the crew

Brenda and Gary on Pandion, returning from a cruise to the Berry Islands in December 2017.

Pandion's crew includes Gary, who serves as Captain, cook and resident marine biologist, and Brenda, who serves as Admiral, sport fishing guide, and financial manager.

Gary started sailing when he was 12 years old. He learned the basics of sailing on a Sunfish, along with his Dad and two brothers. His family began sailing in the British Virgin Islands in the 1970's, starting out with a 28 ft monohull, the Bonnie Bell (a bit crowded with a crew of 5), and within a few years, graduating to a 38 ft Horizon Out Islander with Tortola Yacht Charters (the forerunner of Moorings). When he went off to college in South Florida in 1977, Gary bought a used Hobie Cat at a church auction and trailered it with his MGB.

After retiring from his career at the Rookery Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve in Naples, Florida, he and his wife Brenda  purchased a 2009 Lagoon 440 in Ft. Lauderdale, and began planning their retirement adventure.

Brenda started her adventures on the water bass fishing on Lake Orange in Florida with her brother Terry. Her sailing adventures began with Gary in the Bahamas a few years ago, when on her first morning at anchor, she was awakened to find a squall heading towards the boat.

Gary and Brenda on Pandion in the Bahamas.

While Gary manned the helm, Brenda went forward and used the windlass to raise the anchor, only to discover that the anchor had hooked onto a submerged (uncharted) power line.

With the boat now freely using the hooked anchor as a zipline, she was heading towards the rocky shoreline when Brenda got the idea of using the boathook to free the anchor. It worked. And Brenda's been hooked on sailing ever since.

Brenda recently retired from public service, and has jumped into the sailing life along with her husband and partner Gary.

Keely and John.

Our Support Team

We strive to be as self sufficient as possible, but we also rely on a few people in the States who help us out with everything from float plans, communications with family and blogging advice, to ordering and delivering needed parts (like our replacement anchor windlass motor) that help ensure that Pandion can stay on course during this journey.

We greatly appreciate the help of Cathy and Bill, and Keely and John, and the love and support of our family and friends back home.