THE JOURNEY
THAT SHAPED US
TL;DR:
We are a bunch of lifelong international travelers. We spent four years living on a sailboat, during which we encountered and embraced the idea of leaving a clean wake both physically and metaphorically. For years, we’ve bounced around the idea of launching this newsletter, and we are thrilled to finally be doing it!
For the extended edition of our story, read on...
SV Atalanta under sail, c. 2003
The Harvey family aboard Atalanta, 2005
SETTING SAIL:
A FAMILY’S FOUR-YEAR ADVENTURE
When Vienna was seven and Rhiannon five, we moved onto a 43' Wauquiez Amphitrite ketch—rechristened Atalanta with due maritime ceremony—and set off from Seattle on what became a four-year adventure.
We circumnavigated Vancouver Island, sailed south through Mexico and Central America, and transited the Panama Canal in 2004. The one infamous cape we ever skipped—Cape Hatteras, graveyard of the Atlantic!—led us into the Intracoastal Waterway and, as fate would have it, to Norfolk, Virginia.
Michael and Vienna manning the lines on the Erie Canal, 2005
Ginny and the girls at the start of a backpacking trip, c. 1997
Hurricane season chased us north to New England, then autumn turned our bow south again. We needed a winter berth. Norfolk stood out: affordable and (mostly) ice-free. Throughout our trip, we’d played the “could we live here?” game. What began as a temporary stay turned into house hunting—though we swore we wouldn’t buy.
Then, days before setting sail again, Michael spotted a "For Sale by Owner" sign and, true to form, bought the house that night. Full price. We left a handyman with hastily sketched alterations and embarked on one final cruise, completing the Down East Circle Route before returning—gulp!—home at the end of 2005.
FINDING HOME IN NORFOLK
Michael and the girls aboard, 2005
THE GUIDING PHILOSOPHY: LEAVE A CLEAN WAKE
The bluewater cruising community gave us our guiding maxim: leave a clean wake—both literally (no dumping waste) and metaphorically (leave places and people better than you found them).
Twenty years later, we’re still in the same Norfolk house, still amazed by that, and still doing our best to uphold the clean wake ethos. (Though Vienna and Rhiannon still haven’t forgiven Michael for selling Atalanta.) Despite leading full lives as independent adults, we all prioritize family time; one of our proudest accomplishments is that we still genuinely like each other. (If we didn’t, this whole Clean Wake project would be doomed!)
Vienna as a baby in Turkey, 1994
Vienna on the Uinta Highline Trail, 2021
Vienna came ready-made for adventure. Born in Stockholm, by three months old, she’d hiked Norwegian fjords, road-tripped Portugal, and sailed Turkey’s Mediterranean coast.
A lifetime of homeschooling led to Stanford, where she studied Science, Technology, and Society, and wrote an award-winning thesis on self-driving car ethics. After stints in tech startups, she fled California’s wildfires in 2022 and returned to Norfolk.
An artist as well as a techie, Vienna writes, photographs, and performs—whether directing dance teams, teaching aerial arts, or working in local theatre. She’s also a devoted backpacker, soloing in the Sierra and Appalachians. In 2024, she and Michael thru-hiked the High Sierra Trail, with Vienna becoming the third generation of Harveys to summit Mt. Whitney.
MEET VIENNA
Michael backpacking in the Sierra Nevada, 2017
Michael, son of Welsh immigrants, took his first transatlantic flight at one and backpacked the Sierra with his family at six. He lived in Holland as a kid (and still speaks German with a Dutch accent) before meeting fellow Stanford student Ginny while studying abroad in—wait for it—Vienna.
After six years of happy marriage, Ginny decided it was finally time to make a baby. She gave Michael a copy of Adventuring with Children; he gave in, and they kept sailing and backpacking, baby Vienna in tow.
A throughline in Michael’s life—and one he instilled in Vienna and Rhiannon—is the belief that while the world is vast, people are fundamentally the same and should treat each other with kindness. Even as a C-level executive in the often hardcore world of tech, he became known for leading with humanity and compassion.
MEET MICHAEL
Michael and Vienna heading to a gala at our local art museum, 2022
For years we—Michael and Vienna—toyed with the idea of Leaving a Clean Wake, and now the time is finally right. This project is a learning journey for us, and we’re excited to foster dialogue and community around this concept that is so near and dear to our hearts.
We hope you’ll join us!