John & Amanda

John Neal was born on the banks of Sudan's Blue Nile River. At the age of 22 his love of adventure and travel fueled a desire to sail to the South Pacific from Seattle aboard his 27' sloop. Log of Mahina chronicled his voyage and adventures and became a best seller. To answer the question he was frequently asked, How can I do what you did? he conducted his first of now 140 Offshore Cruising Seminars in 1976. In 1990, to meet the need for hands-on offshore instruction, John established Mahina Expeditions with the goal of sharing his knowledge of ocean voyaging in a safe and supportive environment. John has conducted 148 sail-training expeditions aboard his Hallbery-Rassy 42, Mahina Tiare II & his Hallberg-Rassy 46, Mahina Tiare III, sailing over 293,000 miles in the South Pacific, Caribbean, Patagonia, Antarctica, Atlantic, Scandinavia and the Arctic. John's personal interests include kayaking, trail running, cycling, swimming and flying. He holds a USCG masters license.
 
Amanda Swan Neal grew up in Auckland, New Zealand and sailed to Seattle as a teenager aboard a boat she helped her family build. Upon returning to New Zealand, she became a sailmaker for Hoods and transferred professions to rigging with Noakes Rigging in Sydney, Australia then Southern Spars in NZ. In 1990 she completed the Whitbread Around the World Race (now Volvo) as rigger aboard Maiden, the first all-women Whitbread boat. Amandas 251,000 miles of international sailing include two Sydney-Hobart Races, numerous international regattas and seven Cape Horn roundings intermixed with a ten year involvement in tall ship sail-training. Upon meeting John in 1994 she joined Mahina Tiare for the Cape Horn and Antarctic expeditions. She is author of The Essential Galley Companion and since 2005 has written the monthly Galley Essentials column in 48 North Magazine. Amanda enjoys introducing women to the joys of the cruising lifestyle and her personal interests include Celtic step dancing, photography, triathlon training and sewing. She holds a NZ Commercial Launchmasters and Ocean Yachtmaster license.
 
Magazines Contributed to: Blue Water Sailing, Australian Yachting, Cruising World, 48 North, Latitude 38, SAIL, Practical Sailor and Yachting.

Books Written: Log of the Mahina, Mahina Tiare, Pacific Passages (John), The Essential Galley Companion (Amanda), Offshore Cruising Companion (John & Amanda).
 
Books Contributed to: Surviving the Storm by Steve Dashew, World Cruising Survey by Jimmy Cornell, Voyagers Handbook by Beth A. Leonard, Fifty Places to Sail Before You Die by Chris Santella.
 
Areas of Experience: Caribbean, Mexico, Atlantic including Azores & Canaries, Patagonia, Cape Horn (six roundings), Antarctica, Pacific including Galapagos, Easter, Pitcairn, Fr. Polynesia, Cooks, Samoa, Tonga, Fiji, Vanuatu, New Caledonia, Australia, Tasmania, New Zealand, Alaska, British Columbia. Europe including the Med, Ireland, England, Scotland, Orkney, Norway, Spitsbergen, Sweden, Denmark, Germany, Spain and Portugal.

Annually Amanda and John present seminars at three major boat shows as well as conducting several Offshore Cruising Seminars preparing sailors for safe, self-sufficient voyaging worldwide on their own boats.

When not at sea, John and Amanda live on San Juan Island, Washington.