|
|
The Alcyone Family |
Captains Leslie McNish and John "Sugar" Flanagan have owned and operated the Alcyone for twenty 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 fathers boat to explore the Sea of Cortez. They spent two seasons as captain and mate aboard the Californian. Alcyone came into their lives twenty 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's two daughters, Alyce age 17 and Darby age 13 and dog Kobo. |