This is part three in our series about people you're likely to reach on the phone when you call SBO.
Bly Berken is co-owner of SailboatOwners.com. Bly was born into a serious sailing family and spent her early years with her parents and four siblings aboard a Cheoy Lee 26 moored in Grays Harbor, Washington. By the mid-60's dad was looking for a little more elbow room and moved up to a classic Newporter 40, complete with wood hull, mahogany rails, and pilot house. It was the perfect Northwest boat!
Weekends and summers were spent exploring the waters of Puget Sound, the San Juan Islands, and British Columbia. Being an August baby, most of Bly's early birthdays were spent riding the waves on the bow sprit and puking her guts out crossing the Strait of Juan de Fuca.
The family eventually traded up again, this time to a Spencer 43, which Bly's parents sailed in the Jack & Jill race from Port Angeles to Honolulu. Bly, along with her brothers and friends, brought the boat back from Honolulu to Olympia. It was an exciting crossing: A week out of Honolulu, the forestay broke at the swivel. They jury-rigged a halyard as a forestay and continued east, only to find one of the crew had pumped half of their fresh water down the drain. Fortunately, there was plenty of beer.
Bly says one her most vivid memories was approaching the Washington coast, emerging from a day of dense fog, dead center at the entrance to the Strait of Juan de Fuca. Not bad for a sextant!
In the early 90's Bly joined her folks as they sailed their C&C 43 from Honduras up the East Coast of Mexico. Around that same time, she met Phil Herring at the ad agency where she worked.
Strategizing over countless bottles of wine aboard Phil's boat, they decided to find a way to make a living in the sailing world. It looked like a lot more fun than advertising. And out of those sometimes-slurred conversations, SailboatOwners.com was born.
These days, Bly and her significant other Mark, sail an Interlake 18 out of Bellevue, Washington.
Bly Berken is co-owner of SailboatOwners.com. Bly was born into a serious sailing family and spent her early years with her parents and four siblings aboard a Cheoy Lee 26 moored in Grays Harbor, Washington. By the mid-60's dad was looking for a little more elbow room and moved up to a classic Newporter 40, complete with wood hull, mahogany rails, and pilot house. It was the perfect Northwest boat!
Weekends and summers were spent exploring the waters of Puget Sound, the San Juan Islands, and British Columbia. Being an August baby, most of Bly's early birthdays were spent riding the waves on the bow sprit and puking her guts out crossing the Strait of Juan de Fuca.
The family eventually traded up again, this time to a Spencer 43, which Bly's parents sailed in the Jack & Jill race from Port Angeles to Honolulu. Bly, along with her brothers and friends, brought the boat back from Honolulu to Olympia. It was an exciting crossing: A week out of Honolulu, the forestay broke at the swivel. They jury-rigged a halyard as a forestay and continued east, only to find one of the crew had pumped half of their fresh water down the drain. Fortunately, there was plenty of beer.
Bly says one her most vivid memories was approaching the Washington coast, emerging from a day of dense fog, dead center at the entrance to the Strait of Juan de Fuca. Not bad for a sextant!
In the early 90's Bly joined her folks as they sailed their C&C 43 from Honduras up the East Coast of Mexico. Around that same time, she met Phil Herring at the ad agency where she worked.
Strategizing over countless bottles of wine aboard Phil's boat, they decided to find a way to make a living in the sailing world. It looked like a lot more fun than advertising. And out of those sometimes-slurred conversations, SailboatOwners.com was born.
These days, Bly and her significant other Mark, sail an Interlake 18 out of Bellevue, Washington.
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