My Story...
In true fashion of A Sculpted life… The dream of owning a boat comes full circle. I grew up on the ocean, the beaches of Southern California and of course the incredible Channel Island National Park were integral to the life of my youth. . However, in the latter part of my young adult life I had an encounter with God. I remember it with incredible detail, If your not a believer I don’t expect you to understand completely, but it transformed my life moving forward.
I was working as a deck hand aboard the 110ft “Jolly Roger” set to depart on a three month trip from the Southern California port of Ventura Harbor to various places along the way north to Alaska. Our mission was to haul a two-man submarine called the “Delta” and her crew, to different locations for a variety of research operations; Seismic studies off the coast of northern California to monitor a fault line with geologists, A wreck dive in the Puget Sound, Grey Whale studies off the coast of Sitka, Alaska and finally Tanner Crab studies around Kodiak Island, Alaska and It was on this final leg of our trip that my life was forever changed.
These very long a grueling trips are difficult, but rewarding, not only was I seeing and exploring new territories, but I was also stacking up my sea-time and experience to acquire my 100ton masters Captains license. At this point, all of my passions were intrinsically tied to the sea, but as we set out to cross the gulf of Alaska, over 650Nm of open ocean and one giant decision awaited me.
As crew we all spent some time in the wheelhouse monitoring systems and keep watch as our autopilot steers the course, on long passages such as this it translates Into lots of quiet time spent staring over the ships wheel and into the cascading horizon. On this particular day we were experiencing massive ground swells. The wave heights ranged from 40-50 feet high, but the period between waves was long. The period is the time between the peak of one swell, to the peak of the next swell at it would pass a fixed point. It felt like stepping on a slow escalator, for which you know you’re going up, but can’t see beyond what’s right in front of you, if for only a very brief moment before plunging right back down once again. As sat their perched in the captains chair peering over the instruments and into the oncoming waves God brought to my mind a desire, and then a question. The best I can describe it was like a series of images flashed into my consciousness bringing detail where there wasn’t before. I suppose some context is in order here…. I was raised by a single Mom, and my Dad left my brother and I and of course my Mom, when I was about 3 years of age. I was raised in the Christian church and nearly all of my youth I longed for a Dad, maybe more than that, … a strong family. So the images God gave me were pictures of a family, and furthermore the question … do you trust me?
I wrestled with the experience, but still had great clarity. It took me a couple years to follow through as I did actually obtain my captains license at 19, only to use it for very short period of time. The ultimate result was me moving to central Washington leaving the ocean entirely. I left my home in Ventura ,California with all my belongings and moved to a small town called Mason, WA without ever having gone there before. There are times when I look back with disbelief, but it’s true I followed open doors of opportunity and prayed … reminding God in my prayers of what I left to follow his lead. Many other monumental things happened along the way Friendships, My wife and subsequent family as well as my life as a sculptor
I get goosebumps writing this…because I can now see God knitting together this vision from so long ago perched in that captains chair peering out across the deep blue ocean … I often wonder what my life would look like had I not had the courage to hear His voice. A disjointed childhood and giving me a vision for following him to lead me to the life I have now. I did, and still do miss the ocean terribly, but God filled it with other things as I raised my family. You see, living A Sculpted Life is one that allows you to be shaped along the way, but is also much more than that, its also looking at the bigger picture and striving to do, and be the very best you can… putting forth effort when you feel weak.
Broken family – Gave me a vision for my own family
No place to go – gave me a place to go, can the desire to move out in faith
No Career- He gave me abilities I had no idea I could achieve (23 years making Sculptures)
No wife- He gave me a wife
No family- He gave me a wife and Three wonderful Kids
No ocean – He Gave me Raven
I am by no means perfect nor is my life, but I am blessed beyond measure for the life and the people God has placed in it. Don’t think for a minute that I have not taken in the symbolism of my beautiful Nor’Sea 27 “Raven” and the youtube channel name ” A Sculpted Life…” they both are constant reminders of what we can do when we allow God to take the lead.
Sailing Vessel "Raven"
SV “Raven” is a 1995 27′ Nor’Sea designed by Lyle Hess, it was built ruggedly to withstand bluewater … or open ocean conditions. I purchased her spring of 2022 and began the process of going through from stem to stern. You might ask… What role does “Raven” serve in A Sculpted life, well… I’m glad you asked.
Even though I live in Northern Idaho now, I grew up on the beaches of Southern California. I got my scuba diving certification at 16 and soon after started working on sport diving boats, then tourism to serve the Channel Islands National Park. This experience instilled a passion for the ocean early on and even though I did move away… the draw and love of the ocean itself has never died. Fast forward 25 years and a 23 year long career as an artist and in comes my sweet Nor’Sea 27′. It’s a dream come true really, I can now bring my passion for water and exploration alongside my experience as an artist to bring the dream full circle. This has indeed become a Sculpted life, both figuratively and otherwise, and it’s these combined experiences that I want to share with others hoping to inspire others to dream big and patiently build a sculpted life of their own.
– Length : 27′ – Beam: 8ft. – Weight :9,600 lbs – Mast height: 35′
-Propoltion :Yanmar 2gm20f
Like many dreams they come in stages, so for phase one of this new found adventure, I will be sailing “Raven” on inland lakes, but before you tune out… out thinking lake sailing is less than stellar, Check out some footage from my backyard lake … Lake Pend Orellie (Pronounced ” Pon-der-ay”) with The panhandle of Idaho being just under 6 hrs from the Washington coast, I will most certainly will make my way to explore :
– Washington States renowen coastal areas of Puget Sound, Sailish Sea, and surrounding areas
– Canada’s BC coastline, and inside passage
– Mexico’s Sea of Cortez
One of the strengths of “Raven” as a Nor Sea 27 is that she is trailerable… yup, she’s heavy and take some effort to rig, but this capability allows me to take her nearly anywhere my little heart desires. The part of the dream that brings this whole thing full circle is integrating my career as an artist and my passion for the water exploration. Raven is small, and as roomy as she is for her might 27feet, it’s still challenging to sculpt aboard her. Right now (2023) my work is primarily based in the northwest, and mostly sculptures made from wood. So the goal moving forward is to introduce a new medium making it much easier to sculpt aboard Raven, and ship sculptures worldwide.