How did I get here?

 

People often ask how ended up on a boat, since I was born and raised in Dallas and spent half my life in Denver. What they don’t realize is that Colorado has the second highest per capita of sailors in the country. I ended up sailing because I met a friend who had a sailboat on Lake Dillon and invited me to help splash it in the spring of 2003. Once we got it in the water we sailed for just a little bit and took it to his dock space. That night while we slept aboard, with a little space heater, it snowed six inches. That was it, I was hooked!!!!

Of course I thought I was going to start cruising when I retired around the age of 60 like most people and just get some charter experience in before then, but the end of 2008 and beginning of 2009 was a very pivotal time for me. You see I had 12-13 thing happen in a three month period that to me was God saying if you want to go cruising go now. Some of the things were bad like my wife leaving after less than 3 years and my dog running away, but some were good like my 10 year service anniversary on the fire department meaning I could retire. You have to remember that this was at the bottom of the financial meltdown, but my house still went under contract in 4 days and for exactly what I wanted for it. You see things were lining up for me.

After I sold everything I owned except what I could fit into a car I started to look for a boat and once I knew I wanted a Lagoon 410 I bought the first one I saw. I flew to the BVI and my new boat with only one crew lined up to help sail it back to Houston, TX. The other crew joined the boat after being asked by someone else to come down less than a day after his wife gave her dieing wish of having her ashes spread in the BVI. Within the week he fulfilled that request.

To be honest I did not know why I was sailing to Houston instead of Florida, except my car was in Dallas and my mechanically inclined best friend was two hours from Houston. Turns out I was sent there because my dad was going to have emergency by pass surgery and I needed to drive to Dallas every month for half a year, not that it was a problem for me because my dad’s health was first.

My job went away within 20 days of wen I was ready to start cruising, so I did not have to quit and I got a severance package to live off of. By the time I spent 2010 cruising the Gulf and East coast of America and 2011 cruising through the entire Bahamas I had enough sea time to apply and test for my USCG captain license. At that time headed to the USVI to start a charter business with one charter booked and running low on funds. Lucky for me I hit a niche and my business has taken off and I am able to provide the charters I do.

To me the moral of the story is you never know where life may lead you, so take care now (with fear, savings, relationships, spirituality, and every other aspect of your life) so when you are pushed in a direction with an opportunity you can pursue it to the fullest!