Charles was raised in Long Beach, NC (now Oak Island) and developed a love of sailing, surfing, fishing and being in and around the ocean. From a tender age he dreamt of living on a cruising boat and sailing around chasing the endless summer, a goal that his very supportive father encouraged. He started sailing lessons when he was 11 and immediately fell in love. His senior year of high school, Charles wrote a paper where he said all he wanted in life was to surf, sail and hang out with a few good friends listening to music and looking for waves. Some things never change!

After he graduated, Charles went on to serve in the 82nd Airborne Division, where he had several deployments. He married the girl next door and had a beautiful baby girl. Not wanting to miss his daughter growing up, and around the time his son came along, he got out of the Army and began working as a mate on a fishing charter, becoming a captain not long after. When the time came, he moved on to larger yachts, working up the ranks from deckhand to engineer to captain.

Again, wanting more time with his family, he temporarily gave up life at sea to run his own company doing yacht deliveries, refit management, paint and gelcoat repairs, electronics, etc. This afforded him more time with the kids as they transitioned into high school and beyond. 

A few years later, after his divorce, Charles decided to 'retire' and, possibly out of boredom, took a part time job bartending (with no experience) where he met Kat. 

His two kids are now grown and share an apartment not far from where they were raised. With them on their own he was free to pursue his dreams of sailing as a way of life, not to make money or other motives, just for the love of going to sea. One of the last wishes of his late father was to have his ashes spread, a little in each of the world’s oceans. The goal is to one day fulfill his father's wish.

Kat was born on the coast of NC and became a beach baby who grew into a lifelong beach lover. In spite of moving around and mostly growing up around the Charlotte area, her heart was always at the beach. After college she worked a variety of jobs but her most treasured was being a stay at home mom for several years. Thanks to her marriage to a U.S. Marine, she was able to stay near the coast and introduce her three boys to a true appreciation of being in the sand at the water's edge. 

After her marriage ended, and many years in Norfolk, VA, where the boys were active in sports, scouts, church and school activities, Kat and the boys moved to Tryon, NC in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains. With the temperate climate, amazing sunsets, proximity to family and opportunities for the boys to excel through high school it was a great place to call home for a while.

But...she could never kick her need to be at the beach. Once the youngest moved out, the house went on the market and Kat started a whole new chapter. She moved to Oak Island in 2022, bought a house and a golf cart, rarely left the island, made so many new friends, and was so happy. 

Happy, at least, until she walked into a local joint one day, fresh off the beach with some friends, and met Charles. Little did she know how much happier life was about to become.

Now all of her boys are married to amazing, beautiful, Godly women and at current count have blessed her with three beautiful grandkids who bring her more joy than she ever thought possible. With all of them settled and doing well, Kat agreed to seize this opportunity to live a whole new life she didn't even know she wanted, but is already growing to love more each and every day.