Originally from Long Island New York, I spent many a summer scavenging the beaches obsessed by the marine ecosystems so many take for granted. For well over 30 years I have been interested with everything above and below the water line. Having a Marine Biologist in the family influenced me to join a marine summer program that taught both marine science and sailing, the rest is history. I quickly became fixture at the a small private school that educated young people about not only Marine Science but also sailing.
Every summer I attended the Stony Brook school quickly learning that the best way to view marine life was from small sail boats that enabled me to get to remote locations on the island to collect and study the tiny creatures. At the age of 16 I received my first Captains license enabling to work at the same school that had taught me so much about marine life, sailing, and seamanship. Seeing the opportunity to grow the program into something more, my mentor and sailing coach encouraged me to grow the program from a 12 student program to over 120 students, amassing a mere 30 boats ranging in size from 12 ft all the way to small keelboat sailing in order to bring my passion to countless others.
The year after college I was offered full-time employed at the school year round and became head sailing coach. After organizing a class trip to Nassau Bahamas to teach a group of high school students tropical reef ecology where we chartered a 65ft sloop to take us to various sites through out the bahamas studying the different ecosystems as we traveled the pristine waters. Seeing that the crew working onboard were all my age I decided then and there that I was going to get involved in now what we call the yachting industry. I have found my true passion and have continued doing this ever since eventually opening Valparaiso Yacht Management to continue assisting both yacht crew and yacht owners.