2020 50’ LAGOON “DELANA MAE”

This fun sailing duo has been on the Caribbean blue together for nearly 5 years! As adventurers, delivery​ crew, private charter crew and as sailing instructors; RJ and Jenna have always found a way to sail​ together.​
​
Captain RJ, originally from Alaska, began sailing many years ago in the Puget Sound, surrounded by​ mountains and the beautiful city of Seattle. Longing for warmer wind and water (as many of us do), RJ​ decided to sell his businesses, officially downsize his life and move to St. Thomas to become a sailboat​ captain. And that is exactly what he did. Not long after moving to the USVI, RJ found himself the cocaptain of a fun little day charter boat named, Rumbaba. Though she was a simple little 39ft Hunter​ monohull; Rumbaba was a blast to take guests out on. Incredible scenery, snorkeling with turtles,​ delicious grilled lunch entrees and all the fresh cocktails you could handle made each outing something​ special for every guest. Making the top 10 of all activities to do on St. Thomas and Trip Advisor verified​ that!​
​
First Mate Jenna grew up on Newman Lake, Washington; a beautiful little lakeside community outside of​ Spokane. Her love for boating began from a very young age; sitting on her Dad’s lap and racing the​ speed boat from shore to shore. Jenna’s eventual move to Seattle only gave her more access to playing​ on sailboats on the Puget Sound. Loving the city, but needing escape, boat camping, or as Jenna would​ say, “Bamping”, around the many islands and bays of the sound became a frequent weekend event. She​ could also always be found as steady and faithful crew for the infamous Duck Dodge races of South Lake​ Union!​
​
The wind and the sea continued to call on RJ too, and he found himself as crew on some pretty slick​ racing sailboats. Again however, the warmer wind and waters of the Caribbean continued to call; this​ time, literally…​
​
RJ’s original sailing instructor, from many years earlier in Seattle, was on the other end of that phone​ call. He had established a sailing school in Grenada and, through social media, had seen that RJ was back​ in the Puget Sound sailing.​
​
“Have you ever thought about teaching sailing?” he said through the phone. “I think you’d be great at​ it.” He added.​
​
RJ laughed at first, “Man, I’m still out here learning to sail!”​
​
His response was all RJ needed to hear: “RJ, there is no better way to learn than to teach.”​

And with that, the next chapter of sailing began. RJ diligently acquired all the proper certifications​ through the US Coast Guard and the American Sailing Association and began to teach sailing at Seattle​ Sailing Club. What a blast! RJ absolutely found a calling. This is also when he met his beautiful wife,​ Jenna. She was a lighthearted beer can racing sailor when they met and she was fascinated with his​ plans to live a Caribbean sailing life. He was going and he hoped she would visit, often.​
​
After about 6 months from that first important phone call, RJ moved himself to Grenada. Sight unseen​ prior to arrival, he immediately fell in love with Grenada and The Grenadines. How can you not? They​ are the friendliest people in the Caribbean; hands down. And beauty was everywhere! What a place.​
“Work” was teaching term charter sailing and exploring all the amazing little spots along the way. Oh​ what fun this job is! Teaching people who are so excited and switched on to learn how to captain a boat​ for themselves. Many students planned to charter boats with their family and friends, some just wanted​ to see what it was all about by testing their will (and stomachs) and still others came to learn how to sail​ off into retirement, literally.​
​
Jenna continued to join the Grenada adventure. At first as an ASA student herself. She kept coming back​ to join RJ on more adventures and for more sailing. Their combined passion for sailing has only been​ surpassed by their love for each other. The more they sailed, the more obvious it became that this was​ to be their wonderful and adventure filled life together. Teaching became a calling for them both and​ they began to charter private couple’s cruising instruction. Does it get any better than that?! Working​
with your love and teaching other couples with similar dreams to yours how to make it into a reality! It​ has been truly amazing. Just ask them and you will get the fully animated version… they don’t tell short​ stories… Haha, what fun would that be?!​
​
5 years later; RJ married the beautiful Jenna. They’ve sailed over 20,000 nautical miles together. Over​ 300 ASA students graduated. 2 Outstanding ASA Instructor of the Year awards. 100’s of new friends and​ lifetimes of memories. Life has been good to say the least.​
​
It’s not always sailing for these two… whenever possible, Jenna and RJ enjoy scuba diving, kiteboarding,​ hiking and traveling together. Stateside, RJ laces up the skates whenever he can smell an ice rink and​ Jenna gets all giddy when she can strap on the crampons and climb to the tallest mountain. Family and​ friends are always in the mix everywhere they go.​
​
So now it is time to make some more new friends and show you all the beauty that the Virgin Islands​ have to offer.

Get to know this crew better with a hosted interview!