SAILING INTO A NEW LIFE
Annapolis Lifestyle

 At a time when many of their friends are scaling down--not just their homes, but their lives as well--former Senator William (Bill) Brock and his wife Sandy are doing just the opposite. When they close the door to their rented Annapolis condo this fall, they'll be setting out on an adventure that, to some, seems folly, but to others, is a dream come true--as it will be for the Brocks.

Aboard Revelry, their 87' Broward yacht--named both for the feeling it evokes (“I love the name so much,” says Sandy. “It has such a positive aura surrounding it.”)and for Annapolis’s Revell Street, where the Brocks lived for many years--the couple plans to spend eight months of the year sailing along the East Coast and throughout the Caribbean; when not on board, they’ll make their home in Palm Beach, Florida.

“We wanted to travel and see our friends, and thought, ‘How much fun would itbe to go everywhere and not stay in just one place,’” says Sandy, a successful interior designer and owner of SMD Ltd. in Annapolis.

And then there were the couple’s 15 grandchildren. “If you build it, they will come,” Sandy laughs. “We would rather be with them and their parents than anywhere else, and with this new boat, we knew they’d want to be with us. Actually, they fight for their time on the boat!”

Long-time boat owners, the Brocks are looking forward to the “quiet, peaceful moments” (and the few less so, but always interesting, says Bill) that life on the water affords them.

“We think this will add ten years to our lives,” says Sandy.

The Brocks just recently purchased the 15-year-old yacht, and though still elegant, it was not only showing its age, but was also a bit too “glitzy” for the couple’s taste. Sandy gutted the boat and did a substantial renovation and redesign, giving it her signature “barefoot elegance” style.

“I wanted it to be stylish but comfortable,” she says, adding that she likes her designs to be eclectic, but uncluttered, with crisp, clean lines. She kept to traditional nautical hues of red, white, and blue, with subtle patterns and designs such as chevrons, stripes, and anchors giving a nod to the sea without going, well, overboard. “I wanted an environment that is clean enough that it doesn’t overshadow the views we have from almost every vantage point on the boat,” Sandy says.

The yacht has three staterooms and two rooms for the crew (a captain and  mate). The country kitchen/dining salon will be a comfortable spot for family and friends to gather, as will the “spectacular” flybridge, says Sandy, large enough for a half dozen people to take a nap, she laughs…when they’re not enjoying the hot tub. And for formal entertaining, which the Brocks do often, from political fundraisers to charity functions, there is room enough for 20 at a seated dinner.

Designing a yacht that will also serve as a semi-permanent floating home was a challenge, says Sandy (especially given the fact that she had just five weeks to get the project done), but her expertise as a designer helped. “I knew exactly what I wanted,” she says, adding that it was a “joy” to design a boat from the hull up, an endeavor that’s completely different from designing a land-based home.

Despite its size, Revelry, like its owners, is understated and casual, reflecting what the Brocks like most about boating. “It’s all about the people you meet,” they say. “We all share the same passion.”

“Boaters aren’t into what you do or who you are,” Sandy adds. “They’re more into boating stories and sharing times with their families. And they’re typically very interesting people.”

While the Brocks may be sailing off into the sunset, for them, that’s just a figure of speech. At 82, Bill, a former Congressman and Senator from Tennessee, U.S. Secretary of Labor, and presidential campaign manager for Senator Robert Dole, still sits on numerous boards of directors, is a long-time consultant for Toyota Motor Corporation, chairs the CSIS (Center for Strategic & International Studies) International Policy Roundtable, and continues to spearhead numerous national reform efforts on education, an issue he speaks passionately about.

“This is a knowledge-based world, and yet SAT scores continue to go down year after year, and reading skill levels are at their lowest level in forty years,” he says, explaining what keeps him motivated to continue his work in this area. “Poor kids attend underfunded, inexcusably lousy schools, and almost all the rest of our students are in inadequate schools too.

“What is wrong with us?” he continues. “Am I worried sick? Yes. Am I frustrated by the lack of progress? Yes, absolutely. Am I passionate? You bet!”

Why? Simply put, he says, “These are our kids.”

Like her husband, Sandy also leads an active life, not only running her interior design firm, designing a new line of kitchen furniture (inspired by the boat’s necessity for an efficient, tightly compartmentalized space), and making plans to develop her own line of herbs, but also serving as co-chair of the CSIS Executive Council for Women in International Security, which is dedicated to identifying and eliminating the barriers to employment for women in international security. (Trained as an architect and designer, Sandy spent many years working in DC politics and the fields of aviation and transportation, but returned to her design roots when she married Bill, who was then Secretary of Labor in the Ronald Reagan administration.)

“We’re certainly not planning on retiring,” says Sandy, a thought echoed by Bill, who explains why he continues to work as hard as he does. “There is no better feeling than the thought that you may make a difference in someone's life,” he says.

That being said, the Brocks want to spend more time with each other and the family they dearly love. “Being with my husband as much as possible is my priority,” says Sandy, adding that she was pretty sure he would say the same thing (which he did).

“We’ve been married 26 years and it’s a continuing love story,” says Sandy. “This is such a romantic out-of-the-box thing to do. At this time in our lives, we want to have less, but do more.

“Age is irrelevant…if not now, when.”