It took a lot of years for Geoff Stone to get where he was on that day in mid-March: aboard his 45-foot Leopard sailing catamaran, Rolling Stones, more than halfway through the 3,150-mile Pacific Ocean crossing from the Galapagos Islands to the Marquesas.
The Wisconsinite had boated all his life, having fun on ski boats since he was about 5, and getting good enough that he participated in waterski shows around the world. During his travels, he made a friend who suggested completing the U.K.’s Royal Yachting Association sailing class. “I took it as far as the Offshore Yachtmaster,” he says. The rest of his boating skills were self-taught. He purchased a 25-foot monohull to sail around Lake Michigan. Then, in March 2021, he bought Rolling Stones on the brokerage market. It had four staterooms—perfect for Stone, his wife and their three young boys. The family spent six months along the U.S. Eastern Seaboard, cruising the ICW. Then, they crossed to the Bahamas for what Stone calls “a magical five months.”
But his itch to cruise farther wouldn’t stop. So, they made a 200-mile passage to Jamaica. Then, they set course for Panama’s San Blas Islands and went through the canal to the Pacific side. By the time they got to the Galapagos Islands in late January, they were all in on cruising.
With the boys ages 9, 7 and 6, Stone and his wife, as guests, but none had ever tried such an ambitious route.
