Mike & Verena

Welcome! We’re Mike and Verena. We met in Alaska while working aboard a NOAA hydrographic research ship, 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 licensed US Coast Guard captains (100-ton near-shore masters), 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. Ready for another adventure, we drove our minivan north to Alaska where we spent 6 months working and playing.

In 2015, we bought ourselves a trawler to further explore the Pacific Northwest. We still work as hydrographers and do a lot of road trips in our minivan. We have driven from Alaska to the Florida Keys to San Diego and back again; worked in Alaska, Michigan, Wisconsin, Texas, Louisiana, Virginia, and Florida; and traveled to Mexico, Aruba, the Bahamas, Panama, and Canada. For more on our adventures check out the timeline linked to our photo albums. 

We occasionally do boat deliveries (mostly free if we can take our time) and would love to help you with your boating adventures.

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 boats, a West Wight Potter 19 and later on our 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 with Mike.

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.