Matt Johnston

Matt was born in Alton, Ontario, Canada in 1944 and lived there until, at age 20, he took off and moved to Redondo Beach, California to find warmer weather. While living in Canada he was known as "Harry", a name that he didn't think fit. It was not his legal name so he just started using the one on his birth certificate. Four years in the American Navy soon followed during which time he became an American citizen. The navy service occurred during the Vietnam War but his deployments were to the Caribbean and Mediterranean. The Navy, at the time, was spending its time playing chicken with Russian shipping. This was not combat, by any means, but that is what Uncle Sam assigned him to do. After being released from the navy, Matt and Judy moved to Key West, Florida to pursue a career with AT&T. After a short stay there they returned to California and he worked back and forth between AT&T and Pacific Bell for the next twenty-seven years. They have a daughter, Tracy, and a son Trevor. An early retirement opportunity was presented to him in 1996. He took it and went sailing, which is what his book, "Sailing Elsewhere", is all about. Matt and Judy spent the next ten years sailing throughout the Pacific Basin. Starting in San Francisco they sailed down the west coast eventually ending up in Ecuador having visited all the countries in Central America except Belize and Nicaragua. They then sailed west to the Galapagos and crossed to French Polynesia, the Cook Islands,Samoa, Tonga, and the Marshall Islands. After loosing the boat Matt continued to sail from time to time on other other people's boats visiting Vanuatu, New Caledonia, Indonesia, and Micronesia. Matt plans on continue sailing and will return to Micronesia to continue taking Hawkeye farther west in 2013. Matt and Judy now live in Antioch, California. You can reach Matt by email at matt@sailingelsewhere.com His web page www.SailingElsewhere.com has many photos from the 10 year voyage.