AS A CHARTER KEY WEST BOAT CAPTAIN,
CAPTAIN BARRY HAS ALWAYS BEEN A MAVERICK.
Barry’s early years, the 1950s, were spent with his parents in a one-horse town in the middle of the Arizona desert, and his favorite black and white tv show was, Adventures in Paradise; staring Gardner McKay, he knew that there had to be more to life than wasting away as a desert rat, so at a young age Captain Barry left his parents nest in the1960s and moved to San Francisco.
Barry became a hippie and lived the Summer of Love; his high school band was the Grateful Dead. Like Barry, other musicians and artists that would become national icons took up residence and became immersed in the 1960 hippie culture. Barry met the love of his life Tamara, and her daughter Andrea. They were married and opened their first art gallery on Fisherman’s Wharf, called the Frisco Gallery, a name the locals found very controversial, making the Gallery immediately famous. At this time in his young life, you would think that a young man who found love, owned a very successful business, and lived in the city of love would be salified with his life. Unfortunately, Barry’s favorite Tv show was Adventures in Paradise. He wanted to be Captain Gardner McKay.
With his family agreement, he sold Frisco Gallery, purchased a sixty-foot schooner from Warner Brothers Studios made for the movie Rulers of the sea,, and named the boat Sirius. Our new life of adventure started in St. Thomas, United States Virgin Islands. We knew nothing about ships sailing or the sea. We learned how to sail from our crews. Over time, Barry became a Captain, and Tamara became a chef, Andrea became the world’s youngest stewardess, and the Spieler Family went into the charter business. We home-schooled Andrea and sailed the Caribbean. After sailing the Caribbean for a few years, Captain Barry still had the Adventures in Paradise in his head. Tiki, the schooner in Adventures in Paradise, sailed the South Pacific, not the Caribbean. Places like Hawaii, Bora Bora, and Tahiti.
To satisfy Barry, he needed to visit these places. We sold our first boat and moved to Hawaii. Unable to find the correct ship Captain Barry got back into art by opening an art publishing business, and Tamara opened an art gallery aboard the cruise ship Oceanic Independence. Captain Barry finally found a suitable boat and purchased a one-hundred-foot three-masted Tall Ship named Resolution. Eventually, Captain Barry became Captain Gardner McKay. We sailed and chartered throughout the South Pacific and the Hawaiian Islands for the next fifteen years. We were the official Hawaiian tall ship for the 1980 Summer Olympics in Southern California and were honored to host the fencing team aboard the Resolution. For the next five years, we made Newport Beach, California, our home port and completed our daughter’s education there. Charters included corporate events, weddings, burials at sea, and weekends to Catalina Island. Captain Barry once again opened a new art publishing company. When our daughter graduated, we sailed down the Coast to San Diego, past Cabo San Lucas, beyond the Mexican Riviera and Costa Rica, through the Panama Canal, and into the Caribbean. We chartered in the Caribbean until 1995, when we sold the Resolution. We then purchased a canvas shop in a boatyard on the Island of Isleta Marina, Puerto Rico. Captain Barry purchased Island Girl, an old freighter with a refrigerated hold, and delivered ice cream and supplies to Necker Island, owned by Richard Branson.
Shortly after that, we sold the freighter and began our mega-yacht career as Captain and Chef management team. Over the next twenty years, we commanded many 100-to-160-foot vessels. We visited most every port of call worldwide on private and charter yachts. We entertained the rich and not-so-famous as well as several heads of state movie stars, Like Johnny Deep, for eight weeks during the making of the Disney movie Pirates of the Caribbean, The Curse of The Black Pearl, singer Mariah Carey, and Chuck Norris. Joanie from Happy Days, to name a few.
In 2008 the Captain decided to ‘settle down’ and purchase Rampage Key West. These days, he enjoys spending his time with his charter guests, sharing with them all that Key West has to offer; fishing, playing at the sandbar, snorkeling with the dolphins, and watching the sunset. But the most exciting thing he does is marry people aboard the Yacht Paradise. Captain Barry is a people person. His ability to socialize with people and interact with children has made him an exceptional Charter Boat Captain; he wants to meet you and share his stories with you. In his spare time, Captain Barry carves fish out of wood and writes books about his experiences and past adventures. There is a saying aboard Barry’s boats Be Careful; You Might End Up In One Of His Books.
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