Captain Shane

Born and raised in Dallas, I moved to Colorado to finish my degree at Boulder. After college I moved to Golden and joined the Golden Fire Department as a volunteer firefighter for 10 years, had a career as a financial auditor, and played soccer. During this time I met a friend who reintroduced me to sailing. This prompted me to take several ASA courses and spend more time on my friend’s boat. After several years of this, I became a sailing instructor and quickly discovered I really enjoyed teaching and people responded well to my instruction.
After 17 wonderful years in Golden there came a three month period in 2008 where 13 different things happened in my life, some bad and some good. It seemed as if God was presenting a new path to me, so I sold everything I had and bought a boat.

My Voyage
Since then I have lived aboard my vessel, a Lagoon 410. I spent 2010 cruising the Gulf and East coast of the USA and 2011 in the Bahamas. I arrived in the Virgin Islands on January 5, 2012. Once there I set up a charter business, because during my travels with guests aboard I found out I REALLY enjoy cooking, teaching, entertaining, and being a tour guide. Starting in 2017 I branched out and started cruising the Leeward and Windward Island of the Caribbean, running charters as I went.

Moving Forward
My dad instilled the travel bug in me at a young age by taking us on extended road trips every couple years. My charter business has afforded me the ability to travel the world extensively during each hurricane season when I put my boat away to avoid storms. I love being able to spend extended amount of time in a location and experiencing first hand all the different cultures and histories of the world.

Motto
You can’t change the direction of the wind, but you can adjust the trim of your sails.

1st Mate Lily

I grew up in Guadalajara, the 2nd largest city in Mexico, with 6 brothers and a sister. As a person who always has had a quest for knowledge, I obtained a master’s degree in Design & Development of New Products from the University of Guadalajara. I starting my career as a high school teacher, but realized how awful teenagers can be (haha). Over several years I transitioned to becoming a university professor of marketing, which is a position I held for 17 years.

I have three wonderful grown children. My oldest is 29 and became a social media influencer…after obtaining her medical degree! What a world we live in now!!! My second daughter is 22 and studying to become a lawyer, but has become quite the business woman in the meantime. My baby boy is 21 and studying to become an environmental urban planner through the architecture school.

My Voyage
My time on a boat only started once I met Shane, but I have enjoyed every minute of it since then. We have cruised the Greater Antilles and Central America since I have been aboard. My favorite places to visit were Cuba, the Honduras Bay Islands, and Panama’s San Blas Islands. I never knew how much I would enjoy interacting with guests and making sure everyone is happy while I am assisting Shane to show guests the joys of each new location. My favorite parts of a charter is leading a morning workout on the bow, fixing breakfast fruit bowls, and game nights.

Moving Forward
Since meeting Shane I have moved full forward into this new adventure by retiring from my professor position. During the offseason I have loved the amazing adventures we have taken. From Shane showing my my own country to traveling down the Amazon River on a local river boat.

Motto
Well behaved women rarely make history!

Our Love Story

We met online in July 2020. The funny thing is, we are not sure how we were matched since we were over 1000 miles away from each other. Luckily we were though. After talking for many months Lily chose to visit Shane on his boat for 12 days in the US Virgin Islands on January 3, 2021. It was pretty much love at first meeting!!!!
After that first visit, Shane visited Mexico for 10 days in February and Lily came back in April for 3 weeks. At the end of the season we met in Cancun and took a 6 week road trip across Mexico and have rarely left each other’s sides since then.

In 2022 we sailed away from the Virgin Islands visiting Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, Haiti, Cuba, Belize, and Guatemala before putting the boat away in the Rio Dulce. During that offseason we toured Central America, Hawaii, and South Korea. For the 2023 season we sail back to Belize then to the Honduras Bay Islands, Colombian islands, and the north coast of Panama. The offseason found us exploring the northern part of South America for two months with the trip down the Amazon being the highlight.
In September we made the decision to sell Guiding Light and start running charters on a larger vessel back in the Virgin Islands. At the end of September Shane proposed to a very shocked Lily in the customs line at DFW airport. We have lots of plans for the future, so wish us luck! 🙂