ANDY OLDMAN has had a passion for boats since age five. By seventh grade, he had read nearly every seagoing book in the school library and was soon pre-occupied with building a working gaff-rigged model remarkably like PATIENCE. Three memorable summers ensued near Castine, Maine, where teenagers sailed on a 45′ schooner as far as Monhegan Island in the days of hand lead and compass. Andy discovered PATIENCE on a coffee break at a midwinter boat show; the child’s model had come alive. Andy and his family recently completed a wondrous, year-and-a-half voyage on their ketch that took them across the North Atlantic to France, down to South America, over to the Galápagos Islands, and many points in between. Meanwhile, Andy is dedicated to sharing the knowledge of wooden boats and sailing that he is so fortunate to have acquired from a beloved cadre of old-time sailors, friends, and adventurers.