LIVE LIKE STEVE
AT 19, HE TRAVELED THROUGH CENTRAL AMERICA, AND AT 20, HE CREWED ON A 38-FOOTER FOR A 28-DAY TRANSATLANTIC TRIP.
The energetic tap, tap, tap on my hotel door rattled my sleep-deprived brain. I was in Costa Rica for a billfish tournament, and it was barely sunrise on a lay day. Who was getting me up at this wicked-early hour? And why?
It was Steve Boerema, whom I had met the day before on board the boat. At the time, circa 2003, Steve was the international sales manager for Cabo Yachts. He said, “Let’s go!”
“Let’s go where?” I mumbled. “It’s a lay day, man.”
“We’re in Costa Rica,” he insisted. “Let’s go have some fun.”
Steve, an avid surfer, tossed out the idea of hitting the surf break down the beach. I couldn’t surf if the board had training wheels. We jumped into a Jeep and drove headlong down the road. Next, he had me in a truck, headed up a mountain. “What are we doing?” I asked.
“We’re going to zip-line the rainforest!” he answered.
“What?” I asked, still half awake. “Like swing through the trees like Tarzan?” “Yep, it’s going to be awesome,” he replied, smiling.
For three hours, we zipped our way down the mountain. It was awesome. Steve always went first, taking pictures as I came down the line. An instant friendship was born.
I still keep those pictures on my computer all these years later. When a day gets tough, I look at them. And over the years, we tested several boats together. A true professional, he knew every one that he represented inside and out. We also bonded over the fact that we have special needs children and would often chat about the challenges and triumphs.
At 19, Steve explored Central America. At 20, he crewed aboard a 38-footer for a 28day transatlantic trip. Last year, he took his family on a six-month jaunt through India, Sri Lanka and Bali. And he took an annual guys’ vacation: two weeks cruising aboard a catamaran to an offshore reef in Central America where it was surfing and sun 24/7.
Cancer took Steve a couple of days ago. Unlike most of us, he lived every moment of every day. His family and our industry will miss him, but a star as bright as his never truly goes out.
Do that long-planned cruise. Go have an adventure. Live like Steve, if even for a moment. I think he’d like that.