A Dream Came True in December, 2021
by Mara
Years ago, there was a really cool boat in the yard Greg wanted me to come see. Greg is around so many boats that when one is neat enough for him to talk about, I pay attention. The boat was called Rocket Science and ever since we saw it that first time when it was about 13 years old, no other boat could compare. When Greg and I met, I had just taken over the boat I was named after from my parents and since then we’d done a ridiculous amount of work on it. We installed a taller rig, a carbon Hall spar, carbon chainplates (designed by Paul Bieker), new rudder, new engine mounts, new deck/cabin house core, new companionway, painted and faired everything, new windows and hatches… we love that boat but we both agreed the only reason we’d ever give it up was if Rocket Science was available.
Fast forward to 2021, I’d been following Jenny and TJ’s adventures and had even sent them a message early in the year saying if they were thinking of selling the boat we’d love to talk. I saw they had shipped the boat back to Anacortes and then WOAH, one day it was listed with a local broker. I immediately talked to Greg who thought I was crazy but my dad and another friend went up to Anacortes with me to see it. That convinced my dad that he was interested too, and he and mom were looking for a bit more motivation to sell their J40. The friend who came with us wanted to buy the J40 and it only took a bit more reasoning for Greg to get on board.
We brought the boat home to Seattle on December 16th, a quiet grey day across the straits and into Puget Sound. We unfurled the jib and motor sailed home, a quick trip that ended with friends and family meeting us on the dock.
Our mini bios, for those who don’t know us:
Greg sailed recreational in high school and college and became immersed in the racing culture, first by working as part of the CYC Seattle Race Committee, and then by working his way up through the fleets as crew. During that time he had some amazing mentors that help him hone his skills and light the spark that would lead to a career in the industry. There were trips back east for regattas, deliveries from Hawaii, Alaska and San Diego, many races and lots of learning. He started working at CSR after a two year stint at North Sails and is obsessive about doing the best job possible in every way. For the last nineteen years he has been rigging lead at CSR and also works as a facilitator for the individual teams and Project Managers. He’s fastidious and makes time, energy, and patience he needs to get big stuff done on Rocket Science too.
Mara, on the other hand, loves to spend hours and hours whenever she can messing around with boats, especially Rocket Science. She was named after her families sailboat and grew up cruising and racing. Mara got into many projects in her late teens and twenties like remodeling as housebarge, building a 4-seat plane from plans out of fiberglass, re-powering a massive steel tug, and building a bunch of kayaks. When her parents wanted a new boat she had to have the Mara for herself and finally convinced them she’d manage. Right after she moved onboard she met Greg at CSR and that was that.
Now that we have Rocket Science, our dreams of big fast adventures is a reality and we’re planning our normal month long summer cruises until we go explore the Pacific for a year or so starting in May 2025.