"Crossing the Bar" | Biography

Crossing the Bar: The Adventures of a San Francisco Bay Bar Pilot

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Born and raised in Lynbrook, Long Island.

Graduated from Malverne High 1965

Graduated fourth in Marine Transportation from SUNY Maritime in 1969

Deans, List, Admirals list, Editor of the Porthole. Two letters for varsity sailing. Platoon Commander

Navigator on the offshore sailing team. Letter of Commendation from Captain Phillips, master of the TS Empire State IV for starting the school's first shipboard daily newspaper, An Effort to be Salty, during the summer cruise in 1968

I hold a U.S. Masters License and Unlimited First Class Pilotage for San Francisco and Humboldt Bay, California

Shipped out after graduation. Attended UC Berkeley for a short time but decided to become a ship pilot instead

Appointed to the position of San Francisco Bar Pilot by the State of California in February, 1977. At that time I was the youngest pilot ever appointed by the State's oldest commission and the Governor since 1850.

Owned two successful businesses in San Francisco. One, the Captain's Scribe, was on San Francisco's famous Union Street. The second one was, Capnco, a commercial embroidery business that specialized in embroidery to the ship and airline industries.

I retired from the pilots in 2008 after 31 years of service with over 6100 ship moves to my credit. I piloted and docked everything that came into San Francisco Bay, from submarines, to The Love Boat, to offshore oil rigs, to yachts, to the USS Enterprise, CVN 65.

I have been married to my present wife, Carol, for twenty-two years. We commute between our homes in Palm Springs, California and Falmouth, Massachusetts.

My first book, Crossing the Bar, was published by Skyhorse Press, in Manhattan in September, 2016