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“When we left for that charter, we had never been
east of St. Thomas,” Judi said. The Gilmans ended up
chartering for almost 20 years. They were instrumental
in establishing the British Virgin Island Charteryacht
League, worked with VISAR and left a positive, lasting
imprint on the yachting industry. After selling their
third yacht, Capricorn Lady — their second was the
55-foot Capricorn Mistress, also a Trumpy — they returned
to the US and traveled by “land yacht,” enjoying
the country before “anchoring” in Leadville, Colorado,
and Florence, Oregon.
“Dan and I had 26 wonderful years of love and adventure
before he lost his battle with cancer in 2003,”
said Judi, who has written and published two books
about her life at sea, Voyage of the Capricorn Lady,
Lost at Sea with Daniel T and Voyage of the Capricorn
Lady, The Shadow of His Smile. She is also a
talented artist, having illustrated her books, and she
has a line of greetings cards depicting some of her
favorite subjects.
Judi is now working in Colorado as general manager
for White Mountain Snowmobile Tours and Continen-
tal Divide ATV. She lives in a little cabin close to the
Leadville office during the winter and relocates in the
spring to her home in Florence, where she owns a
bookstore named Captain’s Lady. “The work is challenging,
exciting, and I love the mountains. Then,
in the spring, I open my little bookstore, stroll the
ocean beaches with my little Yorki dog, and enjoy my
daughters, grandchildren and great grandchildren,
who live there.”
Judi has poignant memories of her life in the Caribbean
with Dan and Capricorn Lady. “When I wrote my voyage
books, I really wanted to share my memories of those
days,” she said with a sigh. “Even though I am far from
the islands, my heart is still there.”
A native of New Zealand, Jan Robinson sailed the Caribbean
on her 65-foot yacht for more than 20 years as a
charter chef and yacht captain. She now divides her time
between homes in the US Virgin Islands and Charlotte,
North Carolina. Jan writes columns in Yacht Essentials
and its sister publication All At Sea.
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