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After
six years he transferred to the Navy and trained as a Bridge Watchkeeping
Officer. In 1975 he was granted his Certificate of Service as Master of a
Foreign-Going Steamship. His last few years in the Navy were spent training
junior officers. Among his spare-time pursuits was exploratory mountaineering,
and from the mid-60s to the early 80s, he made hundreds of ascents, including over six dozen first-ascents on four continents. After
eighteen years of service he resigned his commission in 1981 and settled in Boats
and the sea seem to be in his blood, and he attributes this to his having been
conceived aboard his father’s commercial schooner, Nelly J King.
Michael’s first boat was a 16-foot cedar lapstrake rowboat with a rotten
transom, which he removed and converted the remains into a 14-foot leeboard yawl
with canvas sails on lumberyard spars, fittings and rigging. His subsequent
boats were more seaworthy, and included Tastevin, a 48-foot ketch out of
Vancouver, Lady Jane, a 45-foot Dutch steel cruiser on the French canals
and Dawn Dreamer, a 48-foot motor yacht out of In
April 2006 Michael realized that a quarter century had passed since his
retirement from the Navy and that he still wanted to sail off over the edge of
the earth; however, his wife of twenty-two years did not want to share the
adventure, and they agreed to separate. At the end of June 2006, after exhaustive
research, he ordered a new Hunter 49. He took possession of Sequitur in July 2007
and spent the summer,
autumn and winter shaking her down and single-handing her in fair weather and
foul. Realizing that it was time to begin seriously searching for a companion to
share his dream of sailing off, he posted on a couple of internet sites that
focus on crew looking for boats / boats looking for crew: “I
am healthy, physically fit and very young for my age. I retired as a Canadian
Naval Officer in 1981 after eighteen years of service and have spent the past
quarter century creating and running entrepreneurial businesses. Now it's time
to play! In
June 2006 I ordered a new 50-foot sailboat with all the modern conveniences and
creature comforts. I took delivery of her in July 2007 and since then I have
been getting to know her and how she handles a wide variety of weather
conditions from calm to stormy. My
intention is to sail off over the horizon, with no needs, no itinerary and no
schedule. By the summer of 2009, I will have wound-down my last company, sold my
Vancouver house, bought some holding property for later and moved aboard in
preparation for heading out. Sequitur is fully capable of being single handed;
however, I would prefer to share my adventures with a like-minded woman. Openness, honesty and kindness are essential. An exploratory nature and a thirst for adventure are very important, as is the physical ability to satisfy that thirst. I am looking for a companion, a friend and a soul mate.” After
months of communicating with the many respondents and flying, driving
and sailing to meet over a dozen of them, Michael
They made very frequent
use of their staff passes to travel with the children, exploring dozens of
countries on six continents, with such destinations as South Africa, Morocco,
Iceland, Easter Island, China, Nepal, Peru, Chile, Ecuador, Turkey, Australia
and New Zealand and on such adventures as bicycling through Japan, England and
the Loire, Rhone and Midi regions of France. Edi returned to school for
a three year course, graduating from
Extensive sea kayaking and
some sailing with friends kindled in her a love of the sea, and this combined
with her broad travel experience, spawned a desire for more sailing adventures.
In mid-April 2008 she bought a one-month placement of the following profile on
a British website looking for a boat: “A gentle
artist who has traveled the world extensively and has visited 80 countries is
looking for a kind skipper to teach her the ropes. I have spent three and a half
months on a catamaran in the I am
courteous, kind and considerate, a non smoker and limited drinker. I’m looking
for the same in a skipper. My passions are laughing, warm weather, bare feet, a
bathing suit and the sea.” At the end of April, while
scanning through lists of "boats seeking crew", Edi came
across a Canadian boat in
Chianti had joint custody
of Memory and Michael after their separation, but after two years of traipsing
between houses, she eventually chose to live full-time with Michael. At 16 years of age, she is still healthy, fit and agile with very high spirits, though
she has become quite deaf and rather nearsighted. Statistics show that fewer
than 3% of poodles live to 16, so when we sail off on the 1st of October, she
will be on her final cruise. [On a sad note, two days before our departure Chianti passed away. Her lively spirit travels with us.] |
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Michael
was born and raised along the south eastern shore of 
Chianti
is a Miniature Poodle, born in 1993 of Show Champions. Because she was
the runt of the litter, and would likely be too small for competition, her
kennel offered her to Memory and Michael. Chianti bonded to both of them equally
and accompanied them frequently to Europe
on wine buying trips and later to play on Lady Jane, the canal boat.
Because of her small size, she was able to fly with them in the first class
cabin, and she knows how to sit with patient dignity under the tables in the
best of restaurants.