February 2010... Step-by-step, we are closer to realizing our dream of sailing around the world. Drew and I met almost a decade ago in Berkeley, California at at Bar Mitzvah of triplet boys and instantly a dreamed of connection was made. Our shared vision of a life together and of adventures at sea solidified our cruising goals as we embarked on a five-year journey of learning how to sail and finding the perfect sail boat for our journey together. It's been a pretty steep learning curve, but we’ve done it! The two of us are now confident and skilled enough to take our sailboat almost anywhere. Our cruising home is a 53 ft ketch called Revelation. She is a French sailboat, an Amel Super Maramu 2000. We purchased her in Nelson, New Zealand, November 2006 and since then have spent every non-working moment living on board and cruising. Our training ground was the incredible coastal waters of New Zealand, from the Tasman Sea, the Marlborough Sounds, to Cape Reinga, the Bay of Islands and Coromandel Peninsula. The Kiwi cruising community were incredibly smart and kind and willing to teach. We will be forever appreciative of their guidance and friendship. The art and skill of becoming good sailors together is an undertaking that we'll share for many years. It's a bit like the game of chess! There's always a puzzle to solve. When not sailing, our working lives take us to Nashville, TN, the home of country music, and Stockholm, Sweden, the magnificent archipelago city of 3,000 islands. Our families take us to Berkeley, CA, New Mexico, Connecticut, and Switzerland. There's very little time to get bored! It's a great life!
Lili, First Mate... I’ve always loved the water. As a child I remember enjoying time submersed in bathtub water. The sense of weightlessness and serenity was transcendent. My mother once found me face down floating in our bathtub. In a panic, she hoisted me out of the tub preparing to do life saving maneuvers! Startled, I explained to her that I was just practicing being a fish and holding my breath under water and didn't needed saving! I swam in Mediterranean and Adriatic seas, lakes and pools. As a teenager I had my first sailing experiences at sailing camp in Denmark and at the Beach Point Club in NY while visiting relatives. Both formative and memorable experiences! I lived most of my life near the sea and played with my children at Big Sur and San Francisco beaches. They were christened Sea Anemone and Sea Otter in celebration of our love of the Pacific and the Big Sur Coast, its creatures, tides and currents. To find a mate who wanted to spend a life at sea was a dream come true...I love to sail, travel, and fish and live close to the sea and nature. It is a great life on board Revelation, being at sea, and in anchorages and ports. It's also reaffirming being part of a like-minded cruising community that embraces this floating vagabond life-style.
Besides sailing, my past work has been in women's health policy and administration, cardiology nursing, and business owner. When not sailing I enjoy traveling with Drew, blogging, photography, cooking, gardening and slowing down to smell the roses to spend time with friends and family!
Drew...Captain of Revelation -- husband, best friend, poet, adventurer, healer. Drew was raised in the desert of New Mexico, so a life at sea was not first nature to him. His aviation background, technical/mechanical inclinations and tinkerer-fixer of all things broken, and his independent nature have all been assets in climbing the steep learning curve to maintain and sail our complex 53 ft yacht. He loves living "off the grid" and being mindful of conserving resources. He is now feeling confident as he reels in 30+ lb mahi mahi or tuna. Believe me, not an easy feat with 25 kt winds and 3 meter swells! He usually greets the day by checking the 24 volt panel and Xantrex meter to give us an idea of the charge in our batteries and the energy plan for the day. Wind, solar and water generators keep everything running on Revelation. Drew is a consummate traveler / adventurer -- flying, gliding, biking, usually going very fast. For this adventure, he has promised to go slow as we cruise around the world.
Drew is a retired medical corp colonel with the U.S. Air Force, and a senior flight surgeon-astronaut. When not sailing, he divides his career demands between his roles as cardiologist and professor at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine in Nashville, TN and as a guest professor at Sweden's Medical Management Center in the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden.
Lili, First Mate... I’ve always loved the water. As a child I remember enjoying time submersed in bathtub water. The sense of weightlessness and serenity was transcendent. My mother once found me face down floating in our bathtub. In a panic, she hoisted me out of the tub preparing to do life saving maneuvers! Startled, I explained to her that I was just practicing being a fish and holding my breath under water and didn't needed saving! I swam in Mediterranean and Adriatic seas, lakes and pools. As a teenager I had my first sailing experiences at sailing camp in Denmark and at the Beach Point Club in NY while visiting relatives. Both formative and memorable experiences! I lived most of my life near the sea and played with my children at Big Sur and San Francisco beaches. They were christened Sea Anemone and Sea Otter in celebration of our love of the Pacific and the Big Sur Coast, its creatures, tides and currents. To find a mate who wanted to spend a life at sea was a dream come true...I love to sail, travel, and fish and live close to the sea and nature. It is a great life on board Revelation, being at sea, and in anchorages and ports. It's also reaffirming being part of a like-minded cruising community that embraces this floating vagabond life-style. Besides sailing, my past work has been in women's health policy and administration, cardiology nursing, and business owner. When not sailing I enjoy traveling with Drew, blogging, photography, cooking, gardening and slowing down to smell the roses to spend time with friends and family!
Drew...Captain of Revelation -- husband, best friend, poet, adventurer, healer. Drew was raised in the desert of New Mexico, so a life at sea was not first nature to him. His aviation background, technical/mechanical inclinations and tinkerer-fixer of all things broken, and his independent nature have all been assets in climbing the steep learning curve to maintain and sail our complex 53 ft yacht. He loves living "off the grid" and being mindful of conserving resources. He is now feeling confident as he reels in 30+ lb mahi mahi or tuna. Believe me, not an easy feat with 25 kt winds and 3 meter swells! He usually greets the day by checking the 24 volt panel and Xantrex meter to give us an idea of the charge in our batteries and the energy plan for the day. Wind, solar and water generators keep everything running on Revelation. Drew is a consummate traveler / adventurer -- flying, gliding, biking, usually going very fast. For this adventure, he has promised to go slow as we cruise around the world. Drew is a retired medical corp colonel with the U.S. Air Force, and a senior flight surgeon-astronaut. When not sailing, he divides his career demands between his roles as cardiologist and professor at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine in Nashville, TN and as a guest professor at Sweden's Medical Management Center in the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden.
