Sherri and Arthur McNary have returned to Santa Barbara Harbor, where the local couple met, had their first date and cultivated a love of sailing and the sea.
After more than 30 years of marriage and countless yacht sailing trips across parts of the world, the passion for each other and for Santa Barbara remains strong as ever.
That’s why the McNarys have launched Green Flash, a private luxury cruise service based in Santa Barbara offering half-day, full-day or multiday excursions aboard the couple’s catamaran.
Captain Arthur and Chef Sherri at your service.
The business is one the McNarys fell into nearly seven years ago, when they bought the 47-foot catamaran with two parallel hulls — yachts typically have just one hull — in South America and decided to stick around the Caribbean and Virgin Islands to provide overnight charter trips for tourists.
Arthur righted the ship, stocked with standup paddleboards, kayaks and fun water toys, and Sherri cooked up three meals a day, sticking to her California coastal-infused cuisine.
Last month, they came back to Santa Barbara, where the market seemed ripe for Green Flash and where their three grown children still live.
“No one with a catamaran is doing what we’re doing,” said Arthur McNary, a Ventura native and former restaurant group executive who’s been sailing and racing boats since he was 10. “We’re hoping to get into the honeymoon market here.”
The laidback couple said 90 percent of the Caribbean cruises they logged were for young families, since the catamaran has three bedroom suites, including a master, in addition to indoor and outdoor dining and deck space for lounging.
They averaged more than 20 week-long excursions each year.
Green Flash customers can customize trips and meals and book through the Santa Barbara Sailing Center, which also offers charters on yachts of varying sizes for one-day or multiple-day ventures, along with other local operations.
A catamaran has a more stable motion, Arthur said, noting the Green Flash hopes to do more one-day or half-day adventures.
A four-hour cruise for two people would cost $1,800 for beverages and one of Sherri’s customizable “garden to galley” meals, with $100 for each additional person.
The catamaran could sail up and down the coast from Goleta to Carpinteria or further, anchoring off the Four Seasons Resort The Biltmore Santa Barbara or spending a couple of days near the Channel Islands.
Hotel concierges told the McNarys tourists are clamoring for the option.
“We’re kind of blazing a new trail,” Sherri told Noozhawk. “They want to get on the water. They want to see the American Riviera. This boat can go anywhere, we can do anything. I hope it really takes off.
“Now that we’re home, it’s sustainable.”
— Noozhawk staff writer Gina Potthoff can be reached at gpotthoff@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.