Remembering Mike Kelsey, Jr.

January 7, 2020 By Diane M. Byrne Leave a Comment

There’s an often-quoted poem that describes how people come into your life for a reason, a season, or a lifetime. Mike Kelsey, Jr. was an exception to that rule. While it seemed as if he came into the lives of many in yachting for a season, his recent untimely death proves, ironically, that he actually came into our lives for a lifetime.

Many knew Mike first from his days as a broker for the famed American yacht builder Palmer Johnson, a job he started at the ripe age of 19. He took the helm of the shipyard in his early 40s, a job dominated by older, white-haired men. Mike was an anomaly. He was further an anomaly for his modesty, and for much preferring the shop-room floor, walking amid and talking with the welders, woodworkers, pipefitters, and other craftspeople who made the magic happen at Palmer Johnson. You’d be hard pressed to find Mike toasting with clients at a hotel bar late at night or out at a fancy shindig rubbing elbows with movers and shakers. Some people shook their heads over this. How could the head of one of the most prominent shipyards in the country, and in the world, not actively enjoy entertaining customers, or enjoy the social side of yachting, especially considering it’s such a social business?

In the process, they missed the point. Read this excerpt from the above-mentioned poem:

Some people come into your life for a SEASON,
because your turn has come to share, grow or learn.
They bring you an experience of peace or make you laugh.
They may teach you something you have never done.
They usually give you an unbelievable amount of joy.
Believe it. It is real. But only for a season.
LIFETIME relationships teach you lifetime lessons;
things you must build upon in order to have a solid emotional foundation.
Your job is to accept the lesson, love the person,
and put what you have learned to use in all other relationships and areas of your life.
It is said that love is blind but friendship is clairvoyant.

Due to his short 57 years on this earth, Mike came into lives for a season, bringing joy to the lives of his clients and employees. He personally knew the families of his employees, too, proudly shopping in the same supermarkets as them and running errands in the same town of Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin. However, he taught them, and the rest of us, lifetime lessons. Lessons on how to treat people from all walks of life, regardless of economic status, with dignity and respect. Our job now is to accept this lesson, and put what we have learned into use in all our other relationships.

Thanks for the lesson, Mike. Godspeed.

Of Mermaids, Monsters, and All Good Things Aboard Mermaid Monster

July 16, 2019 By Diane M. Byrne Leave a Comment

Three hundred sixty-five days is a long time to be living on a boat. Yet, the Palmer family—mom and licensed captain Brooke, dad and second helmsman Braden, their kids Rooney and Penn (above), and their dogs Frasier and Captain—just celebrated this milestone aboard their boat Mermaid Monster. If ever there were a family that understands and embraces the notion of “no better time than the present,” the Palmers are it. Their story—stories, really—are inspiring.

What’s even more inspiring is the fact that the Palmers had never owned a boat before buying Mermaid Monster. While Brooke grew up enjoying ocean cruising off Seattle, Braden was more of a waterskiier and wakeboarder in California. Interesting enough, Brooke tells me that from the day they met, more than a decade ago, they shared a dream of traveling the world with their children.

Fast forward to last summer, after 11 years of marriage and two kids. The Palmers turned to each other and said, “Why are we waiting? Let’s just go and get our boat!”

Since then, the Palmers and Mermaid Monster have cruised Nantucket, New Jersey, and North Carolina. They’ve been to the Bahamas and back. They’ve logged thousands of miles, with thousands more planned. Mermaid Monster is planning to circumnavigate the globe. It’s the experience and education of a lifetime, for all of them.

Indeed. Four-year-old Penn knows how many gallons the fuel tanks can hold. He’s also quite the expert cookie baker in the galley (and, apparently, a film director in training, knowing exactly when filming should pause, as you’ll see). Six-year-old Rooney, meanwhile, is fascinated with all aspects of sea life, from fish to turtles and more. In fact, on one of the family’s first nights on the boat, she turned to Brooke and wondered, “What’s under the water?” The two of them have met more people from more walks of life and cultures than many adults have in their lifetimes.

Never mind that Mermaid Monster isn’t a superyacht. (She’s a Nordhavn 55.) So many superyacht owners I’ve spoken with over the years started out with a boat about the same size as, or even smaller than, Mermaid Monster. Many of them still own boats that size, too. The common bond they and the Palmers share is passion. They’re passionate about cruising, and passionate about adventure. Most of all, they’re passionate about sharing both with their family. As Brooke puts it, “With the understanding that time is our only non-renewable resource, we decided we’d better not waste it.”

You can follow the Palmers and their Mermaid Monster adventures on their popular YouTube channel.

Family Time Is the Best Story Time

March 4, 2019 By Diane M. Byrne Leave a Comment

Some of my fondest memories are from childhood. Not surprising, my family time over the years has provided me with some of my best stories. For instance, I vividly remember my father indulging me in my love of jumping into the pool, at the ripe old age of 5. (And by “love of jumping,” I really mean “my incessant desire to jump.”) My father is also the reason why I love boating. A New York city slicker by birth, he discovered fishing charters in his 30s and, excuse the pun, was instantly hooked. When I was about 8 or 9 years old, he took me on one of those day charters, out off Long Island’s East End, and I, too, was hooked. Maybe it was because I literally hooked a fish on one of my first attempts. Regardless, I had so much fun that I couldn’t wait to go out again.

And we did, at first on charters and later aboard a boat he proudly purchased. We fished and cruised lots of weekends through my teen years, just my dad and me. It became a challenge once I went away to college, though, and even more of a challenge when my parents moved to another state several years ago. But, whenever we get together these days, one of the first questions I still ask is, “When can we go out on the boat?”

This story resonates with so many people I meet. It might resonate with you as well, and for good reason. Family time often makes for the best story time; the stories we share over and over again. Chances are, one or both of your parents encouraged your love of sailing or powerboating. They also probably taught you how to tie up at the dock, and even recognize and maneuver amid channel markers. Family time is together time: Time to share, to learn, to laugh, and to have fun. Isn’t that also what boating and yachting is all about?

These memories are the chapters of your life. As powerful as they are as oral history, they can become even more powerful when recorded and retold in vivid pictures and written words. We’d love to hear your stories and see your photos, to help you create a lasting legacy. After all, your story is far from being over.

Remembering Mike Kelsey, Jr.

Of Mermaids, Monsters, and All Good Things Aboard Mermaid Monster

Family Time Is the Best Story Time

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