I was born in Shanghai in 2066. Both of my parents were professors at the University of Shanghai. My father was an astrophysicist, and my mother a professor of quantum mechanics. After my father’s death in a plane crash, my mother accepted a position at Harvard.

At first I hated Cambridge. I did the lonely, moody adolescent bit and took to writing poetry and acting sullen. Then one day, friends of my Mom took us sailing off of Marblehead. I fell in love that day. I then had two passions: sailing and haiku.

By age 16, I knew I wasn’t going to make a living as a poet or sailor, but I wanted a job that would keep me close to the ocean. Biothermics seemed right for me, so I enrolled at AIT, the grand old Aragon Institute of Technology. Don’t worry! I’m not going to bore you with all the details of my university career. I got a great education at AIT, but what I remember most is meeting Nancy and Jeanine.

I met Nancy when she was spending a semester at AIT-Zaragosa on an exchange program. She was, and is, smart, sexy, and witty, with a great sense of humor. It didn’t take me long to know I wanted to spend the rest of my life with her. We married right after our Masters degrees, and the rest as they say is history. We were lucky too! Our names came up in the Birth Lottery six months after we entered: Derrick was born when I was only 25. We’ve had our share of reefs and storms to navigate—mostly my fault—but we still love each other a great deal, and we’re still committed to growing old together.

Nancy calls Jeanine Salla "the other woman"—in a joking way! We were classmates and lab partners at AIT—we spent so much time together friends assumed we were dating. We weren’t. There’s an intellectual synergy when we are together. When we talk it does wonders for our work. Jeanine and I often go out on the Cloudmaker—she loves to sail almost as much as I do.

Career wise, I finally found my niche at DonuTech, where we study the stability of ecosystems. My specialty is thermal imaging and analysis in both salt and fresh water.

I’ve owned several boats over the years, but the Cloudmaker, my current love, is my all time favorite. She is a sleek, two-person sloop, fast, responsive, and yare. Get her out on the waves in a good wind and you think you’re flying. When she’s at anchor, the Cloudmaker is moored in Goldsboro, North Carolina at the Inner Banks Marina.

Above riven clouds The bright silver moon sails Alone, wind tossed

Sailing to sunset Sweet touch of the evening star Darkness falls like rain

Links to My Other Harbors

My Exalted Employer www.donu-tech.com
Jeanine and Laia's page www.familiasalla-es.ro