Bernstein said. Wells broke through gender barriers in the boating community, Bernstein said. "In the '60s and '70s it was a boys’ club," he said.

Wells died after having open heart surgery, Bracken said.

Wells met Bracken in 2007, after Wells received a Patchogue house in a trust from her late stepfather. Bracken succeeded Wells at her accounting job in Connecticut; while training him for three weeks, they discovered they had unusual things in common.

"We both used to fence when we were kids. We both performed in a Gilbert and Sullivan play when we were kids," Bracken said.

Devoted partners

He asked for her phone number. "Basically, I was driving down here every weekend for seven years," he said. For the first five years they were friends until they each participated in the Methodist Church’s Walk to Emmaus, a three-day prayer and spiritual retreat that women and men attend separately, after which they became devoted partners, he said.

Wells was active in the United Methodist Church, first in Patchogue and then in Bellport. "She loved to help women who were down on their luck," Bracken said. "She has always been an innately good person."

Wells owned a sailboat called Mud Hen and she raced sailboats. She loved animals and at one point the couple owned three dogs and two cats. At the time of Wells’ death, they shared a   Great Dane puppy named Gunnar. After both lost their jobs during the COVID-19 pandemic, the duo opened their own accounting operation, TomKat Business Solutions.

Wells was divorced twice and had one daughter, Amy Kearney, 44, of Connecticut. Wells grew up in Connecticut and Pennsylvania and earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Connecticut in 2001 while working full time and raising Kearney.

"There was nothing she couldn’t do," Kearney said, pointing out that her mother was scuba certified, knew celestial navigation and earned her captain’s license in her 70s.

"To have a captain’s license and own your own boat, you’re in charge of your family and friends," said John Amato, of Bayport, a fellow Priscilla captain and the crew coordinator. "When you take paying passengers, there’s an additional level of responsibility. You are in charge of souls."

At the helm

Priscilla crew members and passengers felt lucky Wells was at the helm during a sail when fog unexpectedly rolled in, said Priscilla crew member Alice Ballan, of Oakdale, and Brian Whittaker, of Bay Shore, a Priscilla captain.

"With complete calm, she fired the engine, called for crew to drop the sails and navigated back. We were all relieved to see land as we motored up," Whittaker said.

In August 2024, Wells volunteered to help teach navigation and seamanship skills to a group of kids taking a weeklong sailing course on Priscilla, said fellow Priscilla captain Robert Campbell, of Smithtown.

"Priscilla has lost a captain, the program has lost a highly qualified instructor, and we have lost a colleague and good friend," Campbell said.

"It’s the world’s loss, believe me," Bracken said of Wells’ death. "At least our little world around here."

In addition to Bracken and Kearney, Wells is survived by a sister, Phyllis Flack, of Patchogue, and brother, Richard Rush, of Pennsylvania. A celebration of Wells’ life is planned for 1 to 3 p.m. on April 19 at the Bellport United Methodist Church, 185 S. Country Rd. Bracken requests that attendees don’t wear black.

By Beth Whitehouse

Special to NewsdayBethWhitehouse1

Beth Whitehouse writes about families, parenting and great things to do with the kids on Long Island. She’s been a Newsday editor and shared a 1997 Newsday staff Pulitzer Prize for coverage of the crash of TWA Flight 800.