25 RANDOM THINGS ABOUT CHIP

1. Chip is the most awesome harmonica player you'd ever want to hear.

2. He's been in the wine biz since the 80s and his head is an encyclopedia of wine.

3. If given the choice between a vintage 25-year-old wine and a bottle of rum aged for 25 years, he'd take the rum -- every time.

4. In college, he smoked a pipe and had a Sherlock Holmes hat and jacket, although I haven't seen much Sherlock from him in the 12 years I've known him.

5. He pulls over at marinas and airports to look at stuff with wings and sails.

6. His favorite movies are The Full Monty and Apocalypse Now.

7. He loves to laugh -- way out loud -- and is not afraid to cry.

8. He agitates a lot about the violence visited on the world in the name of religion.

9. His degree is in education with a music minor from Wagner College on Staten Island. He taught high school special ed and coached football for five years.

10. He was 12 when he first started dreaming of living on a sailboat.

11. The happiest I've ever seen him is either holding a baby, talking to a dog or standing at the helm in a brisk wind.

12. He once opened for Bob Dylan.

13. He loves to dress well but hates to shop. Hating to shop usually wins.

14. His kids are the center of his universe. He loves them completely, unconditionally and effortlessly.

15. He was born and raised in New Jersey, can go off into a frightening NJ accent and speaks turnpike exits of which I know nothing.

16. Until he married me, he thought New Mexico was in the Midwest.

17. He's half Italian (dad) and half Armenian (mom) and gets great cooking skills and recipes from both sides.

18. Chip thinks and talks in metaphors and uses his hands a lot when he's talking.

19. He is more likely to kiss you on the cheek or squeeze your nose than shake your hand.

20. Sailing magazines pile up in a wake behind him.

21. The first time he heard Stevie Ray's solo on Tightrope, he wept. When he played the harmonica at the foot of the Stevie Ray statue in Austin, I wept.

22. He is a warrior of peace and thinks Obama's election has done more for democracy than bombs, bullets or the Black Panthers.

23. If you're hungry, he'll feed you.

24. There aren't many things that don't interest him. He'll talk to anybody about anything, which annoys his wife.

25. He has read Sailing Alone Around the World 15 times. I'm glad he's taking me with him.