I am a marine surveyor and technician based in Annapolis, Maryland.

I grew up in Catania, between Etna and the Ionian sea. I came to it early — first as a kid on the beach, then as a sailor, an instructor, a delivery skipper, a boatyard hand, and eventually someone who gets paid to understand what boats are and what they have been through. This was not a plan. It turned out to be a career.

Along the way I picked up a doctorate in history, which turns out to be useful. History is the practice of reading evidence carefully and telling the truth about what it means.

That is what I try to do with boats.