We met an amazing couple aboard a beautiful boat, LIAHONA, in the Caribbean. Willie and Mark have lived aboard boats for many years. Willie shares their story:
“I am a New Yorker of Puerto Rican parents. I grew up in the Bronx, Brooklyn, and Queens and became a physical therapist (retired now) with over 30 years of clinical experience and teaching. My husband, Mark, was born in Madison, Wisconsin, but lived in Brazil during Mark’s early years, then grew up in Philadelphia.
“I met Mark in Staten Island, New York. I had a clinical position at the Marine Hospital. He was sailing in a friend’s custom boat to Florida. We met through friends, and he took me sailing at night in New York Harbor. Very romantic! I had never been sailing and instantly fell in love with it. And I liked him, but then he sailed away. We kept in touch, and I used some leave time to go visit him on his new boat, a Colombia 28. We sailed to a Lynyrd Skynyrd concert. A couple of months later, Mark brought the boat to Staten Island, and we agreed to get married. We were married in December 1974 in the Cathedral in Old San Juan. In February of 1975, we decided to live aboard and bought a Coronado 35.
