The CrewCaptain: Jim
I’ve always enjoyed the water and most of my childhood family vacations were spent at the beach. Most of our time was spent either hanging out on the beach, swimming, or fishing. I was born in North Carolina and I’ve lived my entire life in the Tar Heel state. I graduated in 1982 from UNC-CH, and in 1985 from the UNC School of Law. I’ve been a licensed attorney in North Carolina since 1985, and spent the last 32 years as a prosecutor. First, as an assistant district attorney, and for the past 17 years as the elected district attorney. I retired at the end of 2022.
Until Linda and I met I had not traveled extensively. Since we got married we’ve been fortunate to have made several trips to the Caribbean and Europe. We’ve also traveled to Mexico, Hawaii and Fiji. Island destinations have become our favorite getaways. Once we started sailing, almost 30 years ago, sailing vacations including multiple charters in the Caribbean and one in Greece stoked our sailing ambitions. A couple of ocean passages, one aboard Ocean Song, convinced us sailing could be a lifestyle and a great retirement party! We both love to travel, sail, hike, read, and scuba dive – all things we can do while cruising the world in our home, Ocean Song. I love Linda and the life we have together, I think the cruising life is a good next chapter!
1st Mate: Linda
I have always loved traveling and being around water. I grew up in central North Carolina and western South Carolina. My family vacations were generally to White Lake, NC, or to the Smoky Mountains. When I was a teenager, my family got a small day-sailer that we took to the lake. I loved it! Then in high school, I traveled with a group to Spain. I loved it!
After graduating from UNC-CH, I became a nurse. Jim and I met and married. We discovered that we enjoyed traveling together. Then, one day, a neighbor asked us to go sailing with him. We accepted and both quickly fell in love with sailing.
We took sailing courses in the BVI. Bought our first boat. A 1986 Catalina 30. We sailed it on the Neuse River and Pamlico Sound for 13 years.
After our first bareboat sailing vacation with friends, we started talking about a cruising life. That was 2005.
Traveling the world by sailboat, with the love of my life, who is also my best friend, seems like a no-brainer to me!