About
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.
Featured Work
Shanghaied
In the fall of 1810, Eamon McGrath wakes up in the hold of a ship far out at sea, stolen from his New England life and family. A merchant ship has shanghaied him, Sam, Coop and Jack to replace crew lost when boarded at sea by the British Navy. Jack, already a sailor, helps the others get their sea legs and withstand the near-slavery of a sailor’s life. As Eamon circles the globe, he suffers a terrible beating, storms, the cat-o’-nine tails, and shipwreck. He is schooled in all things nautical, makes and loses friends, and joins the brotherhood of the sea.
Betrayed by life, Eamon’s bitterness nearly blinds him until he finds the beauty of this planet undeniable and essential. His adventure is a hero’s journey. Profoundly changed, what will he find if he makes it home again?
