Cdr Abe Walston, MD JD FACC  FACP

 Lt/C Rick Sorrenti, AP completed a career in the U.S. Air Force and a 23 year career with Booz Allen Hamilton retiring as Vice President in 2014.  He holds an advanced degree in Electrical/Aeronautical Engineering and a 100 Ton US Coast Guard Masters License.  He and his wife Teresa have been active boaters for over 25 years exploring the East Coast and the Virgin Islands.  Rick is a Certified Instructor and lead instructor for the CFS&PS Weather Course and teaches in the America's Boating Course (ABC).  He was drawn to boating for the adventures of exploring and developing the skills necessary to pilot a large recreational vessel

Lt/C Steve Thompson, S retired from the U.S. Army in 1998 and is currently working in the information security field for the U.S. Department of the Interior.  Steve and his wife, Sue, moved to Wilmington in late 2011 and plan on retiring here.  With a deep love of the water Steve bought his first boat in 2001 and has been active in boating organizations ever since.  He is an active member of the Coast Guard Auxiliary, joining that organization in 2002.  You may find him on his boat, Forever Dreamin’, conducting marine event safety patrols for the Coast Guard.  He joined the Power Squadron in 2012 and is a certified instructor.  While enjoying their boat, Steve and Sue live by one basic rule: The Captain makes all the important decisions; the First Mate decides which decisions are important.

 1/Lt Meg learned to sail at as a teen at Camp Westminster on Higgins Lake, MI and raced on 470s at the University of Michigan. Throughout her career as an environmental engineer at a consulting firm, she and friends vacationed by bare-boat chartering sailboats in the Caribbean islands.  In 1997 she attended the Chapman School of Seamanship in Stuart, FL and earned her USCG 100-ton Captain license.  In 2000 she sailed across the Atlantic Ocean with 4 friends on a 50-foot sloop. She recently bought a 40-foot Endeavor sailboat and enjoys sailing out the Masonboro Inlet. Meg is a member of the District 27’s Navigator or “N” club and cherishes the comradery of the Cape Fear Sail and Power Squadron.  She was part of the Kids and Boating class at the Wildlife Expo and enjoys coordinating the ABC course.  She has participated in many of the Squadron courses and is a Certified Instructor. Meg moved to Wilmington in 2011 to be closer to her parents who retired here in 1992.

1/Lt Gaye Thomas,S is a proud native North Carolinian who grew up in Siler City and has lived in Salisbury, Dunn, Raleigh and has now resided in Wilmington for 27 years.  She is a graduate of UNCG and taught school for 31 and 1/2 years in Chatham, Harnett, and New Hanover Counties. In 1999 she was named the Outstanding Teacher of the Gifted in North Carolina by the Association for the Gifted and Taltented.  She is married to Jimmy Thomas and they have 3 children and 3 grandchildren. After owning small boats for several years she and Jimmy bought their first big boat,a 36 ft. Gulf Star trawler, in 1991 and have traveled extensively since. They lost it in l996 in Hurricane Fran. After that they bought a 35 ft. Senator trawler.  Sold that and down sized to a 25 ft. Acadia which they soon found to be TOO small,so they are now back to owning a 36 ft. Gulf Star trawler. They have been to the Chesapeake Bay 7 times and in 2000 they traveled to the Abacos getting home one day before their first grandchild was born. She has been a member of CFS&PS since 2007 and served as Assistant Secretary in 2015.

 Morgan credits her father for instilling in her a love of sailing.  Her father took the family to a sailing school behind Kitty Hawk when he got bored at the beach one summer, and then bought a daysailer which the family sailed for years.  Her husband, Wilbur, also became an avid sailor and over the years they graduated from a JY-15, to a MacGregor 26, to a Beneteau 351 and finally to a Beneteau 411.  After hearing workers’ compensation cases as a Deputy Commissioner for over 27 years, Morgan retired and she and Wilbur moved onto their sailboat On the Wings of the Wind.  With the help of friend Lloyd Moore, they then sailed from Oriental, NC to St. John, USVI, a trip requiring 11 nights at sea, including a very challenging night with storm force winds.  The Chapman’s sailed their way through the eastern Caribbean, seeing most of the islands there and making it as far as Grenada.  On the return trip, they came through the Turks and Caicos and the Bahamas but had to get back before hurricane season so they couldn’t spend as much time at any of those islands.  In 2011 she and Wilbur moved to Wilmington and they bought a center console motorboat for use at the coast.  However, they still sail On the Wings of the Wind out of Oriental.

 Lt Lia Spark, P grew up near Cambridge in the United Kingdom and relocated to Wilmington in October 2015 with her husband Peter.  Prior to moving here, she worked for a law firm where she was responsible for all aspects of building management and looked after a team of 12.  Lia and her husband spent most of their free time on the water in a 30ft narrow boat (Google it if you don't know) on the picturesque River Great Ouse and the River Cam.  After arriving in Wilmington with her husband, a couple of suitcases and her Rottweiler, her first priority was buying a boat. They quickly purchased a Sea Ray Sundancer 240, even before furniture for the house.  They soon realized that not all boating was the same and that they needed guidance for the local conditions and rules.  So Lia and Peter joined the Squadron for the education, but they now stay for further education and more importantly the friendship.  She recently trained a German Shepherd puppy who has learned exceptionally well and who loves the boat.  She can always be found smiling somewhere but most often on Facebook, the Cape Fear river, ICW or at our regular squadron meetings organizing everything so it runs with military precision.

 Paul Tyndall grew up in eastern North Carolina boating on local lakes, the Neuse and Tar Rivers, the ICW and the Outer Banks. He spent 24 years in Philadelphia practicing law before moving to Wilmington with his wife, Sandy, where he continues to practice law and is also an ordained pastor at The Message Church in Leland, NC. In 2013, Paul and Sandy sold their house, bought a 44 Ocean Alexander M/Y, named her Going Yahweh and took off cruising to the Florida Keys. They lived aboard for two years, while Paul continued to practice law. Paul joined the Power Squadron in 2012 and currently serves as a Member at Large and Membership Involvement Chairperson. He also is a Squadron Certified Instructor. Paul and Sandy have three children and happily just welcomed their first grandchild, Slate, to this world.