Personal page crew member: Dean
Click here to go back to the main crew page

Hello and welcome to my personal pages

The Mad Dogs regularly get emails from our website and people are always asking who we are, what do we do how did we get there. Following is a summary of me, in a nutshell, naked to the world (well almost naked…)

Who are you?

I’m Dean.
I’m a Dreamer, Entrepreneur, Cook, Computer Programmer, Mechanic & all around good guy!

Looking back on my life, it was evident that I was different. School was a breeze. Unlike my siblings, I breezed through school without studying while usually taking Honors in all my classes. The Rubik’s Cube hit the peak of its craze in 1979/80 and I was one of those crazy kids that had the thing down pat and solved in less than 45 seconds! The puzzles of the future would be solved with the same determination!

In High School I had the idea of being a Commercial Pilot so I enrolled in the Aircraft Maintenance program while still following a full academic route including the maths, physics, calculus, English, etc. I wasn’t sure where I’d be able to come up with the $30,000 tuition for the Commercial Pilot Program at Mount Royal College but there was still time to sort that out.

I hit grade 12 and graduated. School had lost it’s interest and although I graduated with way more credits than needed (100 points was required; I had 135) I never looked back or followed higher education. Being a Commercial Pilot wasn’t in the cards right now.

The world was out there and it was waiting!

With my best friend and business partner, we embarked upon several ideas, started several companies and made some good money. At 35, I decided that I had enough and was truly time to live. The next step was to travel!

We bought a brand new 40’ sailboat, spent a considerable amount to outfit it with the latest goodies and equipment and the bow line was cast off.

From then on it’s been a roller-coaster of adventure. Spending an entire winter in Alaska on the sailboat, having a face-to-face encounter with a wolf, watching as 250,000 lbs of humpback whales dove beneath the boat only a few feet away from us - the experiences have been second to none!

Where to go from here?
The (incredibly) flexible plan is to sail south next spring. From Seattle/Victoria straight to the Marqueses, Tahiti, New Zealand and the Australia. Following this we might hop back across the Pacific to Argentina & Chile and even cruising down to the Antarctic during the summer.

But what about my future?

I’m still single and have no intention of getting married in the immediate future. I still toy with the idea of being married and having kids, but right now there is too much to see and do in the world. I don’t want to be tied down, not so much with a wife, but children is a different story.

I’m not a 9 to 5’er, never have been, never will be. Having owned and run several companies, I don’t see myself ever working for anyone other than myself. I am in control of what I do, when I do it and I play by my own rules.

Although we’ve travelled and seen many parts of the world, there are still many more places to go and see - some of these being out of reach of the sailboat. This is where our collection of over 1,000,000 British Airways miles will come in handy (should have been more, but I missed the deadline to submit a number of missed flight!)

What do you do in your spare time?
The list is endless. I love to cook and although workspace and storage on the boat is limited, I’ve been testing and perfecting a great list of my own recipes. The Mad Dog cookbook is in the works and one day will be published in the near future. Computer Programming has always been in my head, it was just a matter of getting to it. Currently we are working on several applications, some will be hardcopy published on CD, some will be sold online. They will all make money; some a little more, some a little less. In the end they will allow us to buy better goodies, better SCUBA gear, better camera gear, travel & go to more places and, if things go well, we'll even upgrade to a larger boat one day!

Who would you credit with your success?
I would have to thank my best friend and business partner Leo. With incredible, singular determination and drive, he is able to see the good and the potential in everyone and recognize opportunity. Even when I was growing up, he would push me to do more, do better and think with my own brain. To him, I remove my hat and bow!

That is it.
We are not couch potatoes.
We are not whiners.
We do not blame anyone else for our situation.

We are living life to the fullest.
We are “Exploring to inspire…”
We are The Mad Dogs!


How do we pay our bills? Follow link to find out more

My hobbies:
Cooking, Diving, Writing and Copywriting, Computer Programming, Sailing, Fishing and Exploring!

Something about the Junior Forest Wardens
The Junior Forest Wardens is a great youth organization sponsored by the Alberta Forestry Service in Canada. For several years, both Leo and I belonged to the Junior Forest Wardens in the province of Alberta, me as a Junior Forest Warden and Leo as a leader. Read more about this organization

My favorite photos:
1. Follow this link to view my favorite photos
2. Photos of me and Leo in the Rocky Mountains in various seasons
3. Photos and information about the Junior Forest Wardens