Cruising World – August 2019

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CRUISE THE UNIQUE WATERWAYS

OF EUROPE AND CANADA

http://www.leboat.com

Call 1-800-734-5491

J

eremy “Mac” McGeary

died July 8 at VCU

Medical Center in

Richmond, Virginia, after a

long bout with cancer. I never

knew his age because I froze

him at 14 going on 32. He was

a professional mariner, editor,

writer, yacht designer, engineer,

carpenter, chef, cricket player,

free spirit, shipmate, husband,

friend and imp, and he’s left

a huge void in many people’s

lives.

In a phone call 10 days

before his death, he suggested

he was in the storm of his life,

but we laughed till we cried

about our maritime high jinks

together over the past 43 years.

It was a daunting call, but you

couldn’t give up on him because

Mac always could claw off a

literal or figurative lee shore.

Professional mariner? He

skippered the charter boat

Kittiwake out of Antigua.

Editor and writer? He excelled

at both on Cruising World

and Good Old Boat staffs. As

a yacht designer, he worked

for Camper & Nicholson, in

Gosport, England; Pedrick

Yacht Designs; and Rodger

Martin Design. Carpenter?

After a big sea hit my boat off

the Jersey shore, wiping out

the saloon table, he built me a

new one from discarded scraps

found at a Cape May Marina.

Mac was a true free spirit.

As a youngster, he sailed from

his native England to the Med

with a youth-sailing group, and,

of course, he scored a bit part

in a Brigitte Bardot movie. He

sailed to the Caribbean as a

young man to join the charter

trade, and in the ensuing

years, he could conjure an

adventure—large or small—at

the drop of his Tilley hat. He

embodied the term “shipmate,”

being innately polite, calm,

competent and joyful.

And Mac was a lifelong imp.

When he heard I was bound

for St. Lucia on assignment, he

insisted on securing me a berth

on an unused boat in a charter

fleet there. He would fax a

letter of introduction. When I

arrived, an oddly apprehensive

staff was waiting for me. His

letter had begun:

“I regret that it falls to me to

have to introduce you to such

a miserable derelict, but I have

no controls over his travels or

conduct, and I owe it to you

to set you straight about his

inclinations, which are legion,

and his appetites, which are

indescribable....” It went way

downhill after that.

Mac, you really haven’t left

a void. You’ve bequeathed a

living, breathing legacy of

inspiration and joy to all you

touched.

—Nim Marsh

EIGHT BELLS:

JEREMY McGEARY

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