Landlocked in Denver, Tennis’ Patrick Riley and Alaina Moore had almost no sailing experience when they first decided to venture out on the open ocean. But a lack of sea legs was no match for the couple’s thirst for adventure and desire to live minimally.
They began devoting every spare hour to the study of all things nautical. “We would test each other at breakfast,” Riley says, “tie knots during lunch, and talk about hypothetical situations during dinner. It literally had taken over our lives.”
Once he and Moore had consumed every textbook they could find on the subject, they dipped into their life savings and cast off on an epic voyage.
After spending more than half a year together on their boat, the adventurers returned home to find that life on the high seas had changed them. “We ran into an issue,” Riley says, “with not being able to communicate our experiences with sailing to the community around us. Friends and family couldn’t possibly understand things like having coffee at 6:00am while a sting-ray jumps out of the water just in front of your bow. We found ourselves with such heavy nostalgia that we had to funnel it somewhere. That place was music.”
Rily and Moore began writing and recording songs inspired by their journey. The project has resulted in debut Cape Dory, a record about exploration, devotion and life on the ocean, all set to sunshine melodies and the rhythm of the waves.