On a hot summer day, in 1991, at the Puff and Putt in Montauk, I boarded my first sailboat. I had passed those little boats several times but never thought of taking them out. That day, after a good round of miniature golf, I thought why not?

There were two types of boats to choose from. As this was my first time, the choice was made for me. The Sunfish were flashy, sporty, and visually more desirable than the one I was about to get in. My boat was a clunky boat called an Escape that is built for novices because of its stability. I was told that as soon as I felt comfortable maneuvering the Escape that I could come back and use the Sunfish. The attendant gave me a quick course in sailing by drawing imaginary diagrams on the dock and I was on my way.

The Escape was slow and easy to understand. In twenty minutes I was back at the dock exchanging boats. I had more fun on Lake Montauk, dodging snapping turtles when the boat capsized, than I could remember. I went back twice more before the summer came to an end.

The next spring, still talking about those three times out, my accountant informed me of a used Sunfish-type sailboat in his garage. $50 bought me a circa 1970, orange, Sears brand, Australian designed sailboat. Throw in a wet suit and you have the makings of a full-blown sports hobby.

Photography was always in my life. My photos were praised by relatives at an early age which kept my interest in it. I can remember my first camera. Before the type that used a cubed flash, it had a single bulb that I was happy to pop-off with or without film in the camera. My fascination with electricity might have stemmed from those bulbs.

I can remember taking radios apart and custom building them into the frame and headboard of my bed. I simulated quad stereo before my future 8-track player did. Then, at the age of 13, I climbed the telephone pole across the street and while being yelled at by a neighbor, I hooked my house up to Cablevision. Telephone extensions in every room followed. Today, adding lights to a mast and rewiring a boat is no problem

Video was an unconscious but natural progression. My Mother and her husband won a Magnavox video camera in 1986. The camera at 7 pounds required a separate recorder that hung on a strap over your shoulder- adding another 5 pounds. That feature set me up with video for the cost of my first VCR. At the time, all my friends were either actors, cabaret performers or students at NYU Film School. The camera was well used.

The revenue from recording cabaret performances paid for my first computer, full-size SVHS camcorder, and a professional SVHS editing deck. A friend of one of my clients was the creative director for a downtown theatre company. The multimedia work that I did there got me press and threw me into commercial production. It wasn’t long after they came on the market before I was editing film and video on an Avid.

From a career in television production I moved towards advertising where I had much more creative input. This job kept me in New York City for many years. When I wasn’t working in the city, I was out on Long Island on the Sunfish. After one season I decided to look for a real boat so that I could explore the land that is visible to one in Gardiners Bay. I combed the papers looking for someone trying to unload a sailboat. I found one in the outskirts of Queens, NY and it took 2 days to sail her back to East Hampton. I was hooked, sailing had found its way into my blood. I always wanted to be on my boat. Wouldn’t it be nice to work in such an environment?

Then came Omnipoint Communications. I’ve always heard of people using their laptops with a cellular phone but never personally knew anyone doing it. Omnipoint was able to provide me initially with a modem in the form of a PC-card and now with an infrared modem compatible with my Macintosh. This limits my mobile workplace to my imagination and the curvature of the earth.

Those capabilities coupled with Olympus’ digital equipment allowed me to write articles and take pictures for newspapers, magazines and ultimately the website that you are at now. I hope you enjoy viewing the website as much as I enjoy creating it. Outside the confines of surrounding walls, I intend to continue exploring the boundaries of digital media.