Hi!
Mike and Monica have been sailing together since 1987. Before that Mike had done some sailing with the Boy Scouts and a few other experiences in his youth. Monica had never sailed.
We inherited a 23 ft McGregor swing keel boat from Monica’s father. We sailed her on Smith Mountain Lake in Virginia from 1987-1992. She was then moved to Deltaville at Sting Ray Point. In ~1995 we trailered her to Miami and sailed her out of Mattheson Hammock to Cat Key, Bahamas. It was our first offshore experience and looking back we realize we had no experience of safety or the hazards we may have encountered-young and naive but thrilled to have fun.
Her name was Camelote for a reason-she was our little fantasy world and in French her name means cheap, inexpensive. She was a great starter boat.
In 2000 we bought a 1976 Allied Princess Ketch in Annapolis and brought her down to Port Kinsale. In May we sailed her up to Maine where Mike lived on her for a year through the Maine winter. We named her Neverland because of our fantasy of never growing up. And also, that she would never land in one place too long. Adventure was our goal.
In 2006 she was shipped to France where we were living. In 2011 we decided to start doing long passages around the Mediterranean. France to Malta to Croatia to Greece to Crete to Spain. Each year we did one leg a summer. We saved all our money and vacation time and went exploring to a new port. In 2018 it was definite that we would do the Atlantic crossing with the World Cruising Club, so we took Neverland to Spain where Mike spent many weeks preparing her for the long voyage in 2019.
The ARC+ took us from the Canaries to Cape Verde to St Lucia. We continued to Aruba and had her stored there. 2021 she finally made it back home to the Chesapeake Bay.
We realized how important sailing was to us as a double-handed couple and we needed more opportunities to get out on the water. Through the sailing clubs we have had the best time learning to sail differently and to get the best performance we have ever had with Neverland. In November 2025 we sailed to the Bahamas with the shore support of Salty Dawgs. We cruised the islands for six months and returned to the Chesapeake Bay the end of April 2026
We are always looking for new adventures and opportunities to be out on the water. Come with us for the sail and engage with us on our Facebook page. We’d love to hear from you.
Mike and Monica have been sailing together since 1987. Before that Mike had done some sailing with the Boy Scouts and a few other experiences in his youth. Monica had never sailed.
We inherited a 23 ft McGregor swing keel boat from Monica’s father. We sailed her on Smith Mountain Lake in Virginia from 1987-1992. She was then moved to Deltaville at Sting Ray Point. In ~1995 we trailered her to Miami and sailed her out of Mattheson Hammock to Cat Key, Bahamas. It was our first offshore experience and looking back we realize we had no experience of safety or the hazards we may have encountered-young and naive but thrilled to have fun.
Her name was Camelote for a reason-she was our little fantasy world and in French her name means cheap, inexpensive. She was a great starter boat.
In 2000 we bought a 1976 Allied Princess Ketch in Annapolis and brought her down to Port Kinsale. In May we sailed her up to Maine where Mike lived on her for a year through the Maine winter. We named her Neverland because of our fantasy of never growing up. And also, that she would never land in one place too long. Adventure was our goal.
In 2006 she was shipped to France where we were living. In 2011 we decided to start doing long passages around the Mediterranean. France to Malta to Croatia to Greece to Crete to Spain. Each year we did one leg a summer. We saved all our money and vacation time and went exploring to a new port. In 2018 it was definite that we would do the Atlantic crossing with the World Cruising Club, so we took Neverland to Spain where Mike spent many weeks preparing her for the long voyage in 2019.
The ARC+ took us from the Canaries to Cape Verde to St Lucia. We continued to Aruba and had her stored there. 2021 she finally made it back home to the Chesapeake Bay.
We realized how important sailing was to us as a double-handed couple and we needed more opportunities to get out on the water. Through the sailing clubs we have had the best time learning to sail differently and to get the best performance we have ever had with Neverland. In November 2025 we sailed to the Bahamas with the shore support of Salty Dawgs. We cruised the islands for six months and returned to the Chesapeake Bay the end of April 2026
We are always looking for new adventures and opportunities to be out on the water. Come with us for the sail and engage with us on our Facebook page. We’d love to hear from you.
