Moshe, the man behind the dream…
My father Moshe is a metal worker (Lathe Turner by profession) with a passion for woodworking who retired in his mid 50’s in order to build SY Aliza.
The build phase took eight (8) years followed by a nine (9) years circumnavigation.
In August 31st Moshe Schwartz became the first Israeli skipper to build and sail an Israeli registered sailing yacht around the world flying proudly the Israeli flag!
This is what Moshe enjoys doing: Sailing on Aliza and catching fish! (We call them “Temporary guests” as they only stay for dinner. 🙂 ) This is a large Wahoo Dad got in the Indian Ocean in 2003.
Moshe catching a nice Wahoo in the Indian Ocean
As for me, I am a retired (2012) Strategist from the high tech industry and hold a BSEE, MBA and MSCS degrees. My technical background and years of R&D in the field of Electrical Engineering plus many years (12) of troubleshooting as a computer and network systems specialist gave me the foundation needed for the building of Aliza. I hold a 100 ton Israeli territorial water Skipper certificate.
Me in 2003 as we finished our circumnavigation.
My father (Moshe Schwartz) and I had sailed Aliza from Israel to the USA on her maiden voyage. Aliza took first line honor in the 94ARC and had made the trip from Ft Lauderdale to Maine on the US East Coast twice. Aliza represented the state of Israel in OP Sail 2000 (tall ship parade). We completed a 9 year circumnavigation in August 2003 and Aliza became the first self built Israeli flagged sailing yacht that sailed around the world. In 2005/6 Me and Nogga (My firstborn) sailed Aliza from Israel to America. In 2012 I retired and on May 2014 I set sail across the Atlantic to the Med. and to Israel. In 2015 I set sail back to NYC via the Caribbean’s arriving in NY in May 2016.
There were many adventures experienced on Aliza and I am in the process of documenting them for this web site and for publication.
“Aliza’s Story” is my first article (published in ATN Sea, Yachts and the Leisure Life Magazine in Issue # 9 July-August 2005) and is the “short version story” of the build phase story.