Walt grew up in rural Hunterdon County, New Jersey, and spent his summers working and boating on the New Jersey shore. He is a graduate of The Peddie School, and the University of Virginia. After taking his degree at UVA, he worked in his father's civil engineering and land surveying business for four years before pursuing his passion with cars. He had a successful career racing sportscars all over North America, as well as at LeMans, France, winning over a hundred amateur races, twenty six professional races, and two national professional championships in IMSA as the factory driver for Mazda, as well as Pontiac and Chevrolet. Over thirty years, he has raced everything from Bugeye Sprites to Porsche 962 prototypes, and still competes in Historic racing when time allows.
After having power boats from the age of eight, in 1980 he discovered sailboats, and has been an avid sailer since his first one, a Prindle catamaran. After a succession of monohulls, Walt has come full circle when he ordered the Dean 441 cat that he now charters in the Islands.
His hobbies are music (a drummer), dancing, fishing, cooking, flying (both full scale and radio control planes), and enjoying the adventure of exploring by boat.
Ruth grew up in Lafayette, Indiana, and attended Purdue University. She and her sisters boated on the Tippecanoe River. She was a competitive swimmer in school. She and her husband raised two sons, and had a nursery and landscaping business. She also bought and sold antique pottery and porcelain in Indiana, Ohio and Florida, and worked in real estate. After her husband passed away unexpectedly, she moved to Florida to be near friends, and to pursue her love of the water and adventure. She also loves music, gardening, dancing, cooking, and entertaining friends, new and old. She holds her USCG Captains license. This Pisces is thrilled to live on the water and share all her favorite snorkel spots with guests.
Admiral Mattea is a 14 year old, shy Siamese cat who enjoys watching seagulls and passing dinghies.