Mike & Verena

WELCOME!

We’re Mike and Verena. We met in 2004 while working aboard a NOAA hydrographic research ship in Alaska, collecting data to update nautical charts. After two years of getting paid to cruise Alaska from Ketchikan to Dutch Harbor, we moved to Portland, Oregon, where we worked as hydrographers for a mid-sized engineering firm that kept us working aboard boats and ships all over the US.

In 2008, we both became US Coast Guard licensed captains, and in 2011, we quit our jobs, bought a sailboat, and started cruising full-time (how we made that happen). We eventually made the Baja Bash back up to California and sold Camille.

In 2015, we bought ourselves a trawler to explore the Pacific Northwest. We still work seasonally as hydrographers and do a lot of road trips in our minivan — we have driven as far as Alaska, the Florida Keys, and Cabo San Lucas.

You can always check out our PHOTO ALBUMS for more frequent updates from our travels.

The Past Few Years

2020
After working in Alaska in the summer of 2020 (essential work), we returned to Washington for some fall cruising aboard Limerick. In November 2020, we hauled the boat and drove south to San Diego.

2021
In April 2021, we headed south into Baja from San Diego in the minivan. While in Cabo, Mike had an accident on his bicycle and ended up in the hospital needing surgery on his face. After two months of recovery, we headed to Lake Michigan for a NOAA charting project. In September 2021, we returned to Denver for additional surgery and then made our way to Washington in October, where we rented a sweet little house for the winter while working on a few projects on Limerick.

2022
In March 2022, we worked on the rivers around New York City and visited New England. In April, we cruised the San Juan Islands aboard Limerick and then spent May and June working on the Bering Sea in Alaska. After cruising Desolation Sound in British Columbia and the San Juan Islands for the rest of the summer, we sold Limerick at the end of October 2022, after seven years of ownership. In November, we drove the minivan from Washington to Colorado and on to San Diego in December.

2023
In January 2023, we drove back to Washington for a total of 7,000 miles. February through May, we were charting the rivers of the Chesapeake Bay with a one-week break in Puerto Rico. We spent July exploring Roatan, Honduras, before heading to Nome, Alaska, for more charting work. In September 2023, we headed back to Washington for some pet/housesits. In October 2023, we drove to San Diego and stayed on a friend’s citrus farm to spend the holidays with family and friends.

2024
In January 2024, we left San Diego for house sits in Washington and took a week-long vacation on Vancouver Island, BC. In April, we flew to the Big Island of Hawai’i for V’s birthday, and another house sit. At the end of May, we returned to Washington, where we spent the summer with friends on Lopez Island and did a couple more house sits. During this time, we finally bought another van — a Mercedes Sprinter 4×4, which Mike is converting into a camper. In November, we flew to Spain to deliver our friends’ boat to the eastern Mediterranean.

2025
We cruised from Spain to France, Italy, and Greece. In February, we headed to Turkey for three months, followed by one more month in Greece. After six months of cruising in Europe, we returned to Washington in June of 2025. We picked up our new van for a road trip to New Mexico, where we house-sat for two months. In August, we made our way back to Washington, slowly driving north through the Rockies. In September, we explored the Mount Baker Highway area with the van. Since October 2025, we have been house/dog sitting, interspersed with shorter van trips.

We occasionally make boat deliveries and would love to help you with your boating adventures. Please contact us and visit our other website PacificCaptains for more.

About Us

MIKE was born and raised in Denver, Colorado. Naturally leaning towards outdoor activities, at the age of three, he nearly gave his mom a heart attack by riding his tricycle around the block solo.

After getting his degree in biology he moved to the great state of Alaska, where he fell in love with the ocean while working aboard research vessels and started to dream of heading someplace a little warmer. While working aboard the NOAA hydrographic research ship Fairweather he met Verena who told him endless stories about sailing and cruising. He also caught the cruising bug and learned to sail on our first sailboats, a West Wight Potter 19 and MacGregor 26X. Before we bought Camille he crossed the Pacific as a relief captain on a 45′ Hunter sailboat.

VERENA was born and raised in Germany as an only child to German parents. Always eager for new experiences, at the age of three, she rode her tricycle into a row of rosebushes.

At age 15, Verena and her parents set off on their 38′ sloop JOY to immigrate to California and later became US citizens. After high school in San Diego and working on losing her accent, Verena received her degree in geography and cartography. Not knowing what to do next, she applied to every job that sounded fun and ended up on a hydrographic research ship in Alaska.

Verena’s parents also bought another sailboat and cruised Mexico while producing the travel show Travel Secrets TV which aired on the Family Net channel. After five years they sold their boat and are now living in an RV while exploring the US and making a new travel show about the US. You can watch every episode for free on the website.