Wind In Her Sails

When Martha LaGuardia-Kotite heads to the beach, she doesn’t just see the beauty in the vibrant waters of the Gulf. She hears its music.

Those waters, clear and inviting, mysterious and calming, are a haven LaGuardia-Kotite knows well. She grew up in Destin when “it was just a sleepy fishing village,” she recalls. Her dad taught her how to sail. The sun and beach became her sanctuary.

LaGuardia-Kotite is 60 now. She is fine to look over her shoulder at where that love of the ocean has taken her but only briefly. She’s self-confident, driven, and a motivating force currently on a mission to raise awareness about the health of the ocean and how it connects every living thing.

She wants to save the ocean, and in turn, save us all.

When LaGuardia-Kotite was a senior in high school, tragedy struck her family and changed her life. Her brother Charles, who was two years older, died. After his funeral, the family spread his ashes at sea. In the emotion of losing her brother, LaGuardia-Kotite made a decision. “I wanted to live a life that made a difference,” she says. She wanted a life committed to saving lives.

To spark independence, LaGuardia-Kotite’s father was headstrong about not paying for college. A World War II veteran who grew up during the Great Depression, “He knew we could work for whatever we needed,” she says. So, she applied to military academies but wasn’t accepted. Undaunted, LaGuardia-Kotite spent her first year of college at Auburn in their Naval ROTC program. 

But she didn’t give up on the academies and was drawn in particular to the Coast Guard Academy, where more jobs are open to women. “If you qualify, you can do it,” she says. “Whether it’s at sea, in the air, or in operations ashore,” she adds.

On her second attempt, she succeeded and found a home in the Coast Guard. It was there she found herself surrounded by people with similar passions to make a difference, save lives, and protect the environment. “It wasn’t easy, but I graduated,” she says.

In the Coast Guard, LaGuardia-Kotite elevated to the rank of captain and became one of the first women to serve on ships with all-male crews. In 10 years of active duty, she saw two tours at sea leading teams—mostly men—on missions patrolling the Pacific Ocean. On another tour, she served as the executive officer and only woman aboard a 110-foot patrol boat that operated in the Atlantic.

Her assignments also covered law enforcement, joint operations, and search and rescue. She saw plenty of ocean with stints in Hawaii, the Pacific Northwest, Alaska, the West Coast of North America, Key West, and New York.

In 1999, LaGuardia-Kotite transitioned to the reserves and moved from Seattle to New York City. As a single mother with one son, she worked in public relations for a technology firm with clients such as IBM. In the Coast Guard Reserves, she served as a contingency planner after 9/11 and helped manage operations in critical events such as the 2010 Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and the Haitian earthquake. She became the press secretary for the commandant of the Coast Guard, the top government official for the service branch.

“It was always my dream to be a storyteller as a spokesman for the Coast Guard,” LaGuardia-Kotite says. So when the commandant asked her to be his press secretary, she moved from the reserves back to active duty. 

“That was unheard of,” she adds. “I don’t know if anyone has ever done that before.” 

LaGuardia-Kotite has been awarded the Meritorious Service Medal, six Commendation Medals, and three Achievement Medals. She holds the highest national incident management certification and served as a liaison to FEMA. And she is trained in Applied Suicide Intervention Skills. Not to mention she found time to earn a Master of Liberal Arts Degree in Journalism from Harvard University.

Since leaving the Coast Guard, LaGuardia-Kotite has carried on her love of storytelling. She has published five books, with another set to publish in 2027, highlighting Coast Guard aviation rescue stories. She also has a “military thriller” in the works, her first work of fiction. 

Martha LaGuardia-Kotite’s life and journey make her a popular motivational speaker at military functions, Fortune 500 company events, and TEDx gatherings. In March, she delivered a TEDx presentation in Sarasota: “Let’s save the ocean’s superpower.” 

The talk developed from an excursion to Antarctica where she was driving a zodiac boat. She describes how before the expedition, she thought of Antarctica as an idea, an edge of the world, a distant place. But that soon changed. 

“Standing on my Zodiac in the Southern Ocean, I realized this place is not remote at all. When I turned off the engine, I listened to Antarctica, and I understood how close we are to it,” she says.

After a lifetime of living and exploring, on ocean after ocean, on boats that would dwarf any sailboat, LaGuardia-Kotite moved back to Northwest Florida several years ago. She found a new world beyond the fishing village.

“This is the right place for me,” she says adamantly. And it’s not only beauty she sees now when she goes to the beach.

“The music is the ocean,” she says proudly. “It’s the sound of the wind, the sound of the waves, and the birds going by,” she added, her voice trailing off. 

And in the back of her mind, she says she is thinking, “How can I get a little sailboat?”  

Feature image by Mike Fender