Who we are
Welcome aboard! We’re Tom and Abby Foxx, a married couple sailing together full-time on our Beneteau 393 - Salty Foxx. What began as a shared dream has become our everyday reality — chasing horizons and finding home wherever we drop anchor.
This website is our floating journal — a collection of stories, photographs, and reflections from life at sea. We write about the places we visit, the joys and challenges of cruising as a couple, and the many lessons we’ve picked up along the way. Whether you’re a fellow sailor, a hopeful cruiser, or simply someone who loves a good story, we’re glad you’re here.
Fair winds and following seas,
Tom & Abby
Our Journey
🧭 2020 — We Met in Virginia
Tom and Abby crossed paths in Virginia and quickly discovered a shared love for the water, adventure, and each other. When Tom had to move back to Hawaii for work, Abby moved the 4,695 miles with him after only 8 months of dating!
⛵ 2021–2022 — Living in Hawaii
We spent over a year living, cruising, and racing in on Oahu — soaking up trade winds, big swells, and fast boats. We loved to freediving and hanging out with our friends at Hawaii Yacht Club.
🌲 2022–2024 — Life in Upstate New York
In Spring of 2022, Tom took a job that let us explore life in Saratoga Spring, NY. We raced on the beautiful Lake George in the summers and went camping as much as possible.
⚓ Summer/Fall 2024 — Bought Salty Foxx in Hampton, VA
We moved back to Virginia in August of 2024 with the goal of casting off for full-time cruising within the year. In September, we found our perfect boat — Salty Foxx — and started sailing the Chesapeake Bay.
🌊 2025 — Cast Off for Full-Time Cruising
By July, both Abby and Tom decided to take a break from their respective corporate jobs. After many boat projects and short shake-down sails, we set sail from the Chesapeake Bay to begin our newest chapter: cruising full-time aboard Salty Foxx.
Tom
Hey there, I’m Tom. I grew up in Santa Cruz, CA surfing and riding mountain bikes. At the age of 17, I moved to Prescott, AZ to attend Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University and got my undergraduate degree in Aerospace Engineering with a focus in Astronautics. After college, I moved to Hawaii to work for the Department of Defense as Nuclear Engineer focusing on the US Navy’s nuclear submarine propulsion plants.
In February of 2020, I moved to Norfolk, VA for a 10-month stint for work. Within the month, Covid struck and the shutdown began. While bored and browsing Facebook marketplace, I found a 1973 Columbia Yacht T-23 for sale. With no prior sailing experience, I bought the boat and gave the previous owner a 6 pack of beer to teach me to sail. With that 1 lesson and my educational experience as an aerospace engineer (Sails are really just sideways airplane wings right?), I took off on my sailing journey. Since then, I have been lucky enough to crew on several race boats in Hawaii, New York, and Virginia and have even become an adequate foredeck. Following a sailing trip to island of Molokai in the Hawaiian Islands chain, I knew this was something I wanted to do full time.
Abby
Hey there, I’m Abby. I grew up in Virginia Beach, VA and stayed close to home when I attended college at Old Dominion University in Norfolk. At ODU, I studied political science and was a member of the ODU Sailing Team. Fun fact - I had never sailed before I joined the team! It was at ODU that I learned to love sailing. After college, I started a career in the non-profit industry working as a fundraiser at the Virginia Beach Surf & Rescue Museum, and then later at the Virginia MOCA.
During the 2020 Covid shut-down, I met a cute boy and he convinced me to make the move to Hawaii. We moved in together in Jan 2021 on the beautiful island of Oahu. I continued my fundraising career at the Hawaiian Humane Society and that is where we found and adopted our dog, Tots! She has been a great addition to our small family, and is learning to love fulltime sailing as much as her crazy parents.
