Known by our family and close friends as “Hugh & Suze” we live in Warrenton, Georgia, which is a four hour drive from St. Simon’s Island, Georgia. [...]We enjoy periodic visits to our Catalina 34, CAILEIGH ANNA, where we participate in club races and cruise the coastal area of Georgia, Florida, and South Carolina. Our "extended" crew for many years was our daughters although their participation barely deserves recognition for anything more than a courtesy. Cail, our oldest daughter, is actually a very good Hobie Cat sailor, but has never become comfortable with larger boats. Leigh hates sailing and that's the most positive comment I can make about her involvement in the sport. Anna has no fear when it comes to sailing, but she's not going to take the time to learn. Her life moves at a far faster pace than CAILEIGH ANNA. The “girls” are grown now with their families, but they do visit us on the boat at least yearly.

I have sailed extensively with my first boat being a Sunfish I built from a Popular Mechanic plan at the age of 14 for a shop project in high school. Next I joined the Georgia Tech Sail Club and raced wooden Y-Flyers on Lake Lanier, Georgia. While stationed near Washington D.C. three army [...]

buddies and I leased a 30' Piver Trimaran and sailed the Potomac and Chesapeake Bay for nearly two years. Because of our work schedules much of our sailing was done at night. It was on the Chesapeake that I learned important lessons about navigation and the hazards of sailing. To this day I still reflect on the experiences learned there. One of my goals is to return to the Chesapeake some day and rediscover some of those forgotten treasures that are the Chesapeake Bay. After returning to Georgia I purchased a Venture Newport 24' and a Hobie 16' and sailed on a Clarke Hill Lake for many years. I was never happy with the Newport because it was too light for stiff winds, at least compared to my experiences on the Chesapeake. It was a great looking boat, and even today I still have a soft spot for this model. I learned my lesson and sold the Venture Newport after a couple seasons of sailing. In hindsight it would have been a suitable boat for "trailer-sailing" and making trips to the coast and the Keys. The Hobie 16' was a scream and I've had many great experiences with her from fresh to salt water sailing. For several years I used her with youth groups and gave many young people the first and maybe only sailing experience of their life. I purchased ROMA, a 1974 29' Seafarer, in 2000 from a former sailing buddy. I was looking for a solid boat in the 30' range with light blue-water or coastal cruising credentials, and wheel steering. ROMA is a left-over relic from the era when boat designers were discovering how to manufacture boats using fiberglass. She has a great pedigree being designed by McCurdy/Rhodes and very traditional lines. ROMA sails extremely well and the swing keel configuration works well for shoal draft sailing. The Coastal Georgia waters are notoriously shallow sand or mud bottom. There's not a question of "if" you're going to run aground, but only when. In May 2012 I became a contributing writer for Southwinds Magazine with responsibility for covering sailing news along the Georgia coast. This has given me the opportunity to combine my passion for sailing with my interest in promoting the Georgia coast. My first assignment was covering the Tall Ship Festival in Savannah. In addition to the article one of my photos was selected as the cover shot for the June issue of the magazine. https://issuu.com/southwinds/docs/southwindsjune2012/01 I purchased CAILEIGH ANNA a Catalina 34 in the fall of 2013 and spend the next nine months bring her back to life including an engine replacement. ROMA was sold in the spring of 2014 and is now enjoying life on the Gulf at Mobile Bay, Alabama. I've also crewed on other boats including BLU, a 48' Racing Beneteau sailing from Charleston to Jacksonville, two America's Cup Challenge Yachts - Australia 29 and Canada II and the square rigger PEACEMAKER – a 150’/400 ton Barquentine, sailing from Brunswick to Savannah. I often crew on SABRINA, a Hinckley Bermuda 40, owned by good friends who also crew with me during club races. I've never missed an opportunity to gain sailing experience and I’ve never failed to learn something new every time I set sail.