Alcyone Sail Training

Captains Leslie McNish and John "Sugar" Flanagan have owned and
operated the Alcyone for twenty-three years. They both started
"messing around with boats" at a young age, Leslie on the West
Coast and Sugar on the East Coast. Their early experiences gave
them both the opportunity to work on boats while they were in there
early twenties. Leslie wandered the Pacific, from Alaska to New
Zealand, and ended up working charter boats in the Caribbean and
Mediterranean. Sugar worked charter on the East Coast and the
Caribbean: sailing in the Great Lakes, Canadian Maritime Provinces,
and the Gulf Coast.

Sugar and Leslie met in 1982 while crewing on the Pride of Baltimore
on a trip from Baltimore to San Francisco. The next few years saw
them sailing and exploring their way around the world. They were
crew on the maiden voyage of the Californian, sailing the California
coast. Next, they headed down to New Zealand where they helped
build a boat and delivered it to Australia. Then they helped a New
Zealand couple deliver their 40' yacht across the Indian Ocean and
up into the Mediterranean. After that, they rejoined the Pride of
Baltimore in Spain and headed back across the Atlantic to the
Caribbean. On the trip from the Caribbean back to Baltimore, they
took a topsail schooner, life raft, Norwegian tanker, Coast Guard
helicopter, and Lear jet; there is not enough room here for "The rest
of story".

In 1986, after a five-year courtship, Leslie and Sugar were married.
Three days later they joined the crew of the Californian, Sugar as
Captain and Leslie as Second Mate/ Educational Officer. They spent
their honeymoon sailing with up to twenty-five cadets and a crew of
eight on the California coast. Later that season they headed down to
Mexico on Leslie's father's boat to explore the Sea of Cortez. After
that they spent two seasons as captain and mate aboard the
Californian.

Alcyone came into their lives twenty-four years ago; they have formed
a good working relationship, taking care of each other. Alcyone has
been their home and business, and she does both gracefully. With the
Alcyone they have done charter, youth sail training, and five
extended offshore passage. Alcyone's family now includes Leslie and
Sugar, two daughters (Alyce age 20, Darby age 16), and dog Kobo.

To read about the adventures that the Flanagan family and Alcyone
have been on look under Alcyone's History, or if you want you can
read the logs of our ocean trips.