Before yachts, I worked on sportfish boats in Alaska and on tug boats on the Mississippi River, with a brief interlude where I helped open and run a successful timeshare sales office.

The thing was, like most who get into the yachting industry, I wanted to travel and experience a sense of adventure. So after living in Fiji for a short time, I returned to San Diego and was referred to Lacasse Services by a friend.

Lacasse got me three interviews that turned into three job offers and I ended up on the M/Y Crystal. It was the captain's first job and the owner's first boat, which filled the experience with a bit of confusion. I stayed with the boat for about six months, making our way from San Diego to Costa Rica before I decided that a change was needed.

In Costa Rica, I was introduced to the M/Y Dorothea and found an absolutely ideal situation: wonderfully gracious owners; an experienced, strong yet fun captain; and an outstanding crew. However, on a brief trip home, I found the love of my life.

I returned to the Dorothea and stayed with the boat for six months on the return trip to San Diego, where I decided to return to life on land and pursue other passions.

I write, paint and play music. During my various travels I created many works that have earned praise and encouragement that I should pursue these art forms as a career, though I hardly want to live my life as a starving artist. Yet at the same time, I, like most artists, want to maintain the integrity of my own expression, blah, blah, blah. Therefore, I decided to go into publishing.

I went to the hometown newspaper to become a writer, but noticed they needed help with their sales.

This newspaper is the largest community paper in San Diego and has been around for nearly 20 years. However, I felt that it was falling well short of its earning potential and submitted a proposal to reinvent the sales structure.

After a few weeks of arguing with the publisher about how things should be run, he put me in charge of a section and in the first year I increased profits roughly 4,000 percent. In the second year I doubled my first year's volume.

While I still work at the paper, I am devoting large amounts of time to developing a business plan for a publishing company of my own. The business and marketing plan are being developed and I will soon be looking for financial backing. This project will change the way that college-age writers, artists and musicians develop and pursue their careers, and the way that the world discovers hot new talent.

Finally, I have found an incredible way to combine my passions and talents, acquired skills and experience to compliment and feed off of each other. This is the sort of idea that inspires excitement and anticipation in everyone who comes in comes in contact with it. It is what I left home to discover and returned home to create.

The only difference between the decision to set out to sea and the decision to return to land is this: 99 percent of the time, when anyone first makes the decision to become a yacht crew member, an adventurous hope for inspiration is a primary driving force. There is an elusive thing out there that they hope will inspire their lives.

The decision to return to land is more often due to giving up the search or some feeling of obligation. Where is the inspiration in that?

The key is to never give up. Always seek what will inspire you. Pursue your passions, learn from your experiences and figure out how to tie it all together. That is the key to finding that sense of purpose. It's the key to success. It may just be the key to happiness.

For more information, contact David Hall at dghsearch@gmail.com . If you know someone who has made a successful transition from yachting to another career, let us know. Contact Editor Lucy Chabot Reed at lucy@the-triton.com.