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Latitude 38 October 2006 Issue featuring The Caribbean Walkabout by Captain Mark, click here

Captain's Blog



Welcome Aboard!
Have you ever been to a tropical paradise on a sailboat full of friends and good cheer? Have you ever sailed on faraway seas to romantic getaways with your loved one? Have you ever spent an entire week in your bathing suit, with no phones, internet or cares? If you have, would you like to go again?

Sound good? Then Ocean Breeze Tours, Inc. invites you to sail with Captain Mark and experience the sailing charter vacation like no other. Sure, you can hire a uniformed crew that treats you like a baby, OR you can join Capt. Mark almost anywhere in the world and feel like you have lived the sailing life in style, with daily belly laughs and a desire to return that will last a lifetime. Fun is the name of the game, your laughter is Capt. Mark's reward!!

Allow Me to Introduce Myself
Hi, I'm Mark Denebeim (aka D, Baumer, Unkie Monkey, Capt. Mark, Marky Mark), a fun loving sailor with over 25 years experience sailing for fun and for a living. I am a Licensed Coast Guard Captain, Master 50 Ton. Soon after graduating from Claremont McKenna College, CA in 1979, I began my sailing life in Clearwater, FL racing windsurfers. I have been a member of the San Francisco Yacht Club since 1982 and was formally a member of the St. Francis Yacht Club where I founded the popular Fresh Crew Committee to promote 20-40 year old member participation. I am now "Rear Commodore" of the Delray Sailors Yacht Club. See photo below in front of my boat:

After the first (in 1979) of many U.S. to the Caribbean deliveries, I began assisting and running charter boats throughout the Caribbean. For the next three years, in the Caribbean, Newport, RI and San Francisco, CA, that was my job and I loved every minute of it (tough life, huh?) Then graduate school (USC) for the MBA and my first job with a tie and suit.

 

Since then I have owned various boats including a J-24 and a CT 49 ketch and have continued to sail in such diverse locations as Greece, Mexico, Capetown, Rio de Janiero, Seattle and Lake Michgan. After years of sailing with friends and family, I was recently asked by some good friends (sailors and non-sailors) to put together a few sailing vacation packages where they could bring me along for free. This website, and the information found herein, is an extension of that effort and makes it possible to introduce this vacation idea and make my services available to everyone.

The Lattitude of My Attitude
The sailing vacation ideas from Ocean Breeze Tours are not primarily designed to make money, rather to permit me to hang with friends in faraway places, or meet new friends in a sailing environment. I will price each package so that you can travel at a reasonable cost relative to a normal bareboat charter but with many of the benefits of a much more expensive crewed charter. This is the added value to an already bargain vacation concept. As your travel coordinator, I will discuss all matters with you and your group, or I will offer trips that are sure to satisfy experienced and virgin sailors alike.

We don't have to go to places I have already been; we can also explore new places together. If there is someplace you have always wanted to go, let me know!! I specialize in the Caribbean, but I can read a chart anywhere in the world! I really want to go to Belize, I hope you do too!

Most of my sailing now takes place on weekends in Delray Beach, FL where I keep a Hobie 16 catamaran called SANTANA right on the beach. If any of you are in South Florida, you are welcome to hang out in the trapeze and "get it up" (the hull, silly) with me on SANTANA!

Here is a photo of my friend Frank, a veteran of one British Virgin Island Ocean Breeze Tours trip, with his Hobie 16 after a freak hail storm upended his boat. Why is he smiling? Because Frank and I share the same attitude about life in general: Being upset or unhappy about anything is unnecessary and a waste of time!! (and he has a good insurance policy ...)

Cutter


It is with a sad heart that my best little buddy, Cutter, passed on in May, 2006. He was 14 years and ten months old and was the best friend a man could have. He often sailed with me on my Hobie 16 SANTANA, now renamed "Cutter Too" as well as other boats whenever possible. Cutter, named after a cutter rigged sailboat, was always hungry, ready to play or go to the beach, and loved to hang out with the gang. He will be missed and cherished every day of my life.

Whatever yacht we sail, wherever we go, the idea is to have fun and leave your worries behind. Like they say in the islands, mon, no problem! Come sail with me, just name your location and dates and I will customize a trip to satisfy your desires and maximize your pleasure, (sounds pretty juicy don't it?). Thanks for checking out my site!

So call Ocean Breeze Tours and take a vacation you will never forget!

Thanks

Thank you to Tammy Saltzman-Dorfman who initially asked me to put together a trip for her and my buddy Barry (her husband) and their friends. Without this request, none of this would be in front of you now. Tammy is a lawyer in Boca Raton, FL with a newborn baby boy recently added to Barry's three kids. She needs a vacation like this more than anyone I know!

A big thanks to all those who have invited me aboard their boats and to those who sailed with me over the years whether we are racing or cruising. Each voyage is a learning experience and a blast in one way or another. To that end, special thanks to my Dad for forcing me to sand and varnish his old fashioned style boats as a kid and to appreciate the life of a seaman beyond basic sailing skills. (He made sure that I'll never get another boat that requires sanding again!!)

I would like to thank Cher & Chad Columbus for designing and building this website with me. They actually do this sort of thing for a living so please visit their website at: www.newcanvas.com if you need this kind of work done. In addition to web and graphic design, Cher also designs and makes modern quilts which are gorgeous and can be found at www.newcanvas.com/quilts.

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