I am married to my soulmate, Bridget, and I have two beautiful boys, Max and Noah, that are 8 and 9. I was raised growing up on a 600+ acre Kentucky farm, and a house next to a railroad in a small city in Ohio. My childhood was full of adventure, swimming in creeks, or the flatrock river in KY, fishing in reservoirs, finding undiscovered places,like access to the local warehouse roof, or an underground drainage pipe that ran under the railroad in town. My brothers and I would catch crawfish, and snapping turtles, carp, and tadpoles. We pedaled our bikes all over that little town in Ohio, slept in tree houses and baseball dugouts. We melted army men, tried to blow up Matchbox cars with firecrackers, got real acquainted with dirt, learned how to build cities out of it, and spent countless hours making ants fall off trees with a magnifying glass and a little sunlight. My brothers and I would climb onto the bed and play pirates, the bed our proud maiden ship and everything else the open sea. We dreamed. My mom let us live, and loved us the whole way.

We didn't have alot of money, didn't really go on family vacations to speak of, never traveled much.Occasionally we'd go to the beach on Lake Erie, and spend the entire day, swim till we were exhausted and explore the rock jetty to see what we could find in the crevices. I've been a few places since, not nearly as many as I'd like to someday see, and I have always felt like a bit of a wanderer looking for a better town.

After high school, I left to go to college, and moved here to NC and quickly ran out of money, so I joined the Marine Corps where I served 4 years as an Aircraft Firefighter and discovered the ocean and coastal NC. I remember the first time I walked to the waters edge, the incredible curiosity it gave me, and the fear that I felt. To spite that fear, I bought a surfboard and surfed relentlessly on my off time. I moved inland after the service, and met my wife, and we both worked corporate America for years making good money, seeing each other a few hours each night, and missing out on each other spending all our money on the clothes that we wore to work, and paying someone else to watch the boys, eating fast food, and talking to each other over cell phones on family plans. I worked 70+ hour weeks quite often. We even bought a big sailboat that we visited on weekends. We felt like we were missing each other, and the only time we ended with was that weekend trip to the boat, and the opportunity to feel some sand on our feet!

I mentioned I have a bit of a fear of the ocean, something I've been learning about myself over the years, but I also know that I have a love for saltwater that is deep. My wife does too, she loves sand in her toes, and sunshine in her beautiful Irish face. A few years ago my wife and I (and the boys of course)decided, after much thought and little preparation to leave our home, get rid of all of our stuff (lots of stuff) and move to the coast of North Carolina....a place that I fell in love with long ago....a discovery of sorts. We called our friends and gave away almost everything we had in our house, kept the sentimental things and boxed them up, the boys gave the majority of their toys to charity, and kept their prized possessions. We meet people, regularly that cruise, (mostly retired folks and the occasional couple with kids that's struggling like we are to keep it together) that are living a dream, visiting southern islands, others crossing the Atlantic, many with amazing stories to tell, full of life and fulfillment, and adventure, some with stories of hellish terror on the sea. They say it's 99% sheer bliss, 1% incredible terror. We've seen older couples learn that their health won't let them live the dream they spent their life saving for, only to miss the opportunity. One particular couple we know frequently comes to the boatyard, and paints and varnishes their beautiful vessel, knowing they will never set the sails, but still hanging on. It's a scene that plays out in front of us far too often. We do what we can to help, and learn.

It's been two years now and we still live on our boat in paradise, wherever that is, wherever we go. We haven't gone anywhere tropical yet, but it's a goal to shoot for. We're learning the sea, and the sails, tying knots, and studying weather, charts, and navigation. Bridget homeschools the kids now, a new adventure in itself, and we try to take time to enjoy what's around us as much as we possibly can. It frees us up to explore. She takes more time for herself now. She takes pictures now and then, hers have her name on them. She enjoys walks in the morning with the boys, on occasion, enjoying the waters edge, and this little fishing village (Oriental, NC) and surrounding towns. Our place is now always waterfront, and full of life. We love beautiful things, and we love just being together. We don't have alot, we live with very little money, a sort of contradiction of sorts in a world full of people that have lot's of money and struggling health. There's not a whole lot of room on a boat, so everything has it's purpose, but we're happy, and we know we've got it made.

I'm thankful for my eyes, a beautiful family, and friends and opportunity.... opportunity to hug my kids, and enjoy them, and cuddle my wife on a rainy day. Thankful for decent health and a healthy family among many other things. Our pictures are often times taken straight from the boat, not always, but often.

Photography is a bit of a hobby, something that I love sharing, because it makes me feel good, and hopefully when people see the shots, they feel something......anything.....but hopefully it changes the way they feel! I hope that someday, I'll sell a shot and become an official starving artist. Though I don't consider myself to be a professional, all the rights to my photos are reserved, so please do not steal them....feel free to contact me if there's an interest in using one of my shots, I'd love to hear from you.... and if anyone has any advise, I'm open for suggestions...I'm fairly new to this. I don't believe that a good photo has to come from a good camera, and I do this because I enjoy it...as do most.

I love inspiring things, it's sort of what drew me to sailing....I love the wind, it feels good. To capture it is amazing, to share it is even better...as with a picture. I've enjoyed the shots and the search, and seeing other's discoveries as well.

Thanks for sharing them with the world.

Ray

"If one advances in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life that he has imagined, He will meet with a success unexpected in common hours."

Henry David Thoreau