The Crew

• Chris, our Fearless Skipper…

  

   

  Chris was born in Philadelphia.  We met at St. Mary’s College of Maryland in 1989.  While he had sailed with family friends in his youth St. Mary’s was the place where he spent more time on the water.  A wooden sedan cruiser was his dorm room, and many recognized him in college rowing out to his boat off the campus’ waterfront, as well as being the only college student at the time with a laptop.  He was in the Navy Reserves and flew in P-3s many weekends.  He picked up the camera while in the Navy.  He worked in the college’s Public Information Office and spent many hours in the darkroom.  During college he started pointing his camera towards sailboat racing, and soon he had his own hard bottom inflatable dingy which was his floating photography platform.  He had a contract with Yachting Magazine and would frequently cover Yachting Race Weeks up and down the East Coast.  His first job out of college was with ‘Rags Magazine’ which long ago evolved to ‘Spinsheet’ which is still in print and covers both sailboat racing and cruising.  After taking a corporate job, we moved to Virginia, Massachusetts and then North Carolina.  After moving from the Annapolis area in 1994, there were years spent land locked or without the time and resources to consider purchasing a boat.  We filled our lives with restoring old antique houses and motorcycle riding.  Upon moving to North Carolina, we decided to get back into sailing.  Chris is an extremely hands on guy and aboard s/v Alchemy he is nothing short of a wizard whether installing marine electronics, fixing an engine issue, or tweaking an autopilot at 3 a.m. in the middle of the Gulf Stream.  He has a level head and is a Skipper with a can-do attitude.  Much the eternal optimist, I can say sailing with him is never a boring experience.

   

  Gretchen, a.k.a. The Backseat Helmswoman

   

  

   

  I grew up sailing…started apparently at age three hailing from Deltaville, Virginia at the time…very shortly after, Annapolis, Maryland.  I sailed with my Mom and Dad aboard an Irwin 25 fondly named s/v Love Is… I sailed aboard the Irwin I believe until I was eight or nine years old.  I went to sailing camp when I was eleven at the Annapolis Yacht Club.  Eventually, in 1985 Mom bought a seventeen foot Bluenose.  Mom and I sailed aboard her for a few years and then it was off to St. Mary’s College of Maryland where I discovered sailboat racing and big boats.  I was hooked and spent hours practicing with the Offshore Sailing Team there.  While college was multifaceted for me and I learned a lot academically it was sailing that taught me the biggest life lessons:   to be a good team player, that winning, while sweet, isn’t everything; and that by sharing experiences with others, working towards the same goal creates strong bonds and friendships.  Our team was not made up of a bunch of sailboat racing rockstars, but of students that had never raced a day in their life aboard a sailboat.  It was an incredible program that I will write about in one of my blog entries someday.  After spending twenty years not sailing, it has been so good to get back to it in the last six years.  I am still learning how to be a Cruiser…and frequently do a three sixty out there in the middle of the water looking for anyone else who might be up for a race…

  Radar Cat, our endless source of entertainment…

  

   

  Radar Cat and his brother Hawkeye were rescued from a radio station in Chapel Hill, N.C.  Radar was found by his foster Mom with a Bojangles fried chicken leg in his mouth.  He was a survivor from the start.  He is fun loving and is full of antics at every turn, much like his Dad, Chris.  He started sailing aboard our first boat s/v Jubilee, a Westerly Fulmar when he was five months old, and he hasn’t looked back since.  His favorite past times aboard his first cruise to the Bahamas were first and foremost watching birds, followed by a close second to watching the waves go by at anchor, and strutting his stuff on the bow.  Some of his biggest fans affectionately refer to him as ‘bat ears’ due to his lynx points on his ears which also make the name he came with very appropriate.

   

  Hawkeye, our Magic, White Wonder Cat with eyes the color of Land and Sea…

  

  Hawkeye is a cat of many different dimensions.  He was super shy when we adopted him.  It took him awhile to come out of his shell…but he did and now is a cat with seemingly super powers.  He has two different colored eyes, one the blue of the Ocean, the other the color of Sand.  His name was already designated as well, and it fits him.  Being Radar’s brother he began his sailing career at the same time.  The quarter berth is Hawkeye’s adopted space on the boat.  While I was concerned about his natural inclinations to shun any experience too overstimulating, he has taken to sailing like an old salt.  His most renowned trick during our six month cruise aboard was catching air while sailing the Northwest Channel down in the cabin and jumping double his typical jumping height.  He actually looked like he was enjoying it immensely.  The cat breed of Turkish Vans includes many cats with odd colored eyes and in Turkey I read at one point that they affectionately refer to the cats with odd eyes as ‘of land and sea’.  Turkish Vans are also referred to as ‘swimming cats’ because of their love of the water, while Hawkeye has never tried his skill at swimming, it wouldn’t surprise me if he has some Turkish Van in his blood.  Three weeks before I found Radar’s picture on the internet for adoption I had written the word ‘Hawkeye’ down and had the name on my mind…it was a sure sign to me when I found out that Radar’s brother’s name was Hawkeye that these boys were meant to be part of our family.

   

   

   

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