Captain Lee Sutton

Captain Lee Sutton has been on the water at some point in each year of his life.  From modest beginnings as a Captain Bob fan at age 2 in Virginia now to the Jeanie B, his journey on the water has taken him from pupil now to educator.

            Lee Sutton was introduced to sailing through his father and a children’s show in Richmond, Virginia – Captain Bob.  Sailing sincerely fascinated Lee and he has been in awe ever since.

            His first learning experiences were at Camp Sea Gull; a YMCA camp on the Neuse River in Arapahoe, North Carolina.  He spent several summers as a camper, then staff member and then assistant Sailing master.  He was in charge of the cruising sailboats and took campers on overnight sails and multiple day/night cruises on the Pamlico Sound.

            His interest then turned to SCUBA diving.  He became a PADI SCUBA instructor and taught SCUBA in Nags Head, North Carolina at Nags Head Pro Dive.  As an instructor and Dive Master aboard the 54’ Sea Fox, he gained invaluable experience on the open ocean day in and day out for three summers.  He taught over 100 students in his tenure in Nags Head and still is an active diver today.

            He then returned to school for another degree; a PhD in Anatomy and Cell Physiology at North Carolina State University.  After completion of that, he joined the faculty at East Carolina University in Greenville, North Carolina.  With that venture in hand, he and his wife started Outer Banks Sail and Kayak in 2002.  Primarily a sailing charter service and school, they rented sailboats, took people on ocean sailing trips and taught advanced navigation.

            From that first business venture, that opened up Lee to bigger and better things and an inspected sailing vessel – the schooner Jeanie B.  His heart was in teaching sailing on larger sailboats and he was always drawn to a larger, Coast Guard inspected vessel so as to put more young people aboard for teaching purposes.

            Now the Jeanie B can accommodate up to 30 passengers for day sails and up to 12 passengers for overnight passage.  Aboard the schooner Jeanie B, people can learn sailing basics, nautical techniques, history of navigation, coastal and ocean navigation and celestial navigation.

            The Jeanie B is a true culmination of Lee Sutton’s life thus far.  He and his love for sailing and teaching are now one with this ship and he truly values each and every person that boards the boat whether they are there to enjoy a simple day sail or evening cruise or even be in a teaching environment that Lee truly thrives on.