Bellingham CMT woman turns lifelong passion for boating into business

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Bellingham woman turns lifelong passion for boating into business

http://www.bellinghamherald.com/travel/story/384763.html

Sherri Backstrom is the owner of Waypoint Charter Services, which

specializes in brokering yachts that are accessible for people with

disabilities.

It's common knowledge that the human body is about 75 percent water,

but for Sherri Backstrom more than most, water is in her blood.

" Growing up, my dad always had boats, " says Backstrom, 46, a

Bellingham resident. " Being born and raised here, we were always at

or on the water. "

Backstrom had her first sailing experience when she was 16, and she

knew it was something she could do for life.

" Seeing the world by the waterways, that was my goal, " she says.

But as a single mother raising three children and running a

Montessori school, she knew that the waters around Bellingham would

have to do, at least for a little while.

" I knew it would be my turn, " she says. " I would travel by water. "

Now that her kids are adults, Backstrom, along with her fiancé Don

Hall, is beginning to live her dream.

About seven years ago, Hall, a semi-retired commercial fisherman,

rebuilt a derelict sailboat called Clipper Spirit and took it to San

Francisco, where he would spend large parts of the year fishing up

and down the coast. When he made it down to Mexico, he knew Backstrom

would love it. The next year, in 2005, the couple returned and spent

six weeks on the Sea of Cortez. The next year they stayed for a whole

five months.

" We intended to leave and get to Central America, but we never left

the Sea, " she says, " I know it like the back of my hand. We went

around to every single island and got out to explore. "

Now Backstrom is putting her dream to work as well. In 2006 she

started her company, Waypoint Charter Services, through which she

brokers yachts for individuals, groups and corporations.

" Because of the nature of this business, I'm selling what I love, "

she says, though it can be challenging to convince people that

charting a yacht isn't only for the rich and famous, and prices are

usually comparable to taking a cruise.

A special focus of the company has been chartering boats with

accessibility for those with disabilities, which is a personal

passion for Backstrom. When she was in her 20s, Backstrom was

diagnosed with Charcot-Marie-Tooth, a neuromuscular disease that has

led to the loss of muscle and some coordination in her hands and feet.

" It's a part of who I am, " she says. " The movie `Pay it Forward,'

this feels like that for me. Because of my disability and my

awareness (I can) help other people experience what maybe they

thought they couldn't. "

She recently set up a disabled diver with an accessible diving ship

in Hawaii and hopes to do more in the future to help more people

discover the same feeling that drove her passion for the water.

" I fell in love with the fact that you're working with the elements —

the tide, the current, the wind, " she says, " to go where you want to

go. "