Albert Presgraves is an experienced boater & engineer.
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Background Story
I grew up in the Chesapeake Bay area, where my parents had a number of
sailboats and we spent many summers cruising to interesting places and enjoying
the water. My first boat, at age 12, was a plywood pram that I finished from a bare
hull and fitted with an Eska 3 hp outboard.
After college, I lived in Annapolis where I crewed on a wide variety of racing and
cruising sailboats. I bought a 26’ ketch and made all the improvements and
preparations necessary to move onboard for a winter while sailing to the Bahamas
and back to Annapolis. This was 1980-81, well before the advent of recreational
GPS and chartplotters.
My writing experience was developed through my work as an engineer, mostly for
consulting engineering firms in Annapolis, Boston, and Portland, Maine over a 40
year career. This technical writing experience expanded to include topics about
sustainability, the environment, and of course, boating and sailing.
Adventures & Experience
Boater
Owner of Harbor Bell, a Southern Cross 31 cutter (2000-2007), with many weeks of coastal Maine sailing and overnight sails and cruising to Cape Cod and the Vineyard Sound islands.
Boat Navigation
Navigator and crew on a Defever 37 trawler from Portland to Baltimore on a late-season trip from November 12 to 22, 2020.
Maritime Teamwork
Delivery crew on the 72’ schooner Bagheera (2002) from Georgetown, MD to Portland, 5 days
Boating Experience
Owner of Magus, a Banjer 37 motorsailer pilothouse ketch (2008 to present), included sailing from Puerto Rico to the Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico to Maine, coastal Maine, and Maine to the Bahamas.
Selected Published Writing
- Chapter VII, Water and Waste Issues, in report “Sustainable Design for Two Maine
Islands,” 1985, Boston Architectural Center. - Personal Stories about Sewage and Pollution, Working Waterfront monthly, May
2020, Island Institute. - Numerous sailboat cruising stories in Points East magazine, 2015- 2023. (link)
- Writer and technical review of boating articles in Go Downsize online publication,
2020-present. - From the Ground Up/ Maine’s Common Ground Fair, 2023 Summer issue, Plenty
magazine. (link)