Born in Jersey Shore, I grew up on the water, taking my boat out regularly.  Before the age of ten, I regularly seized opportunities to "borrow without asking" my fathers hand and power tools to build just about anything and everything I could think of.  My first boat I built sank immediately, and I couldn't move it from the mud, so we flipped it over and it became a little bridge across the creek.  I heard about IYRS when I was sixteen while watching a documentary on Coronet. Decided to get the boatbuilding thing right once and for all... even though I was scared I may become a better bridge builder than a boat builder.

I went to college for graphics design and video imaging, but got restless - I was too determined to graduate from IYRS, so I moved to Newport in 2004.  I didn't really do a lot of working.  I was busy with orchestra, coaching soccer, tennis, surfing, and sailing.  In fact, I was always trying to get out of doing work... so building boats was the closest thing to work disguised as play.

The only time I ever worked was during my time as a student at IYRS.  I crewed in regattas and ran boat deliveries.  I'll never forget the late nights in Restoration Hall when there were never very many students - the sounds of the machine room, and the steam rising way up from the steam box while we all feverishly worked to get our first planks spilled just right. There would be long, curly shavings from our plane blades all over the floor.  I loved how enjoyable working with very sharp edge tools was and how important it is to have good tools to cherish and to take good care of.  It makes the job so much easier.

I moved around a bit at first to really find my niche in the industry.  I went to work for VIKING Yacht Company in New Gretna, NJ for over a year.  With 1600 full time employees, it is one of the biggest boat building plants in the US.  I worked in R&D as the first female ever in that carpentry department, building plugs and moulds out of wood.  As an added bonus, I got to work with the largest 5-axis profile router on the east coast.  It was a lot of fun, but I couldn't do the everyday 9-5.

I moved back to New England (Nantucket) to work as mate on a 68' Little Harbor that I had previously sailed during my time at IYRS.  The job took me down to Palm Beach, but eventually, I returned to Newport to work as Shipwright/Mate on Adventuress, an 84' Fife ketch before finding my home on the Sailing Yacht Ticonderoga - the 1936 Herreshoff.  We travelled all over New England and competed in many regattas.  Ticonderoga is a job I will forever be proud of and be thankful for.  While Ticonderoga was undergoing a refit, I did a bit of sailing in the Pacific aboard a 68' Swan.

In spring 2009, I made my way back to Newport to take care of the IYRS restored 6-metre, Madcap.  I raced her all season before preparing her for the 2009 6-Metre Worlds held here, in Newport.  I should also note that since building an S-boat and mast my second year at IYRS, I have become involved in the Narragansett Bay S-Boat Association and do many regattas and sails each season with the Herreshoff S-Boats - they are my true passion, and I’d like to own one someday.

Since the culmination of the 6-metre worlds, I have been re-hired on a 93' ketch that I have previously sailed deliveries on for a transatlantic crossing from Newport to Palma, Spain. I am leaving tomorrow.  I do a lot of distance running, and compete in 5 and 10 mile road races.  I also practice pilates and ski as much as I possibly can in the winter.