We just wrapped up our winter season in Florida and the Bahamas. We had lots of sunshine and four trips to different islands in the Bahamas for four completely different shoots.

We started with shooting the 142-foot Palmer Johnson, Lady J, in Staniel Cay for our friend Captain Greg Russell and his fun and professional crew. We got to Marsh Harbor with Jeremy McGeary on a shoot for the American Sailing Association’s new charter guidebook. Paul Fenn, president of Jeanneau America, organized a fun sail to Cat Island with Herb McCormick. See images of the trip here - as well as a fun video of the sail. and we shot a beautiful Broward, Trilogy, off Nassau.

In Florida we were able to work with some very beautiful people on shoots for Fairline Yachts and Prestige, and we got to travel to Vancouver Island with Tony Fleming to shoot their extremely capable 78-footer.

We got to go by the new Gunboat factory in North Carolina for Professional Boatbuilder magazine and photograph one of the hulls popping out of the mold. Peter Johnstone has an exciting program and is working with lots of talented people. We’re looking forward to the new 55-footer in June.

We’re working with Stanley Paris as he prepares for his non-stop solo voyage around the world. He was in the Caribbean for a couple months but is back in St. Augustine training on the boat and sorting out all the systems. Lyman-Morse built the boat to be both a family cruiser, and when the interior is stripped down this autumn to be a very capable, lightweight solo racer. We’ll be helping Stanley assemble a video library to share with Florida school children. Check out one of our videos on the project here.

We’re looking forward to a very busy spring season here and jumped right in with New England Boatwork’s Doug Zurn designed commuter launch in April. It’s built on the molds of Longevity, which our friend Peter Fowler ran for many years. Power & Motoryacht is planning a story on the boat and we were very happy to help George Sass and Co. with several stories at the Palm Beach boat show.

One of our favorite races, the Atlantic Cup, starts the season off May 11 from Charleston with a stop in New York and finish in Newport. It’s a combination of distance and in-shore racing for the Open 40 class that’s been very popular with sponsors, especially anyone wanting to associate themselves with America’s only carbon neutral regatta. Race organizers Hugh Piggin and Julianna Barbieri put the entire event together from scratch and are doing a world-class job.

Pictured: A beautiful sunset view of the Pell Bridge in Newport, RI from the side deck of M/Y Chantal Ma Vie.