About us

Stephen began sailing as a child in Cape Town, South Africa. At age sixteen he sailed with his family across the Atlantic to South America and on to the Caribbean on a 37’ catamaran. After finishing high school and working on charter sailboats for a few years he undertook an apprenticeship in yacht rigging at highly successful FKG Rigging in Sint Maarten.

After five years of rigorous training at FKG, he moved to the UK with his wife and while there co-founded Brighton Rigging at Brighton Marina. Two years later he found himself in Michigan and began offering his services as a mobile yacht rigger.

After a successful run in Michigan, his wife’s educational requirements took them to East Tennessee where he continued to operate as a mobile yacht rigger, servicing the inland lakes of western North Carolina, East Tennessee, middle Tennessee, and southern Kentucky. During this time he founded “The Yacht Rigger” and grew it into a successful mobile mast and rigging company. He also set up a web store selling parts across the United States and South America and a global consultation service.

After four years in Tennessee he and his wife moved south to St Petersburg, Florida for a life on the coast. He is now offering his services as a mobile yacht rigger and mast supplier in the Tampa Bay area while partnering with suppliers and brands with whom he has developed great working relationships over the past decade.

“Boats, in particular sail boats, have a profound effect on me. I find my mind wanders to boats naturally and my wife of 16 years would tell you “I will ‘talk boat’ with anyone”. I’m fascinated by the forces of nature that intersect with man’s ability to make a vessel that works on principles of compromise.

My career began in metal fabrication welding jobs such as bridges, structural steel, and airport equipment. My attention to detail, problem solving and artistic abilities led to finer work fabricating furniture, museum pieces, and precision machinery parts.

My passion for sailing started at age 15, when I reunited with my estranged father, a life-long sailor, who at the time lived aboard a motor-sailor. He took me on my first sail leaving St. Petersburg under the Skyway Bridge. This short trip around Egmont sparked a passion within me to sail and a desire to figure out the physics behind the power. I bought my first boat at 18 years old and my first sailboat at 23.

Fortunately my career path in metal fabrication and my obsession with being on the water had their own kind of intersection. In 2006 I began working as a spar builder and custom marine fabricator at J.S.I. (now Island Nautical). I particularly enjoy working as a prototype fabricator and gravitate toward custom work beyond masts and spars.

During the recession I honed my salesman skills and sold impact windows and doors for 5 years. Windows are not as fun to talk about as boats….

So, here I am- let’s “talk boat”!

My first experience of sailing was on 505 dinghies in South African inland waters when I was seventeen. We entered many competitions and even did some offshore racing. Once in Durban we all had our spinnakers up and a gale came from nowhere and almost the whole fleet was rolled over, damaging many masts and boats. This didn't deter me and I still loved being on the ocean. Then I met someone who needed a captain for his 50-ton fishing boat. I did the necessary courses and skippered his boat on many weekends, also helping him maintain it.

Later I got my own small fishing boat and had many adventures with it. We had to launch from the beach in Durban and I have a sequence of photos showing us launching into a twenty-five foot back line.

For a while we moved inland but the ocean was calling and my family and I moved to Cape Town. It was there that we made the momentous decision to buy a cruising sailboat, a 37' catamaran that had only been partially completed internally. I set about making her seaworthy and learnt a lot very quickly. We even had a lightning strike and I had a quick lesson in AC and DC electricity when I had to re-wire the boat. I fitted all the electronic equipment. I did the plumbing, fitting all the seacocks, two new heads and fresh and salt-water hoses and faucets.

My family and I set sail from South Africa in 2001. This first offshore voyage to St Helena took 18 days and we were very happy to find the tiny island in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. We sailed on to Brazil and the Caribbean. We really enjoyed life on the boat but after a few years made the decision to sell her and went to live in England.

We bought another catamaran in 2007 and this one needed a complete refit. What a sucker for punishment! I replaced the engine and stern drive myself. I replaced all the windows and hatches. I did the carpentry, replacing bulkheads, fitting doors and converting part of the saloon into a double cabin with lots of storage. I insulated the boat with a two-part spray-on high-density foam and fitted head lining throughout. I redid all the electrics, fitted the electronics and solar panels and two wind generators. I also did the plumbing and propane fitting.

Finally she was ready and we sailed from England in 2014 across the Atlantic to Antigua via Madeira and Gran Canaria. We spent time revisiting the Caribbean before arriving in the USA a year later. Sailing and boats are a way of life for me. This fits well with another one of my hobbies, fishing. If I'm not working on a boat I’m fishing from one!