Living on the water while dreaming of teaching on land

On a sunny Saturday afternoon, Tristan Guess, 25, walked along the Oriental Harbor Village Marina docks to her boat— a 28-foot Sabor, where she lives. Surrounded by over 50 boats, she stood on her deck with a clear sight of the Oriental bridge in the distance.

“Living on a boat is basically like living in a trailer on the water,” Guess said. She’s been a “live-aboard” on Miss Erica, as she calls her boat, while paying it off by dishwashing at M&M’s restaurant and selling hand woven crafts around town. The intricate crafts are made of fishing line and pony beads.

Her end goal is college. She plans to enroll once she catches up on some of her boat’s bills, and hopes to major in childhood development to become a teaching assistant in special education.

She was classified as a special needs kid herself when physicians determined that she had a slower than average pace of learning.

“They originally told Tristan that she wouldn't get further than a third-grade education,” said Scott Guess, her father, who joined us on her boat.

In her experience, Guess said, most people seem to see special needs kids as a burden. “Like they can’t learn,” she said. “Like they can’t function.”

“I had a frustrating time and had a lot of difficulties. But in the end I persevered and did the work,” she said, recounting how, in her Florida school, she would constantly raise her hand and ask teachers to go over the material again and again, in order to comprehend. Her teachers used to give her “busy work,” such as coloring, instead of enforcing the curriculum. Her father, who believed this to be unacceptable, became her advocate, urging her instructors to truly educate her instead. For his part, he also took her to meet a child psychologist.

“I hope to help kids who are like me and raise the standards,” said Guess. “Not only have I been in the system and know from the kids’ perspective, but I feel like I would really fit in there (the Pamlico school system),” she added. “I’ve met some really great teacher's assistants throughout my life. Some of them have shaped me in some way and form.”

Originally from Florida, Guess moved to California when she was 10 years-old. Then, to Pamlico County during the early months of COVID-19.

“Tristan has always had obstacles that she had to overcome with education–with life in general– and she has so much determination to succeed,” said Guess’s father. He suggested she come to live in Oriental in 2020, when she was 20 years-old.

Scott Guess is a boat captain and instructor at Bow to Stern Boating in Oriental. He introduced his daughter to and taught her about boats from a young age. The Guess family has been on the water all of their lives, and found Oriental to be a place that suits their love for sailing.

“I’m definitely a small town girl, boat girl and water girl through and through,” Guess said.

On this day, she sat below deck on her boat, weaving together a beaded duck—a practice that started early for her. Guess, who has “lazy eyes,” which makes it hard to perform certain tasks, like driving, was introduced to craft making by her mother when she was around six years-old. It was a way, her mother thought, of helping her to focus her eyes.

Today, in addition to selling her creations at different vendors, Guess is at the farmer’s market in Oriental every Saturday with her own stand, selling beaded purses, ducks and dragons.

“It just sort of all fell into place,” Guess said when recounting the success she has selling purses, animal-figures and other items made out of beads that she weaves together.

But her dream, she said, is still to stay in Pamlico County and teach.

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