As Red Propeller celebrates its 11th anniversary, we wanted to share some big news with our friends and associates. Alison Jeffries, who founded RP in her West Seattle bedroom, will be leaving the company this summer to pursue her dream of cruising the world with her husband, Kevin, in their boat, Red Rover.
We address what this will mean for Red Propeller going forward and reflect on Alison’s RP career in posts below, but wanted to focus first on Alison’s new adventure.
About a decade ago, Alison and Kevin walked onto a Nordhavn boat at a boat show and were handed a DVD chronicling the Nordhavn Atlantic Rally, an 18-boat adventure from Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, to Gibraltar.
“We looked at each other and said, ‘We want to do that,’” Alison recalled. This desire grew as they started reading about people who cruised the world.
“The thing that really struck us was their experiences in remote places meeting people,” Alison said. “Those were not ‘tourism’ experiences. They were very real experiences of getting to know a people, a culture and a place. We’re really interested in how people live their lives.”
Alison and Kevin already had a boat, but not the right kind of boat. So they bought a Nordhavn and started taking increasingly ambitious journeys. With their youngest child graduating from college this year and setting out on her life adventure, it seemed like a great time for them to pursue their dream as well.
Kevin, who owns Waypoint Sign Co., is taking a sabbatical for the coming months and empowering his awesome management team to run the day-to-day business (He will still be engaged, however!). Alison has decided that, with the strength of RP’s partners and team, it is a good time to close her personal chapter at RP.
Alison, Kevin and Zoe aboard Red Rover
They’re planning to head north to British Columbia this summer, then south along the coast with fellow Nordhavn owners, creating a film for the Nordhavn Film Festival in October, at the company’s headquarters in Dana Point, California. From there, they’ll continue south into Mexico, wintering in the Sea of Cortez before figuring out what’s next.
Those who know Alison know she’s driven by a sense of mission, and she plans to incorporate this into her travels. Specifically, she’s concocting a plan to help empower women and girls – something that’s more important than ever, in our view! People interested in learning more about this plan should track her and Kevin’s blog, comeonrover.com, where she will post details as she firms them up. The blog is also a great place to follow Alison and Kevin’s adventures in general.
Please join us in wishing Alison calm seas ahead!