People
The success of the Grand Tour was a result of the outstanding effort of many people outside of Grand Banks Yachts, who accompanied us for the entire duration of the Grand Tour and also contributed to its planning and preparation:
Susan Bland
Grand Tour Executive Director
Susan brought an invaluable mix of talent, experience and effort to the Grand Tour; the result was an event that exceeded all measure of success.
Susan, along with her husband Jeff Bland, has been boating for 18 years. As they both prepared to turn 60 this year, the two decided that making the Inside Passage trip was an appropriate manner in which to celebrate.
Sanctuary, the couple's Grand Banks 72 Aleutian RP, is their fourth Grand Banks. They have also owned a 52 Heritage EU, a 46 Heritage CL, and purchased a 36' Classic woodie to fix up as a project boat (now owned by their son). All this despite the fact that Susan came from prairie states where water was always turquoise, held in a rectangle with black lines on the bottom.
Susan has a master's degree in Speech and Communications. She is retired from Metagenics where she was Senior Vice President of Corporate Communications in 2001. Since that time she has volunteered for a variety of enjoyable projects including serving as the Puget Sound Grand Banks Owners Association web and newsletter editor, Rendezvous Chair and President.
In 1990 Susan and Jeff founded the Institute for Functional Medicine, now a not for profit organization which provided accredited continuing medical education for doctors in the field. Jeff is Chairman of the Board and Susan serves on the Board as Secretary/Treasurer.
Michele Weingeist
Grand Tour Event Planner & Coordinator
Michele has nearly twenty years of marketing and product management experience. Recently, she worked as an executive in the high tech industry. Her accomplishments include producing the online ad tracking product, AdRelevance, now owned by Nielsen NetRating, serving as producer of U2's website for their PopMart tour and Producer of the Microsoft Smallbiz website.
Michele was born and raised in Northern California. After college, she moved to Switerland were she spent three years in Zurich working for the private banks, Rothschild and Coutts & Co. Michele has lived in Seattle for ten years and has been married to her husband, Aaron Weingeist, for five years.
Grand Tour was Michele's first "real" trip on a boat. She had made ferry crossings in Greece, Crete, Canada, and from France to the UK, but she had never spent any time on a private boat before. And in case you were wondering, she came through with flying colors.
Captain John Kessler
Fleet Skipper
Grand Banks was proud to have Captain John Kessler as Captain of the Tour. Not only did he bring outstanding qualifications as a professional mariner; he also brought a wealth of cruising experience along the Inside Passage.
Best of all, Captain Kessler worked with participants before and during the Tour to share his knowledge and expertise on a personal basis. This was a unique and valuable opportunity for Grand Banks owners to learn and share by interacting with a highly experienced Captain right on their own yachts!
Captain Kessler's maritime background is considerable. While he has worked in locations across the globe, his experience in the Inside Passage alone is a great asset to the Tour. Most recently, he worked for two passenger vessel companies, Glacier Bay, and Cruise West. For Glacier Bay, the trip north and south was a once a year trip, then the vessel stayed in southeast Alaska for the remainder of the summer. The first year John served as a Mate, and afterwards as Captain. The vessel was small, about 100 feet, and carried 34 passengers. It was an active adventure boat, conducting hiking and kayaking expeditions from the vessel. He had free reign to discover inlets, bays and coves to conduct these wilderness expeditions, including expeditions in front of glaciers in Glacier Bay National Park.
For Cruise West John served as a Mate and Captain. Each week he transited the Inside Passage to Ketchikan, and seven days later returned to Seattle. His experience with Cruise West lasted several years and amounts to dozens if not hundreds of runs.
Captain Kessler also has a background working with recreational boaters. He is a member of the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary, a master instructor and teacher in their boating courses and member training. He also serves on two U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary National Staff positions. One staff position is for the Education Department, and the other for the Department of Marine Safety and Environmental Protection.
Importantly, John also works at Pacific Maritime Institute, where he is in charge of developing programs and training for the serious yachtsmen who are seeking the next level or two in boating education, skills, and training.
Margo Wood
Author & Grand Tour Guide
Margo grew up on a farm near Grande Prairie in northern Alberta, Canada. While growing up she participated in winter sports such as skating, ski-joring and snowshoeing, while summer activities found her cycling, horseback riding and stake racing. After graduation from the University of Alberta with a Bachelor of Commerce and Bachelor of Education she taught high school business courses in Alberta, Ontario and British Columbia.
She and her husband, Charles, began sailing over 40 years ago and their cruises included waters from Alaska to Mexico, the Hawaiian Islands and a trip from the Great Lakes via the Eire Canal, Hudson River, east coast and Intra-Coastal Waterway to the Bahamas. As crew on the Simon Fraser she traveled from Nova Scotia via the Panama Canal to Vancouver.
The popular Charlie's Charts guides grew out of their cruise to Mexico and were followed by guides to Polynesia, the Hawaiian Islands, Alaska and US Pacific Boast. After Charles' death in 1987 she cruised the coast of Costa Rica and produced the first boating guide for the country. She continues to update and publish Charlie's Charts with regular visits. Margo maintains her 34' Nova Scotia mahogany cutter and cruises the coast of British Columbia, usually single-handed though she took crew for a trip to the Queen Charlotte Islands and a recent circumnavigation of Vancouver Island.
Becky Selengut
Chef & Cooking Instructor
Becky is a graduate of William Smith College and the Seattle Culinary Academy, where she was awarded the Outstanding Culinarian of the Year. Becky has worked on two PBS cooking shows, Home Cooking with Amy Coleman and Cucina Amore. From 1999 to 2001, she was a chef-instructor at Seattle Central Community College where she taught cooking to immigrants and refugees and found them work in the food industry. Becky has had stints at La Medusa and La Spiga; spent three years at the nationally acclaimed restaurant The Herbfarm in Woodinville, Washington and currently teaches cooking for PCC Natural Markets.
In 2004 Becky started Cornucopia, which "brings the culinary wisdom of a professionally trained chef into your home to share with you and your guests the creative discoveries that come with years of experience." In January 2006 she launched the website Seasonal Cornucopia, and now writes a food blog called Hardtack at Sea.
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