“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” – Mark Twain

The Crew

We are both 30 40 something professionals unemployed former professionals who have become disenfranchised with the idea of defining ourselves by our jobs.  Being typical “Type A” personalities, most of our adult life has been spent dedicated to our careers.  I am a geologist that works worked in the consulting industry cleaning up petroleum and chemical spills.  My Bride is was an accountant that has mostly worked in either public accounting or the real estate world.  But as I said, we are now disenfranchised with the idea of defining ourselves by our jobs so that will be the last I write about them.  Instead we are trying to fill our lives with experiences and fun.

We purchased our first boat, Splash (1980 C&C 24) in 2007 from my aunt and uncle who had owned her since 1984.  Splash was a great boat to get me back into sailing and introduce this beautiful mode of transportation to my Bride.  In 2010, we sold Splash and upgraded to Smitty.

In addition to my Bride and I, we sail with our Aussie mix, Summer.
summer on smitty jamestown 2011

We have kept both of our boats at the Hingham Ship Yard and have made many boating friends on L-Dock.  We have friends that are sailboaters and powerboaters and have had really great times in large raft ups at World’s End, at our dock parties and local cruises to places like Salem and Gloucester.

We left Hingham in September of 2015. We are now actively out cruising in the Caribbean somewhere.  Hopefully we are getting blog posts up about our adventures but who knows what the internet is like where ever we are.

32 thoughts on “The Crew

  1. I just found your blog and am really enjoying reading it. I think you are slip neighbors of my brother-in-law at the Hingham Ship Yard. Last year he purchased a Herreshoff America 18. Took us out last summer and we had a blast. I’m from RI, but now living in VA and sailing on the Chesapeake. I wish you well in your travel plans and hope to read more about your journey.

  2. Hi Jim,

    Thanks for reading!

    I am pretty sure I know who your brother in-law is. Didn’t he have a small, hard dink with a cool old seagull outboard?

    So what are you sailing on the Cheesy?

    Fair winds,

    Jesse

  3. Yup, that’s John. He always has cool stuff. Fixes up old vehicles, scooters, tear drop campers, etc.

    For the last 2 years we sailed a 26′ Nonsuch out of Annapolis. Last fall we bought a 30′ Nonsuch and are keeping her on the West River south of Annapolis. I really like cat boats (my first boat was a Beetle on Narragansett Bay) and the Nonsuch perfect for the Chesapeake. Easy to tack up rivers and ours only draws 3’11.” The PO took her to Florida and back. I hope to take her to Key West and the Bahamas one of these years.

    We’ll be up to New England in early August and John has already offered to take us sailing. So maybe we’ll see you at the shipyard.
    Cheers,
    Jim

  4. Just found your blog through one of your posts at cruisersforum. I’ll be following along as you progress toward your goal(s), and look forward to catching-up on the older blog entries. I grew up on the south shore, and currently live on Nantucket. My better half doesn’t share the dream, so I’ll live vicariously through you and others! Good luck and congratulations in making it happen.

    • Hi Rich,

      Thanks for reading.

      I do often say that I am extremely lucky that my Bride shares my same dreams and is willing to take time away from her career to live out this dream now rather than when we may be too old to enjoy it

      Fair winds,

      Jesse

  5. Thanks for the blog love! Glad we made your blogroll 🙂 We’ll be following you as well and I’ll update my blogroll soon 🙂

    • It’s all about the blog love:)

      Sooooo jealous of you guys right now.

      Can’t wait to get out there too.

      Fair winds,

      Jesse

      • Hi Jesse! OMG I feel so bad it took me this long to update our page and get you on our blog roll!! We’ve covered a lot of water since we left Florida in February. I think we hit 2000nm with all of our travels so far. Super excited for your news about becoming liveaboards! How does Summer like it so far? Send us an email!!

  6. I can’t remember if I said thank you yet for having us on your blogroll – if not, thank you! We’ll be heading to the States in a few months to start looking for our next boat, so hopefully our paths will cross on the water at some point!

  7. Hi Jesse,
    I just saw your comment on the Live Aborders. We live just up the street for now in Melrose. Although we cruise on a “stink pot” we had spent some memorable time at the Constitutional on a 53′ Bristol. We are getting our boat “Nereide”, a Grand Banks 49 Classic on the water at the end of May. Our home port is Newport, RI, but we will be cruising in and out of Boston Harbor taking friends and family out
    before setting off to distant shores. I really like your blog format and will be following your progress. Hope to meet up along the way.

  8. Hi you two! just reading some of your blog, really enjoying it! I picked up the link from our YouTube channel and a comment you left there. Hope our course crosses yours one day! I’ll keep an eye out for S/V Smitty : )

  9. Hi Jesse – just finding your blog! I am from Kissimmee (where you seem to be posting from, not sure if you are from there or not), and our first boat’s name was Chance! What a coincidence! Looking forward to following your journey

  10. Not sure you both are “type A” personalities; you’re Bride isn’t an A-hole. Haha! Seriously best of luck to both of you on your adventure. I’ll be following your trials and tribulations from afar- a very jealous afar.

  11. How’s Summer enjoying the new lifestyle? My wife and I are planning to head south from Portsmouth, RI, next fall with our yellow lab, Bailey; we’re hoping he’ll adjust.

    • Summer has been on the boat since we got her nine years ago so she is used to this lifestyle. It’s just tricky to find good anchorages for her. Active Captain was a huge help.
      Our boat Smitty’s homeport was Portsmouth when we bought her – beautiful area!

  12. Ahoy sailors . . . checking out your blog tonight . . . caught an interesting typo, Jessie, on this page . . .”We have fiends that are sailboaters and powerboats” . . . then again, maybe they ARE fiends! I wanted to upload the dinner photo and I see that it may not be possible so I’ll email it to you – or stick it on FB!

    I’m off Athol tonight, quiet, less roll from passing FIENDS – there’s an appropriate place for that word, eh! Enjoy the journey south & stay in touch after Cuba . . . I want to know all about it!

    • It was so great to see you and thank you for the cooking tips. Fair winds and good wishes with all that you do. I am sure we will meet up again eventually. 😊

  13. Your blog is a great read! We are in the market for a new dinghy and wondering if you are still liking your Highfield now that you’ve had it awhile. Thanks for any thoughts you can share. We are in St. Croix right now sailing a CSY 37.

    • thanks so much! yes, we LOVE the Highfield. She is holding up very well to all the abuse we pit her through. Let us know if you have any specific questions.

  14. Thanks, Stacey. You published a very thorough review about your dinghy as well as a follow up. After meeting someone recently who had the Ultra Light instead of the Classic, we were undecided between those options. They really liked the UL, liked the lighter weight, felt it was dryer, and their friends with a CL felt that a little water was always trapped between the decks. We’ve decided to go with the Classic. It seems like the features outweigh any disadvantages for us and the difference in weight was minimal. Thanks for the good information.

  15. Hey guys,
    Hope all is well with your travels, Sure miss seeing you and especially miss Summer,
    We are in the Abacos waiting for our friends to visit us on Sunday, they will spend a week than its back to the states for us,
    Let us know what is happening with you,
    Shep and Deb

    • Hello! we really miss hanging out with you two! we are in the Exumas, company is flying into George Town on April 29th and then we will start heading south to Turks & Caicos in early May.
      Safe Travels and Fair Winds.

      • Great to hear from you. Safe travels to you as well.
        We will keep checking your long to see how things are going
        S&D

  16. Bon voyage Stacey!

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  19. The town Hingham caught my eye. I grew up on Smith Road in Hingham, my back yard was against the SS Country Club’s 14th fairway. I have been living in Texas for about 40 years now but they still call me a Yankee, and I am proud of it. My wife and I are in the process of buying a 2004 310. I have always been a fan of the 310 and decided to buy one. I was looking for the owners manual when I came across your post. Do you have any advise for a rookie?

    • Nice, always good to find another sailor from the South Shore.

      Besides a good survey, the main thing I would think about on a 2004 would be the exhaust riser and the dampener plate.

      The riser probably getting close to failing. I have a post on our blog on how to make one with parts from Home Depot.

      The dampener plate will probably need to be replaced. Many of the C310 owners have done this job themselves even without experience.

      Oh another thing is rebedding the chain plates and other deck hardware. Not a hard job for the most part but something that will need to be done.

      The C310 is a great boat. We have lived aboard for almost 3 years now. Sailed her through some rough seas and I don’t think we have found her limits yet (maybe found ours haha). We are really happy with her as a solid cruising platform.

      The C310 has an unbelievable owners group. You should take some time and read through every post on the forum. (http://forums.sailboatowners.com/index.php?forums/catalina-310.111/) Also, join the International Owners Group. You get Mainsheet magazine, a magazine for Catalina owners, as part of your membership.

      Let me know if you have any questions and good luck.

  20. Aloha,
    Stephen here from Boston Originally….retired US NAVY (last year) we just closed on a 38′ Spray. I have a really great service dog we take everywhere and came across your site looking at other sailors with dogs. Tai is a black lab/grey hound mix. Love the water, when we went out in the RHIB, he’d have a blast swim and be a great buddy, he was a bid nervous living aboard at first, but has made the whole hull HIS TURF!!!!!!!! Glad you decided to aweigh anchors and kick off from land. it’s complicated here. I missed deployments, to come home and see the same news.
    we’ll see you out there
    Tai, Vanna, and Steve

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