Marty McOmber

My mom, nine months pregnant, was with my dad in a 17-foot engineless sailboat on a small and windless California lake when a powerboat exploded nearby. My dad jumped in the water with lifejackets and started swimming toward the blazing boat.

As my parents tell the story, a gentle breeze suddenly filled the small sails and the little boat began moving in the opposite direction. Without a clue how to handle the boat, my mom’s concern about dad’s safety grew into a mild panic about her own. Of course, that’s when I decided to make my grand entrance. Laying low for all those months while my parents were playing on the water, I must have somehow known I was missing out on all the fun.

That’s boating. You never know what’s going to happen. More often than not it turns out fine, as it did that day on the lake—no one was hurt and I had the decency to cool my heels until my parents made it to a hospital.

I was lucky enough to grow up sailing right here in Puget Sound. And while I drifted away from it in my 20s, preoccupied with college and work in other cities, I eventually rediscovered my love of boating and the waters I call home.

I was also lucky enough to meet Deborah, who came to share my passion (and launch this site). You can read more here about our boat, Camelot, which I bought before we met and lived aboard for four years.

When I wasn’t boating, I wrote for newspapers for much of my career, including The Seattle Times. I did a stint in politics and now work in communications at a major foundation. But as my career has changed, I’ve managed to always stay near the water.

These days, our free time is spent boating, planning our next trip and daydreaming about long distance travels. I know there are plenty of other people who share our obsession, and that’s why we started this site.

We sail in some of the best cruising grounds in the world. I hope this site will encourage people to get to know them a little better. At a minimum, it gives me an outlet to share some of my thoughts, enthusiasm and personal discoveries. I hope you’ll find it valuable too.

Feel free to shoot me an email anytime using the form below.

Cheers,

Marty McOmber

The Rest of the Crew:

• Deborah Bach — Editor
• Lily Winston Churchill — Cat
• About Us

 

Contact Marty:

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