Sailing into the Sunset

Name: Sailing into the Sunset
Item: Alliance Sailing Charter
Author: Brian Sherman

Brian Sherman joins Sullivan’s Islanders Mark Stetler and Caroline Knopf on their sailboat Alliance to explore the beauty of Charleston Harbor.

by Brian Sherman

Jul. 09, 2023

1:28PM

Caroline Knopf & Mark Stetler Photography

Alliance is a 1988 Ericson 380, "a classic cruiser," according to Mark Stetler

It’s another magnificent day in the Lowcountry. The late afternoon temperature in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina, is approaching the 80-degree mark and the bright sun makes it seem even warmer. While the wind is slightly stronger than the six passengers aboard the sailboat Alliance might have hoped for, it’s an awesome time to be on the water.

Even better, it’s early March, and daylight saving time and the ritual changing of the clocks is still a week away. Forty minutes or so before the nautical tour of Charleston Harbor comes to an end, the sun will begin its descent into the western horizon. This spectacular sight is a precursor of what is to come: the opportunity to marvel at the bewitching beauty of the harbor once darkness falls.

The adventure begins as sailboat captain Mark Stetler cranks up the engine and deftly guides Alliance out of the Charleston Harbor Marina and into the harbor, where wind power takes over. His crew, wife Caroline Knopf, darts nimbly from one side of the boat to the other, adjusting the sails. Most of the six passengers choose to enjoy the weather on the hull, while one or two remain in the cockpit with the captain, listening intently to his vivid descriptions of Charleston’s waterfront landmarks and stories of his life as a sailor.

Every now and then, Mark leaves the helm to climb up on the hull and relate interesting information about a specific Holy City landmark to his passengers. For instance, he points out that a Charleston hotel played a key role in World War II and maybe in the history of U.S. presidential politics. As the story goes, Navy Lt. John F. Kennedy and a Swedish socialite named Inge might have been carrying on a tryst at the Sumter House. Someone let his father, Joseph P. Kennedy, a powerful politician and businessman, know that the future president was having an affair with a German spy who was a personal friend of Adolph Hitler. That allegedly was the reason Kennedy was re-assigned to the South Pacific, where he polished his reputation and became a war hero by saving his crew members after his PT boat was sunk by a Japanese destroyer. “None of that would have happened if not for Charleston,” Mark tells his captivated passengers.

From Skydiver to Sailor

Caroline Knopf & Mark Stetler Photography

During his time in New York, Mark Stetler discovered two avocations that would change his life: skydiving and sailing.

A Sullivan’s Islander and native of Ohio, Mark Stetler joined the Navy after graduating from high school “to get out of Cleveland and because I had no money to go to college.” The Navy sent him to Charleston aboard the USS Sellers, where he met a College of Charleston student who needed a ride to Florida for spring break. She said four of her friends had a house in Pensacola, but it turned out to be Stetler and six girls in a tiny hotel room for a week.

That experience didn’t keep him from marrying Caroline, and when Mark said goodbye to the Navy, the two of them left Charleston so he could study photography at the Art Institute of Atlanta. Their next stop was New York, where they both prospered as fashion photographers, traveling all over the country and throughout the world.

During their time in the Empire State, Mark discovered two more avocations that would change his life. He started jumping out of airplanes (skydiving more than 1,500 times) and he found an affinity for sailing. He purchased Alliance, an American-built 1988 Ericson 380 that Mark calls “a classic cruiser,” in 2012. After he and Caroline decided to relocate to their current home on Sullivan’s Island, he sailed the boat – on his own – down the East Coast to the Lowcountry. Along the way, he had to hunker down for five days in Bellhaven, North Carolina, to avoid the wrath of Hurricane Sandy.

1 of 7

Caroline Knopf with one of the famous swimming pigs of No Name Cay in the Abacos. She and Mark snorkled and explored No Name Cay by boat.

2 of 7

3 of 7

4 of 7

5 of 7

6 of 7

7 of 7

A veteran sailor, Mark Stetler knows there are times when "you don't want to mess with the wind."

The Art of Sailing

One of Mark’s six passengers asks if there are sharks nearby, and the captain responds: “Stick your finger in the water and lick it. If it is salty, there are sharks.” We don’t see any man-eaters, but we do spot a few dolphins hanging out near a party boat. Mark maneuvers Alliance a little closer, and Caroline takes a look to make sure the partyers aren’t feeding them, which is both illegal and possibly harmful to the aquatic mammals. Satisfied that all is well, Mark continues the three-hour harbor excursion, deftly avoiding a cruise ship leaving the port of Charleston. “You definitely don’t want to mess with bigger boats,” he comments.

“Stick your finger in the water and lick it. If it is salty, there are sharks.”

-Mark Stetler

And there also are times that you don’t want to mess with the wind. Mark points out that their scheduled cruise two days ago had to be canceled due to heavy winds. “Give a sailor 40 knots of wind, and he’ll be miserable. Give him 0 knots and he’ll be suicidal,” he says, pointing out that 20 knots would be uncomfortable and 25 “is about the limit.” Today, he says, the wind is blowing at around 15 knots, roughly equivalent to 17.3 miles per hour.

Give a sailor 40 knots of wind, and he’ll be miserable. Give him 0 knots, and he’ll be suicidal.”

-Mark Stetler

Eventually, the sun disappears and the temperature drops, but we’ve seen Charleston Harbor and many of its landmarks from the water, including the USS Yorktown, the South Carolina Aquarium, Fort Sumter, and the Ravenel Bridge. And we’ve had a brief but revealing glimpse into what makes Mark Stetler – Navy veteran, photographer, skydiver, and now sailor – tick. “The idea that you can sail around the world on wind power is incredible,” he says. “I love the intricacy of sailing and the skills involved, as well as the beauty of a monohull and the lines of the sails. Sailing is an art.”

1 of 8