When I was 10 years old, my family moved to the Gulf Coast of Florida and built a waterfront home. They bought a chandlery and started a yacht charter and sales business. Behind our house was a dock and a boat. In my adolescence, I spent a lot of time on the water and camping on islands. I read the sea-stories of Slocum and Dana, Nordhoff and Lansing, Conrad and O’Brian. I studied charts and dreamed of sailing around the world.

My first job was with a boatyard at 15. At 19, I worked as a captain, sailing for a summer from Marblehead, MA. After graduating from Emory University and a few years in Colorado, I moved to the Pacific Northwest. I got my captain’s license, taught sailing for five years, managed a fleet of boats for ten, and sold boats for fifteen. In between, I raced to Hawaii, skippered charters and delivered yachts.

When I retired, I sold my home to buy the boat that I would live aboard for fourteen years. I went sailing around Central America, the Caribbean, to Hawaii and back to the Pacific Northwest (that’s another story). I now live with my beloved on San Juan Island, near my son and his family, my father and friends. As always, I look forward to more adventures on the water.