OK, I admit it...that's me in the photo. The short one with the wide cuffs and the spiffy yacht. Obviously, I've had the boating bug for a long time. I've been an award-winning boating journalist for more than four decades (yipes!), including a decade as the Senior Editor of Yachting Magazine and seven years as the Editor of Sea Magazine. I really got my start as the West Coast editor for One-Design Yachtsman Magazine (now Sailing World) and, after figuring out I needed to know what I was doing, I earned a Master's in Journalism from UCLA. I write regularly for most of the major boating publications, and I've had a monthly column in Sailing Magazine for 14 years, during which time they haven't edited a single one of my precious words. I guess that's either good news or bad news. I've owned more boats than I want my wife or banker to know about, but the fleet is always changing. I'm no purist, either: I've had both power and sail and more than few powered by oars, too. In addition to writing about boats, I hosted the Marine Voyager cable television series seen weekly on the Speed Channel and Outdoor Life networks. Get this: I even appeared on Oprah! as an expert on the boating lifestyle: what a giggle that was! I never knew so many people watched daytime TV! My boating career has been great fun, ranging from TransPacific Races to one-design sailing to charter cruising in exotic places like Thailand and Tahiti, and I've been involved in every America's Cup since 1970. You know what? I'm just plain crazy about boats! (I wish I still had Dad's woody station wagon, though!)