Diane and Larry Lohmann
Live Aboard Cruising - British Virgin Islands, January 2009
When Steve and Doris Colgate were in Tortola, British Virgin Islands last January 2009, for the grand opening of the new Moorings Village at the Moorings base in Road Town, they had the pleasure of meeting two of Offshore Sailing School’s most recent Live Aboard Cruising graduates.
Larry and Diane Lohmann had just finished the Live Aboard Cruising course on a new Moorings 43.4 Beneteau. Several months later, Diane sent the Colgates a request to sign the photo (shown above) that was taken with the Lohmanns in a local restaurant during that cha
nce encounter. It was for Larry’s upcoming birthday. From that comes this delightful story from Diane, about how they “got the sailing bug.”
“Larry answered yes to Doris’s request for this story while totally immersed in reading old nautical terms on the Internet,” wrote Diane. "He's also enjoying reading Alexander Kent's naval fiction books, reading-up on weather and has bought several books on the subject. See how fascinated he is with everything to do with sailing!”
Having gotten their keelboat certification in Chicago on boats up to 30 feet. the Lohmanns signed up for the Colgate’s Offshore Sailing School Live Aboard Cruising class in the British Virgin Islands on a 43 foot Beneteau. “It was a fabulous class and location. The instruction was excellent and the scenery ‘off the charts’,” says Diane.
They had a lot of wind in the BVI that week. “Our mainsail was double-reefed the whole week as were most other sailboats we saw. We had a marvelous instructor, who, to my surprise, selected me to captain the boat into the harbor on Thursday, the day we were to drop 
him off before going out on our own for 24 hours. The marina assigned us a slip. I was to dock the boat in reverse (stern first) next to a gigantic catamaran which was occupying over 50% of the 2-boat docking area. Yikes!”
Diane (standing on The Moorings 43.4 at the dock here) was nervous but kept saying to herself, “Just think of this as parking a car. Going in reverse around an object is the first step of parallel parking.” She got the boat in, in one try, though “at one point, I couldn't even see the edge of the dock as I backed the boat around the catamaran. My crewmen did a great job of making sure the fenders were ready in case of a bump.”
Larry can’t get enough of sailing. He participates in the Columbia Beer Can Regatta in Chicago which races every Wednesday evening. He’s part of the crew of Paradigm Shift which has a fine winning record. July 22 through 26, 2009, Larry was part of the crew that sailed Paradigm Shift, a C & C 115 racing-cruiser, back from the Chicago-Mackinac (Michigan) Race. They had beautiful weather and docked overnight; it was relaxing and leisurely.
This summer they also took a young friend from Switzerland sailing on a 22 foot keelboat on Lake Michig
an along Downtown Chicago. Their friend said it was the first time he was ever in a sailboat. They enjoy taking friends sailing along the beautiful Chicago shore and skyline.
Sailing is not all they do, though. Another passion is scuba diving. In June during their annual dive trip with their children, all adults now, they were at Little Cayman Island. Almost every afternoon (after morning dives), Larry took out the resort's little sailboat (Larry sailing at right), just inside a bay area protected by a reef. "He wanted to sail all the time!” says Diane.
Larry is a Nephrologist with Nephrology Associates of Northern Illinois and a gourmet chef (acclaimed by family and friends). Diane participates in volunteer activities, takes time for family and friends, and works in Larry’s office part-time. They reside in Oak Park, Illinois.
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