I was born in 1960 in Grand Forks, ND and grew up in Minneapolis, MN. My father was quite an adventurer, taking me along on 2-week canoe trips into the Boundry Waters Area bordering Canada. When I was seven he bought a 24’ sloop. I was amazed at the relative size of it but constantly terrified we would capsize and drown. He called me "chicken little" because I would cower in the cabin, stacking anything that wasn’t bolted down on the high side of the to keep us upright.

By age 13 I began to enjoy sailing, taking an interest into voyaging. I read all his classic adventure books by Slocum and Chichester, fantasizing I was in their sea boots. By 16 I was racing with friends in the Lake City Yacht Club, with respectable results for a couple of kids in cut-offs.

Windsurfing began to boom in the mid-70’s, and by 1978 I had scrounged up a very beat-up, original Windsurfer board. I didn’t have the funds for any of the parts so sewed the sail myself as my first sewing project for a high school class (it was late, but I got an A!), and made the wood dagger board. She was christened "Climax." Learning to sail it took a few days of trial and error in deep, green Mississippi water, but from then on I was hooked!

After college at Mankato State University (now Minnesota State University-Mankato) I went into the entertainment business as a high diver theme park shows.

The great part was that the parks were scattered throughout the world, offering numerous sailing opportunities at locales I never dreamed I’d visit such as the Ijsselmeer in Holland, Sydney Harbor, and Hong Kong. It was there where I met the new owner of a 56’ Gary Mull design, seeking crew to deliver her to Mexico for the charter business. I jumped at the chance! He even happened to have a windsurfer aboard…

It was 1987 in Taiwan where I first started sailing skateboards around in parking lots of the theme park I worked at – weaving around all the drying fish from the town fishing fleet laying out to dry. We’d pull the local kids around on bikes and roller skates like water skiers. I knew back then that this was a cool sport with possibilities...