Welcome to Catamaran Guru

When writing the story of your life, hold the pen firmly in your own hand!

We had long considered launching this website on the encouragement from our friends, clients and colleagues. We decided to take the plunge and tell our story as a way to not only entertain but to encourage and educate all the dreamers and planners out there. We have owned multiple yachts (monohulls and catamarans) during our sailing career and have sailed 70,000+ miles in different parts of the world. Our story starts in 1992 in Cape Town, South Africa. With the same feeling of ‘wanderlust’ and a dream of traveling around the world, there was only one thing for us to do…make the dream a reality!

Stephen launched our 45ft Bruce Roberts design sloop called ‘Royal Salute‘ after 2 years of building her in a friend’s back garden. We left Cape Town harbor soon after and set sail for the east coast of Africa. We explored, discovered, forged friendships, learned about life, sailing, people, cultures and most of all we learned new things about ourselves. This adventure would never have been possible had we not set a deadline and made the decision to cast off the lines.

Our dream became our life! We now have a base in the USA but are still sailing regularly, so much so that the first words out of our family’s mouths usually are, “Where are you now?” We are living proof that one can successfully meld a career with the cruising lifestyle and that one should never be hampered by the constraints of every day life.

Our partnership is born of the same passion for the sea and all its creatures, exotic cultures and the exploration of far away lands. We seldom follow the ‘pack’. We are considered slightly unorthodox and sometimes eccentric by the people who know us and we refuse to live by a set schedule. Our incessant quest for freedom and independence is evident throughout the pages of Catamaran Guru and possibly stems from our aversion to restrictions on our personal freedoms.

In the process of exploring the world on our boat we, previously considered to be two “Plonkers”, became the “Gurus”, not without a lot of struggle and a steep learning curve on the high seas! Our experiences are documented throughout these pages and we hope that you will enjoy and ultimately learn from our experiences and mistakes.

Thanks to all the other Plonkers’ encouragement and help!