I've worked on the water in one form or another for most of my adult life — superyachts in the Mediterranean and Caribbean, commercial ferries, pearling fleet fishing vessels in the northwest of Australia, and now managing a fleet of 42 yachts between 35 and 90 feet on San Diego Bay. I grew up in rural Australia. My parents lived aboard a sailing catamaran for eight years. Boats were never a novelty — they were just how life worked.
What I do now is a bit unusual. I'm not a broker, I'm not a yacht club instructor, and I'm not selling you a course. I'm a working marine professional — on boats most days of the week, fixing things, training owners, delivering vessels, solving problems. The kind of person you call when something goes wrong and you need someone who's seen it before.
First Mate Yacht Club started because I kept having the same conversations. Intelligent, successful people who'd bought a significant vessel and found themselves quietly anxious every time they left the dock. Not because they couldn't learn — they could — but because nobody had taken the time to teach them the right things in plain language. The gap between owning a yacht and confidently operating one is real, and almost nobody is talking about it honestly.
Everything I write here comes from the boats I've worked on, the owners I've trained, and the mistakes I've made myself. Nothing is theoretical. Nothing is sponsored. If I recommend something, it's because I've used it or seen it work in conditions that matter.
The podcast — Become a Better Big Boater — is the audio version of the same mission. Tips, tricks, and salty stories from me and some of the best people I know in the marine industry, to help you get the absolute maximum enjoyment out of your yacht.
Confidence through competence. Not the manufactured kind. The real kind — built trip by trip, until the knot in your stomach becomes muscle memory.
I'm based in San Diego. I work on yachts from 35 to 90 feet, teach owner-operators, and occasionally take delivery work when the boat is interesting enough. If you want to get in touch, the best way is through the site.