Cassie Sleeper was born in Long Beach, CA and has always been keen on adventure. In high school, she received the Gold Award in Girl Scouts while being squadron commander and commander in charge of special teams for her AFJROTC class.  It was through Girl Scouts that she started sailing spending a few weekends a year on the tall ship Swift of Ipswitch at Los Angeles Maritime Institute.  While in high school she swam and lifeguarded for her city’s swim team as well as taught and coached swimming, water polo, and diving. Cassie graduated from Whittier College in California majoring in Psychology and minoring in film.  She worked as a developmental specialist for the state of California for 3 years and started a master’s in clinical psychology.  In 2007 she was offered a position on the tall ship Lynx.  She left her job and master’s program and started her career sailing. During her professional maritime career, she has sailed on over 20 vessels including tall ships, private yachts, and training vessels for the government run maritime academy in the US.  Cassie has primarily worked for a college semester at sea program going from Third Mate to Captain.  She has crossed the Atlantic and Pacific 3 times, the Equator 5 times and has gone through both the Panama and Suez Canal.  She particularly likes long voyages with no port stops and teaching celestial navigation. Cassie holds a USCG 1,600-ton ocean masters, 3,000-ton officer in charge of a navigational watch, wilderness first responder, and PADI advanced open water.  She currently works for Seabourn Cruises as a submersible pilot, surface officer, polar bear guard, zodiac driver, and lecturer.  When she is not working, she can be found knitting, crocheting, reading bad fiction novels, or captaining the Matthew Turner in Sausalito.