We’re Dave, Beth, and Landon, sailing and teaching from our Leopard 45. More than 16,000 nautical miles behind
us as a family, across both our boats — this one now through Florida, the Caribbean, Panama, and the South
Pacific.
This chapter: Vanuatu toward Australia.
The boat
WARRIOR — 2021 Leopard 45
Home. Classroom. More than sixteen thousand nautical miles as a family, across both our boats.
We took delivery of WARRIOR in January 2023 — a 2021 Leopard 45 — and cast off again in March. Since then
she’s carried Dave, Beth, and Landon from Florida through the Caribbean, Panama, and the South Pacific to
Vanuatu, with Australia still ahead. She isn’t a showroom boat. She’s where we live, teach, and keep choosing
the next mile.
Typical Leopard 45 class specs
Public data; owner configuration may vary.
Design / build: Simonis-Voogd / Robertson & Caine
LOA: ~45 ft / 13.72 m
Beam: ~24.2 ft / 7.37 m
Draft: ~4.9 ft / 1.50 m
Engines: Twin Yanmar diesels, ~45 hp each
Fuel: ~185 gal / 700 L
Fresh water: ~206 gal / 780 L
Layouts: 3- or 4-cabin versions common in class
Lived reality is simpler than the brochure: grocery runs in unfamiliar ports, night watches that teach more than
any classroom, and the quiet satisfaction of a boat that has already proven she can go the distance. We’re
cruisers who learned by doing — Beth’s natural instinct for people and problem-solving, Dave’s teaching when the
work calls for it — not a flotilla schedule, not a polished expert act. Just a family that owns the outcome and
keeps going.
Curious how this life might fit yours?Explore coaching
or
sailing instruction
— clarity before the hard decisions, taught from the boat you’re aiming for.
Chicago roots. Air Force. Decades in corporate America. Then a decision that didn’t get postponed again:
leave the default path and choose the water.
In 2022 the family committed to the cruising life. After a fire in Georgetown took the first boat thirteen
days into the dream, they started again — bought a 2021 Leopard 45 and cast off in March 2023. As a family
they have logged more than 16,000 nautical miles across both boats. This Leopard’s chapter runs Florida
through the Caribbean, Panama, and the South Pacific.
Dave is a NauticEd Level V Captain Rank Qualified Sailing Instructor/Assessor (bareboat/SLC and offshore)
and PADI scuba instructor. He also serves as a Cruising Coach for Bluewater Cruising. He teaches when the work calls for it — practical, calm, and specific. Cruisers,
not guru sailors.
Partner
Beth
Beth is a co-equal partner in the life and the work — not a passenger, not a side note. She brings the
people-sense and the “we can figure this out” energy that turns a boat into a home.
She chose the water with Dave after the military-and-corporate years, stood through the Georgetown restart,
and has lived the same miles with us — more than 16,000 nautical miles as a family, across both our boats.
Conversations about this life
are Dave and Beth’s together.
Crew
Landon "Lando"
Landon (“Lando”) is curious, all-in, and homeschooled underway. The world is the classroom — weather, ports,
and the ordinary work of a boat that keeps moving.
She stands watches with Dave and Beth on a shared schedule, growing up on a family circumnavigation with
more than 16,000 nautical miles already sailed as a family, across both our boats.
The name
What "Life Warrior" means to us
Own the outcome. Prepare. Choose. Keep going when weather, gear, or timing edits the plan.
This is an invitation for people who want adventure, skill, and a life that isn’t sitting in a folder.
Credentials at a glance
More than 16,000 nautical miles as a family, across both boats
Leopard 45 (2021) — training platform and home
NauticEd Level V Instructor/Assessor · ANS Instructor/Assessor · SLC Assessor · Travel & Roving Instructor
