On the water...

I first started sailing on a catamaran in the mid-1980s, and then on a 1982 Hunter 33 starting in 1999. I was hooked on sailing from that time forward and always dreamed of having my own sailboat someday. In July 2003 I began sharing a 2001 Hunter 320 with other individuals, and moved up to a 2005 Hunter 36 in July 2005. I am mostly self-taught and self-read in my boating and sailing education. However, I do it mostly by-the-book. In September 2005 I began contract work for a company, maintaining a fleet of nine sailboats and powerboats. January 2006 I began training individuals on a fleet of watercraft, orienting them with all parts and operation of their respective yacht from stem to stern, including best-practices and maneuvering and handling skills. I became an ASA sailing instructor in June 2006, with the credentials to teach up to ASA 104 (Bareboat Cruising). Additionally, I have a unique ability to communicate new and foreign concepts to students and prefer a hands-on and incredibly patient teaching approach.

Most of my experience is on Galveston Bay and along the coast in Southeast Texas. Other notable places I have been vessel master include: Five Harvest Moon Regattas, Puget Sound near Tacoma and Seattle; California Coast near Oxnard and Santa Barbara, Long Beach; near coast and inland: Texas Coast from Port Aransas to Louisiana, Louisiana Coast, The Rigolets, Panama City Beach, Apalachicola, Apalachicola Bay and ICW, Clearwater and ICW, Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Florida Keys, East Gulf of Mexico, Florida Straits between Bimini, Bahamas and Miami, FL; New Orleans Industrial Canal and Mississippi River in vacinity and most of Gulf Intracoastal Waterway between Port Aransas, TX and The Rigolets, LA, Bimini, Bahamas, Central Abaco Islands and Sea of Abaco. In addition, several east-west Gulf of Mexico crossings. Between all of my personal time, training, maintenance, commissioning, teaching, captaining and delivering... I have easily well over 3000+ separate outings on sailboats and powerboats ranging from 26' and 5 Gross Tons to 65' and 68 Gross Tons. I have experience on nearly all types of recreational vessel propulsion and control systems, including the following: single prop right-hand, single prop left-hand, sail drive left-hand, single outdrive right-hand and counter-rotating props, twin engine left and right-hand, twin outdrives with counter-rotaing props, bow thruster, stern thruster and joystick controls. Additionally, I have proficiency with the following: late-model radar, AIS, VHF communications: FCC Licensed, other navigation electronics, paper charts, locks/floodgates, and bascule/lift bridges (thanks in large part to Florida).

Installation, Maintenance and Repair...

I have been tinkering with electronics and electricity for as long as I can remember. This trait was likely passed on to me from my highly intelligent father, who taught me how to solder, test and troubleshoot at a very young age.

Fast forward... my interest in mobile electronics got the best of me around 1987. I began installing sound systems in my friends' and family members' cars. Then began working as a mobile electronics installer around 1991 and started my career installing anything low voltage in cars, motorcycles, SUVs, vans, limos, limo-buses, police cruisers, buses, boats, classic and antique cars.

1999 began a love affair with sailing and 'larger' sailboats. I would work on a friend's sailboat in trade for letting me sail on it. This led me to sharing a boat with other indiviuals in 2003, and to my full-time occupation beginning in 2005, managing a fleet of sailboats and a powerboat, ranging in size from 26' to 38'. I have now combined my love of sailing and sailboats with a near-lifetime of tinkering with electronics and electricity into an occupation/career involving watercraft. I not only got install and maintain, but got to see my projects and installs go through years of use and abuse... meanwhile standing up to the test. Diving on hulls became a desire and a need in 2006. Services included, but not limited to the following: running gear maintenance and cleaning, prop removal and installation, hull cleaning and object retrieval.