Ahoy! We are Matt and Gracie and it brings a smile to our faces that you are on our website and looking at what we are doing. We have both worked in the maritime industry for the past 3 years, Gracie even longer than that, and are now going down a new avenue with Following Seas. Together we have crossed both the Atlantic and North Pacific, sailed in the Med and Caribbean, worked on superyachts and expedition yachts and spent 8 months cruising Japan, Alaska and down to Canada. Now we want to focus on creating trips where we can share what we’ve learnt and give people a glimpse into an alternative lifestyle. Being on the water is incredibly empowering and therapeutic and it has changed both of our lives completely. We are so grateful for the opportunities we’ve been given and we feel the least we can do is to try and share a little bit of that wonder with others.
Matt
I’m Matt. I was born and raised in South London and lived there until I was 23 years old when I decided to head out to sea. I’d spent two years working in advertising in London which, pre-covid, I had been in the swing of, but after sitting endlessly behind screens and experiencing death by zoom meetings, I decided that a life outdoors was calling me. I’ve always been an active guy, being involved with the scouts at an early age before going into competitive swimming for most of my childhood until I was 18. I found sailing when I was 6 years old after being blessed with family flotilla holidays by my parents. It gave me a taste for another life that otherwise I never would have seen and ultimately lead me to leave London and go down to the Isle of wight where I did my yachtmaster and met Gracie. Whilst Gracie was away on the superyachts I was working for an expedition sailing company, sailing 60ft yachts around the UK and up to Iceland. Then we crossed the Atlantic together and found the Japan-Alaska-Canada job which was the journey of a lifetime and inspired us to try our own thing. Outside of sailing I’m still a keen martial artist focusing on boxing and Muay Thai training any time that I can. I am also quite a philosophical and spiritual person, thinking and talking about the big questions, practicing meditation, learning about different religions and trying to be as good a person as I can, which I’m sure we can all relate to is easier said than done.
Gracie
