Randy and Jody with Free Luff in St. Thomas for the first time, November 2002.

Randy was born and raised in Traverse City, Michigan, and grew up sailing small boats on Traverse Bay and the Great Lakes. Since the age of 12, he's had a dream to live aboard and sail around the world. Jody grew up in sunny San Diego, California, about 10 minutes from the ocean but only sailed a few times her whole life and never imagined the adventures ahead of her. During college at Michigan State University, Randy was the president of the Ski Club, and his sole purpose was to seek out the place he would reside after graduation; a place where the skiing was plentiful and water was nearby. The place turned out to be Lake Tahoe, where he has endured long, sun-filled summers and picturesque, snow laden winters as a free lance writer, marketing director for an outdoor clothing company, a manager of a local ski and bike shop, and owner of a ski patrol uniform company. He's an avid skier and snowboarder, mountain biker, volleyballer, and of course, sailor.

Jody found her way to the Sierra Nevada a few years later. After college at the University of California, Santa Barbara, she worked as a botanist for the U.S. Forest Service in the San Bernardino Mountains, an outdoor education program, and then for an environmental consulting firm. When the opportunity to journey north to the Lake Tahoe area arose, there was no hesitation. She's now enjoying her tenure with the U.S. Forest Service out of South Lake Tahoe, as the forest botanist for the entire basin. She's a snowboarder, mountain biker, volleyballer, and of course, now, a sailor.

They met on the sand volleyball courts in Kings Beach, California, in 1998; proposed to one another on the same night in San Rafael, France, in 1999; and tied the knot on the same sand volleyball courts in 2000. They're working hard to achieve their dream to live aboard and hope to realize it within the next few years. Cross your fingers. Feel free to contact us with any questions, words of encouragement, or cruising tales. Thanks and enjoy your charter!

Randy with newly christened Free Luff in Annapolis, MD October 2002.	Jody lounging under sail on the Chesapeake Bay, MD October 2002.