About Us

Mark and Heidi Green

Ahoy friends old and new! Here’s a little info about us. We have been married for 30 years, have two wonderful adult children, and are currently enjoying a temporary early retirement from the M-F working world to sail Estelle. Our goal is to go cruising for a year– or as long as the boat kitty lasts. This blog was set up for our family and friends to follow our travels– or just find out where the heck we are.

We started sailing together in college, purchasing and racing a Santa Cruz 27 in San Francisco Bay before we were married. Once the kids arrived, we spent 20 years in the midwest, boat-less and sad, occasionally booking a bare boat charter for vacation with the kids. Once the kids were launched from college we decided to buy a cruising yacht– one that could cross oceans safely and let us start checking items off our sailing bucket list. Estelle was the happy result of that search–a Swedish built Hallberg Rassy 39.

Here’s the foto of Swedish Princess Estelle that clinched the boat’s name. We couldn’t resist Princess Estelle’s joie de vie! Plus she has the same birth day – February 23 – as our daughter. (Good karma abounds around Estelle!)

The little Swedish Princess Estelle

And here’s our very own 22,000 pound Swedish princess Estelle!

S/V Estelle

Our current plan for sailing Estelle is to head to Baja Mexico, in time for Christmas, and spend the winter of 2020 exploring the Sea of Cortez. At some point, we would like to sail to Hawaii in order to catch the backside of the Pacific high that will return us to the north. The idea is to spend next summer sailing in British Columbia before returning home to Friday Harbor WA next fall. But we’ll see. You all know what they say about sailing and plans: it’s a sure way to get King Neptune laughing…