Sailors' Series | Crew of Three
Thursday, September 7, 2023 | 6:00PM
Doors open at 5:30pm | Program at 6:00pm
$10 for members | $20 for non-members
A lite reception will follow the lecture.
Supported by Ruth and Hope Atkinson
Supported in part by
The Samuel D. Rusitzky Lecture Fund
The Sailors’ Series is an annual, legacy lecture series of the New Bedford Whaling Museum that presents a wide variety of experiences and adventures by individuals with lifelong commitments to sailing, boats, and the sea.
Sailors’ Series 2023 is sponsored by:
Babbitt Steam Specialty Company
In 2014, Kimberly, Michael and ten-year-old Ally set sail aboard their 34-foot Gemini catamaran for a two-year on the water adventure, leaving behind the comfort and routine of their ordinary suburban life. Destination? Grenada and back.
What does it take to escape from land life and move aboard a sailboat for two years? Equal parts patience, persistence, and detailed planning. And a sense of humor! From budgets to boat projects, lists to logistics, sailing skills to safety equipment, and creative boatschooling to cooking aboard, it took two full years of planning to make their dream a reality.
Both the planning and the journey pushed each of them outside of their comfort zone in just about every direction. They returned to their old lives as wholly different people, and when they returned, they shed many parts of their lives that no longer fit very well. “Reentry,” it is referred to among cruisers. Rather than return to corporate life, Kimberly picked up her pen and started writing. Michael left his technical consulting job and dove into oyster farming. Ally boldly traveled without her parents, falling in love with Scotland, where she is now in university.
Join us on Thursday, September 7 at 6:00 PM to hear their first-hand account.
About Crew Of Three
Kimberly, author of Crew of Three: How Bold Dreams and Detailed Plans Launched Our Family’s Sailing Adventure, claims she is a gardener and not a sailor. More accurately, she is both a gardener and a sailor, as she now has more than two decades of sailing experience, two of which were cruising full-time.
Michael has been sailing since he was a little boy and has owned boats his entire adult life. Big boats. Boats that require trucks and cranes to launch and haul. Together they own and operate an oyster farm.
Ally, their 19-year-old-daughter, was ten they sailed from Massachusetts to Grenada and started seventh grade upon their return. She will be starting her second year at the University of Glasgow in Scotland, where she is studying molecular and cellular biology.
Collectively, they have more than 40,000 nautical miles of sailing experience.
