About Us (from a mostly sailing perspective)

Lyn and Bruce Savage

We are a late-middle-age couple who have decided that now is the time. We are empty nest with our 20 year old daughter living independently and we are still young and active enough to enjoy our action sport passions including rock climbing, scuba diving, surfing and kite surfing. We are of relatively meagre financial means but we live by the credo: “bankruptcy of purse is way better than bankruptcy of life” and we are determined and confident that we can make this work, by hook or by crook.

LYN
Lyn Stewart grew up inland of Durban, Natal, South Africa in Newcastle and Pietermaritzburg. Her parents Keith and Merle were keen dinghy sailors and Lyn and her sisters Katheryn and Jane were dragged along to regattas at a young age. It was only later in life that Lyn developed her passion for sailing. Living on her parents cruising yacht in the marina at Durban, she was inspired by tales of the high seas from her many sailing friends docked at the international jetty. Her parents also had wonderful tales of cruising in the Indian Ocean and her appetite was whetted by a sailing trip with friends up to Inyaka Island Mozambique.

Lyn has followed a career in design and marketing and also managing a successful online home wares business. More recently she has become extremely well prepared for a cruising life, completing the Australian Master 5 maritime operations boat captains’ course. She has also pursued her passion for scuba diving, attaining the PADI dive master certification.

BRUCE
Bruce was also introduced to sailing by his parents in Durban South Africa where the entire family became involved in racing sailing in dinghies. Competitive sailing became a passion for much of Bruce’s life as he became one of South Africa’s best Sprog, Laser, Finn and keelboat sailors, at the same time managing to scrape his way through a BSc degree in Chemical Engineering.

His sailing passion led Bruce to a period of professional racing sailing in the UK and around the world. When South Africa was allowed back into the Olympics in 1992 Bruce and his team won selection in the Soling class and also competed at the Atlanta games in 1996.

After the pro sailing, Bruce got a “real job” as an IT and environmental manager which has morphed into a career as a software developer. Bruce currently works for AMP Bank on their banking software and is hoping to be able to do blocks of work remotely during his cruising trips.

US
Lyn and Bruce met in Durban whilst Lyn was living on her parent’s Cal 40 “Golden City”. Lyn was talked into crewing on Bruce’s Sprog (2 person dinghy) in the Saturday afternoon race which lead to them sailing together in the Sprog South African national championship. Lyn’s first regatta resulted in a win and was also a fairytale beginning of a life-long romance. There was a bit of wooing to be done yet as Lyn had a boyfriend at the time, but soon the inevitable happened and they were married in November 1997.

At the end of 1998 Bruce was employed as a coach for a South African 49er team for the worlds in Australia. Lyn came along for the trip and they fell in love with Australia and Sydney, deciding to immigrate. Arriving in Sydney just before the 2000 Olympics, they started their life in Australia. Bruce became involved in skiff sailing in Sydney doing many years in the 16 foot skiff and a couple in the 18 foot skiff. Lyn and Bruce have also raced together as crew on Farr 40 and Sydney 38 keelboats over the years and Bruce did the Hobart race on the TP52 “Ragamuffin” in 2012.

Lyn and Bruce moved to Scotland Island on the Pittwater in 2007 and thoroughly enjoyed the water-only access and community of the Island. Scotland Island and the Pittwater will always remain our home shore base. We always said that the only way we would move from the Island would be onto a boat, and that is what has happened.

SILUS
Silus is a Chihuahua cross Pomeranian who came into our lives in 2004. We went into a pet store in Sydney to look at some Maltese Shiatsu puppies as a gift for our daughter Shonagh. They were out of stock but our attention was soon diverted to a hedge-hog like tiny ball of fluff who was jumping up against the glass trying to get to us. Silus had selected us! He bonded with Lyn and Bruce more than Shonagh and has become a part of our hearts with his sassy attitude and extreme loyalty. He sleeps in our bed and goes everywhere (if possible) with Lyn. As an old dog, Silus has learned new tricks on the boat, adapting quickly to a life on the water and teaching himself to go to the toilet on the foredeck. He is constantly entertained by his various nemeses from the ocean, be it whale, dolphin, turtle, fish or seabird, he barks incessantly at them. For safety onboard we keep him tethered to a short run around the cockpit area and in clam weather he is allowed to roam free with his doggy lifejacket on.