PHOTOGRAPHS: GETTY IMAGES; JEFF BROWN; GEORGE BEKRISINTERVIEW BY Grace Trofa MAY 2017OWNERS’ CLUBMary and
Mark Shores
Work keeps the couple in Texas but
they escape when they can to the
Caribbean in winter or Newport in
summer on their 108ft sloop MaraeTOY TIME
The younger
generations of the
family enjoy Marae’s
Lasers and
paddleboards
on their visits
to the boat<
MAORI MARINER
Mark and Mary
Shores’ 108ft sloop
Marae was built in
New Zealand; its
name comes from
Maori culture (left)IN THE RACE
The laid-back Candy
Store Cup appeals
to the ShoresMARYLAND
MEMORIES
The couple’s earliest
sailing memories are of
Chesapeake Bay
Marae, in the Maori culture of New Zealand where the boat
was built, is a word that means a special place for meeting
with family and friends. We have three children and now
grandchildren and everyone loves to sail. Our previous Little
Harbor just wasn’t large enough to fit everyone and we fell in
love with this boat the minute we saw it. She is a romantic,
cozy yacht, just classic, homey, warm and inviting, everything
a yacht should be. The most favorable place on the boat is
the pilothouse cockpit. When Mark is aboard he loves to take
the helm and we can sit in the cockpit with family and friends
and still have a conversation with him. We often have lunch
there or cocktail hour and, if it is a beautiful evening, we enjoy
sitting there for dinner – it’s just a special place. We’ve been
sailors from way back when and it gets in your blood. Our
first memory of sailing goes back to when we started dating
back in Maryland where we grew up. Mark had an 11ft Sea
Snark and we would take it out on Chesapeake Bay. We
bought our first serious boat after we were married in 1978,
a 24ft Rainbow Weekender, and gradually the boats grew: we
had a Cal25, then a J29, a Tartan4100 and the Little Harbor
60 before we bought Marae. Every sailor is competitive and
we would like to do the Candy Store Cup in Newport – we like
the race’s relaxed format. But we also take safety seriously,
and every time we go aboard we have a safety demonstration,
even with the dinghy and the toys. Which toys get the most
use depends on who is visiting. With my sons it would be the
Lasers; my daughter and son-in-law enjoy paddleboarding,
and if it is a girls’ weekend, it’s the island, which fits eight
people; we have music, the stewards bring out drinks, it’s
great. One of the best anchorages you could imagine is
Somes Sound in the lower mid-section of Mount Desert Island
in Maine. It is so pristine and protected with huge cliffs on
each side, classic Maine scenery. Once when we were sailing
back from Maine on an early September morning, we found
ourselves among pods and pods of humpback whales, an
incredible experience. In winter, our absolute favorite place
is the British Virgin Islands. We have been going there since
1981 and yet we still discover new places.MY LIFE IN BOATS012345678989ART
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