Story
Captain’s Story
My journey to becoming a sailor started when I was 10 years old, back in 1975. One of my mom’s friends owned a sailboat, and I was invited to go sailing. We left from King Harbor in Redondo Beach, California. I remember being excited and a little scared, going out on the ocean, but completely fascinated. The thing that I remember most on the sailboat was the knot meter—a circular instrument that was located near the companionway. As the boat picked up speed and the heeling angle increased with the building wind, the knot meter numbers would climb. Around five knots at first, then faster. For a 10-year-old, it felt absolutely incredible—literally flying across the ocean under sail.
Many years later, in my late 20s, around 1991, that memory came rushing back. I spotted a small sailboat on a trailer with a “for sale” sign, parked in a residential neighborhood in front of a house in Manhattan Beach. It reminded me instantly of that first sail many years ago.
I parked my truck, walked around the sailboat sitting on its trailer, and I was just drawn to it. Looking back, I think I was more drawn to the memory I had as a child sailing out of King Harbor that one memorable day. I walked up to the door, knocked, met the owner of the sailboat, and bought it—cash, right there on the spot, no negotiating. At that point, my sailing knowledge amounted to one memory from when I was ten, and all I wanted to do was feel that same childlike sense of excitement and wonder from that amazing day on the water.
The mast was stored in the down position, lying horizontally across the top of the boat, and the boat was completely derigged. I had no sailing or rigging knowledge, and no prior instruction at all. I did, however, own a truck and knew how to tow a trailer, so I towed the boat to the Marina del Rey launch ramp parking area, taking city streets instead of the freeway and even got a flat tire on the way. I jacked up the trailer and the boat, took the wheel off, disconnected the trailer from the truck, and went to purchase a new wheel and tire. I installed it and continued on to Marina del Rey—an unusual pre-sail setback: changing a tire. I was determined to figure out how to rig this boat, launch it, and get it out on the water, not to mention figure out how to sail. I was really excited about the huge challenge in front of me. If sailing had been a simple task, I probably would have lost interest quickly. I came from a construction background and knew many trades. I had even built large commercial airplanes as a structures mechanic. I was also very mechanically inclined, so I was able to figure out how to raise the mast, set all the shrouds, backstay, and headstay, attach the mainsail, the headsail, and all the sheets, get the boat launched, and tie it to the dock. I did all of this single-handed.
Once out on the water, I was terrified—mostly because I had no idea what I was doing. I didn’t know if there were rules I was supposed to follow, like traffic on the road. I didn’t know how to sail, and I wasn’t confident in how anything worked. I was just figuring it out on the fly.
Motoring through the harbor with the mainsail up, I fumbled through tacks up the channel. At one point, I hoisted the headsail. The boat leaned hard, picked up speed, and I found myself aiming straight for the rocks. At the last second, I tacked—without even really knowing how to tack—and I survived. This was quite possibly the very worst way to learn how to sail, and it’s exactly what I did.
That’s right, I kept returning to the launch ramp in Marina del Rey. Towing the boat, rigging it, launching it, and trying sailing again, over and over. Eventually, I admitted to myself that I needed proper sailing instruction. My first experience with a sailing school was very disappointing. Considering that I had already purchased a boat, towed it many times to the launch ramp, rigged it, put sails on, and took the vessel out, I felt like I just needed help understanding what I was doing wrong. Eventually, I found another school that gave me a solid foundation and real, practical instruction.
I started sailing before GPS was widely available, so my foundation in navigation was built on traditional methods—dead reckoning, chart work, and navigating by landmarks, bearings, and visual reference. I used GPS for the first time in 1999 when I crossed the Pacific from California to Hawaii, using a basic Garmin 12 that only provided latitude and longitude, allowing me to plot a daily GPS fix on a small-scale chart to confirm that my dead reckoning was accurate.
At this point, I started to excel in both knowledge and skill and was invited to go racing on Wednesday nights. That’s where my learning really accelerated. Racing taught me efficiency, sail trim, boat handling, rules of the road, crew coordination, and decision-making at a much higher level. I raced for about three years—not just Wednesday nights, but in local races all over Southern California. I pretty much didn’t miss a race during that time. While doing that, I also began moving into overnight trips and weekend sailing on my own smaller sailboats, and started doing some deliveries on other people’s boats. During those years, I continued upgrading boats—selling my first one and stepping into larger, more capable, and more complex vessels. With each boat came more sophisticated onboard systems and broader horizons that come with owning a larger boat, along with continued experience.
After several years sailing, covering many miles, and owning multiple boats, an opportunity came along that changed everything. A dock neighbor had just purchased a powerboat and asked if he could pay me to take it from Marina del Rey to Puerto Vallarta, about 1,300 miles. That was my first paid captain’s job. Somewhere along that trip, off the coast of Baja, Mexico, it clicked that I could actually make a living doing the thing I had learned to love the most—being on the ocean and discovering new places by boat.
By that point, I had logged more than enough sea time to qualify for a captain’s license, with years of experience on five different boats I had owned and many deliveries under my belt. I earned my captain’s license and began working professionally on the water.
I started a day sailing charter business on a 40-foot, 24-passenger sailing catamaran, running snorkeling trips and sunset cruises based out of Catalina Island. I also operated shore boats in Avalon, picking up passengers from moored or anchored vessels, as well as transferring passengers from anchored cruise ships to shore and back.
From there, I began teaching sailing in Marina del Rey, instructing ASA 101, 103, and 104 courses, and later became a captain on a high-speed passenger ferry running between Marina del Rey and Catalina Island. I started with the company as a backup captain, working part-time, and in a short period of time became vice president of that company, overseeing vessel operations, including maintenance, crew placement, scheduling, and all aspects of running the boat.
While working in that role, I was also responsible for working with the United States Coast Guard in regard to inspections and regulatory compliance associated with operating a Coast Guard-inspected vessel. I designed safety equipment, developed man-overboard procedures and drills, and trained the crew in my man-overboard system. During one inspection, I was told by the lead Coast Guard inspector that the system I had designed and demonstrated was the best he had seen in his entire career.
Years later, I was hired as a captain for a whale watching company, where I ran all five of their Coast Guard-inspected vessels and served as lead captain for four years. Depending on the season, I conducted two to three whale watching trips per day on vessels carrying up to 149 passengers.
Throughout those years, I encountered an incredible range of marine life—blue whales, fin whales, humpback whales, gray whales, minke whales, and many other species. There were times when we would simply shut the engines down and drift, surrounded by whales, watching them in complete awe.
One moment I’ll never forget was being surrounded by 19 blue whales at once—the largest animals on the planet. It was an absolutely incredible experience. That time on the water gave me a deep appreciation for marine life and the ecosystem we’re all a part of.
Around that time, I expanded my qualifications as an American Sailing Association instructor, adding the ASA 105 course to the classes I was already teaching. Although I enjoyed my time whale watching, my true passion has always been sailing. Teaching sailing full-time is something I’ve always wanted to do. I’ve also always wanted to own my own sailing school, and it has remained a consistent goal throughout my career.
Over the past 34 years, I have sailed countless miles on both sail and power vessels of all types, from my own boats to privately owned vessels and commercial vessels where I served as a U.S. Coast Guard licensed captain—totaling approximately 250,000 miles at sea.
Eventually, I transitioned into full-time marine repair while continuing to teach privately and keep my captain’s license active through deliveries and sea time. My mechanical business grew, and with it came the opportunity to own and work on larger, more capable boats.
When my daughter was fourteen, I began planning to sail full-time. I wanted to live aboard and sail around the world, but I waited until she finished school. Later, life took a different turn—I got married and had two sons, and my wife and I decided to raise our children on the water, living aboard and exploring the world by sail. Similar to my own experience years earlier, when I bought a boat with no sailing knowledge, she agreed to set out on this journey having never sailed before.
I spent five years restoring a 51-foot Formosa ketch that I had purchased. It was a solid, capable cruising vessel and the perfect platform for what we were about to do. During the time we owned and refit that boat, we completed over 70 multi-day trips ranging from three to seven days, along with countless day sails. It became our home, and my sons grew up on that boat, learning to sail at a young age and gaining real-world experience on the water. We even marked their height on the mast as they grew, similar to how people mark their children’s growth on a doorjamb. Those years were filled with hands-on learning, adventure, and the kind of experiences that only come from living aboard and going to sea regularly.
Eventually, after a significant life change, I sold that boat and moved into an Amel Super Maramu 2000—a 53-foot vessel I chose for its safety, reliability, and ability to be sailed single-handed. This boat was specifically designed to be sailed around the world. At the time, my sons were still young, and I needed a boat that I could manage on my own if needed. They were a big help on board, but they were only nine and ten years old.
I continued teaching, working on boats, and helping clients as a yacht broker and buyer’s agent. Over the years, I’ve completed deliveries along the West Coast and East Coast of North America, as well as the Caribbean, the Bahamas, and Mexico. I have captained charter boats in Tahiti as well as the Caribbean. I’ve crossed the Pacific from California to Hawaii and have traveled internationally to assist clients with vessel purchases and outfitting boats for world cruising.
Throughout my life, sailing has been a constant passion. I’ve spent decades learning, gaining experience, and sharing that knowledge with others. I have never stopped learning throughout my entire career, and I continue to seek out new knowledge and improve my skills on a regular basis. To me, sailing and cruising represent one of the best ways to live freely, sustainably, and meaningfully. Whether you’re just starting out or dreaming of sailing around the world, it’s a journey that challenges you, rewards you, and connects you with incredible places and people. The friendships formed at sea and in remote anchorages are unlike any other, and the lifestyle offers something truly special. That’s what I aim to share through One World sailing Academy
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