I’ve always felt most alive when at the helm of a small ship, navigating uncertain passages. I’ve sailed racing sloops, catboats, and a well-founded sailboat that took our family on month-long adventures through the San Juan Islands of Washington state and the Gulf Islands of British Columbia. For five wonderful years we cruised our Nordhavn 43 trawler, MV Indiscretion, through the beautiful waters of the Salish Sea. I’ve written essays and stories about our boating adventures both here and at mvindiscretion.com.

• A Sailor Looks at Crossing the Bar (Part One). Reflections of a lifelong sailor saying farewell to masts, booms, halyards and sheets … but not to the sea.
• A Sailor Crosses the Bar (Part Two).  Making the leap from sailboat to an ocean-going Nordhavn 43 trawler.
• Eartec Wireless Radios – The Marriage Saver. Good communication is essential when docking a boat, especially when three decks separate the captain and crew.
• Backing to Port. Adventures in docking a 43′ foot trawler.
• A Wheelhouse at Night. The mesmerizing nighttime view from the pilothouse of a trawler yacht.

Selected posts from our trawler blog at MV Indiscretion:

• Trawler Dogs. Long-range cruising with dogs has its share of challenges.
• Indiscretion in Heavy Weather. The crew of Indiscretion experiences rough seas and gale-force winds.
• Trawler Maintenance for the Mechanically Challenged. What it’s like to maintain a complicated power yacht with enough systems to power a small municipality … with limited mechanical ability.
• The Cost of Indiscretion. How much does it really cost to own and operate a Nordhavn trawler?
• The Cruise of the Empty Nesters. Reflections on a new chapter of life as the captain and first mate take their first extended cruise together.
• All Good Things. After losing our son in a motorcycle accident in September 2022, we decide it’s time to move off the water and move inland to heal.