My earliest memories, from about age four are about water and boats. The first boat I ever built was a small sailboat of 14 feet from a Popular Mechanics plan book. I was 14 years old at the time and still have that book. For most of my life I've built boats, the longest a 175 foot coastal mine hunter for the navy. I let about 100 other men and women help with the tough parts. In between this and a few other things, I managed to sail about 15,000 offshore miles, to England and back and half a dozed or so cruises to the Caribbean and back to the East Coast. I've enjoyed hiking in the mountains on week long outings and now cycling but on the water is where I find the greatest satisfaction. I'm happy now to live in a place where cycling is relatively safe and I like being nearly surrounded by water and sailing friends too swap yarns with.