Ridge is a 37 year old Contractor, Delivery Captain/GC 50 Ton Master Inland and 6 Pack OUPV Offshore (not sure what any of this means but it takes up a lot of room on our boat cards), Author, Photographer and Racer.. He has lived in several places in the US and has traveled pretty much everywhere! Most of Ridge’s family sails or sailed at some point. When Ridge was in middle school he and his mom, dad and sister set sail out of Virginia and traveled down to Venezuela. The whole trip lasted about nine months total and Ridge and his family are still in contact with other cruising families from that trip today. When I hear about that adventure Ridge’s eyes light up still—some of the best memories of his life. Ridge bought our boat, a Fountaine Pajot Venezia 42, about seven years ago, prior to meeting me, but with intentions to always take it on a long cruise and because I am married to him and Apollo can’t fend for himself…we are along for the ride 😉

I am a 29 year old Legal Assistant from Calvert County, Maryland–born and raised. Unlike Ridge, no one in my family was a sailor and because of that…I am still learning! Learning everything: the lingo, what lines go to what, that everything is always breaking on a boat, and how to tie knots. EVERYTHING. It has been a fun ride the past three years but most of my jobs were hosting our guests and spent in the kitchen and now it’s crunch time. Because of this Ridge has been taking me out and making me steer and navigate— and I like it! So, myself, not a sailor, going on a long term cruising trip with my husband and our pup. Seems crazy right? Well, 2 1/2 years ago I did my first offshore trip with Ridge and some friends and family. We took the boat to Bermuda from Solomons, Maryland. The trip was incredible— although I was scared to go (couldn’t stop picturing giant waves from movies I had seen– imagine “The Perfect Storm”), but I was so glad that I did. The stars in the middle of the ocean are like nothing I had ever seen before. We saw dolphins, whales, man o’war’s, left a trail of glowing jellies wherever we went, saw nothing…for days, flying fish, big waves, wind and rain, and went swimming at 16,000 feet deep in the Atlantic. This was my first taste of adventure and cruising and I loved every minute of it. I am going to have a hard time leaving my family behind because I have never been apart from them for more than two weeks!

We lost our sweet Apollo in January of 2017 from cancer.  We miss him every single minute of every single day and know he is with us in spirit always.