Michael has family ties to Eastport, historically called Moose Island, that go back to the 1890�s.  His maternal grandfather lived here and in Jonesport during the time his family operated the N.M. Parker Sardine Cannery on Sea Street.  He has lived throughout much of the Northeast, spending many years in the Berkshire Hills of western Massachusetts.

   Michael learned to sail on Olympic Class Solings and enjoyed single handing them out of Boston and around the Islands beyond.  In the early 1990�s he spent many winters frostbite racing J-24s in Boston Harbor.   In the summers he sailed his O�Day Daysailer �Adina� in the lakes of southern Vermont and made a number of trips from Mystic to Maine and back on cruising sailboats.  He sailed and raced quite a bit in the Boston to Cape Cod area, participated in the Antigua Classic Yacht Regatta and made an offshore passage from Antigua to Bermuda.  Though an avid fan of sailboat racing, his offshore passages have solidified his appreciation for sea kindliness and seaworthiness in boat design.

   His interest in sailing led him to enroll in a yacht design program, and after two years of study he and his wife Kathi moved to Eastport, where he began work with Tom MacNaughton, a local yacht designer.  As he became more proficient he found himself producing most of the manual drawings for the firm.  Early in his yacht design apprenticeship he started working with Computer Aided Design software, and taught the Rhino CAD Course for the Yacht Design School here in Eastport.  He authored three of the eleven lessons in the school�s CAD course and extensively revised portions of others as the Rhino 3D software evolved.  He also developed and taught an introductory course in Rhino CAD for those students needing a broader knowledge of CAD basics before starting the Marine CAD course.  During the summer of 2005 he developed illustrations for the �Excellence in Hull Lines� course offered by the E-Marine Training Program through Professional Boatbuilder Magazine, and taught by the Yacht Design School.  Other projects this past year include teaching Lofting to first year students at the Washington County Community College Boat School, completion of a rig design and all hand drawn plans for the design and construction of a 60', 160,000 pound Colin Archer sailing yacht, and lines development and rig design for a 36� Chinese rig sailing yacht.

   Michael holds a professional chef�s degree from the Cambridge School of Culinary Arts and a Tool and Die Makers Certificate from the Western Mass Precision Institute.  He has owned and operated a successful auto related business and has designed and built his own log home. When not thinking about boats, his other interests include cartography, sculpture, architecture, woodworking, skiing, snorkeling and cooking.

  With his years as a business owner, Michael has ingrained in him an appreciation for the value of excellent client relations and communication. He believes this dedication to customer service will help clients of Moose Island Design enjoy the experience of boat design as much as he does.