Rob (Captain)
Growing up in Pennsylvania, Rob’s first sailing adventures were in the Chesapeake Bay. While he is an experienced First Mate, this is his first time controlling the helm. Prior to this adventure, Rob worked as a Chemical Engineer in the Oil and Gas Industry. His list of hobbies includes snowboarding, backpacking, fishing, mountaineering, mountain biking, and scuba diving. He hopes to add kite boarding to that list soon.
Crystal (Admiral)
Originally from Indiana, Crystal grew up playing basketball and other sports, but had little exposure to the ocean. On her first sailing adventure she got sea sick. But nothing a little Dramamine couldn’t fix. Crystal is also a Chemical Engineer, but for now has traded in her calculator for a winch handle. She also shares a love of the outdoors and many of the same hobbies as Rob. Crystal is in charge of scheduling, navigating, and taking care of the logistics of cruising the Caribbean with two pups. Pretty much anything that requires patience.
Baxter
Baxter is 5 years old and is a brown and white dog. Yup, that is all we know about his breed, because he’s clearly not the 80lb Shepherd mix that the rescue shelter told us he would be. Baxter topped out at 40 lbs and we couldn’t love him more. He is very intelligent and sometimes stubborn, but luckily for us he is also very food motivated. We can get him to do just about anything for a piece of cheese. At the ripe old age of 3, he started acting like a grumpy old man. We knew he needed a companion, so that’s when we adopted Jaela. His favorite things include food (especially cheese), squeaky toys, digging holes, chasing Jaela, sleeping under the covers, and playing fetch.
Jaela
Unlike her brother, Jaela IS a Shepherd mix. We adopted her two years ago when she was already a year old. We weren’t going to get tricked again. Despite having serious dingo-like hunting skills, she is very gentle and loves cuddling with her family. While Shepherds are known for being fearless, Jaela lacks this trait. Trash bags, packing tape, bicycles, fire, and sails are all reasons to hide. We are helping her overcome these fears and she keeps Baxter from being such a grump. Her favorite things include squirrels, Baxter, squirrels, going for walks, squirrels, cuddling, pork, and squirrels.
hope the dream never ends
Us too!
I love to see young folks like you making a break for it. Nicole and I, “Jack”, married in 2008 and moved onto our boat after a two month honey moon of camping/exploring the SW U.S.. We fixed her up sailed Belize and Honduras and left for Panama in 2010 planning to sail accross the Pacific. We’ve since sailed over 16k miles and haven’t crossed the Pacific yet. Our goal? To sail about the world not necessarily around it. The freedom, joy and aventure we discovered continues to fuel our desire to see more of the world and so, this has become our lifestyle. Two kids later, we are now on the coast of Baja California, growing the crew a bit more before the “Pacific Puddle Jump”. We have never lived in a house and don’t plan to any time soon, anyways. Go for it! Hope to see you out there.
We love meeting young families while we’re cruising. I’m sure having youngins on board has its challenges, but we think it’s an amazing experience to share as a family. We’re enjoying the ride. While we’re not entirely certain what our future will look like, we know that we’ll always seek adventure. And this cruising experience has given us the confidence to continue tackling challenges and embrace uncertainty. Thanks for the encouragement. Maybe we’ll see you out there. I look forward to hearing about the Pacific crossing at some point. Fair winds!