Owner of moody sailing yacht on top of his liveaboard bluewater sailboat

From sailing novice to liveaboard sailor 

Born in Switzerland, Michael Drugowitsch was practically born with a passion for yachts: already in his youth, he helped his father build his 32-foot sailing yacht and dreamily leafed through sailing magazines in the evenings. Many years later, out of pure curiosity, he was drawn to Boot Düsseldorf, where he immediately fell in love with the Moody Decksaloon 54. The possibility of being able to live on board all year round and the galley-down option immediately excited him. From then on, he couldn't get the Deck saloon yacht out of his mind: “To find out whether I was at all made for a life on board and to test my seaworthiness, I spontaneously booked a 5-day sailing course in Gibraltar. Although the course did not inspire me, in the end I decided to buy the Moody yacht, because she simply had me under her spell! Shortly after, I arranged a test sail on a DS54 in southern Spain, and then the purchase agreement was just a formality.”

great ocean cruiser photograph being drydocked

Today, his logbook bears witness to an Atlantic crossing as well as many cruises on the Baltic Sea, the North Sea, the Bay of Biscay, the Mediterranean and the Caribbean. With his Moody DS 54 named “MiAdelita”, he has already had many an adventure. “The name is made up of “Mi” and “Adelita”, which means “My Adele” in Spanish. It's a purely imaginary name and based on the name of my former company, a tortilla chips company in Switzerland” he says proudly.

“It was always clear to me that I wanted to live on a sailboat, but I didn't necessarily want to sail the oceans with it”, Michael recalls. His growing spirit of discovery and confidence in his yacht finally brought him to the oceans. Listening to his stories, one thing stands out above all: he has never regretted his decision. He will never forget the many unique experiences on board: “The most formative experiences were getting caught in a thunderstorm at night alone between Ibiza and Alicante, hundreds of dolphins accompanying me off Cape Verde and seeing the glowing marine plankton during a night watch on the Atlantic.”

Sailing trip photo shore excursion
Great ocean cruiser acting as a floating home
ocean crusing life huge fish caught and fun aboard the best bluewater sailboat
Sunset on a bluewater sailing yacht
cooking aboard a bluewater sailboat

Sailing around the world was also the wish of his father, who died at an early age, and Michael is living it today with his travels. Accompanied by changing sailing partners, some of whom he only meets on his travels, he wants to discover the world in a very special way. In his own floating home, he is at home wherever he goes. The sporty Swiss even has a private gym: “Since you don't move much on a boat, I regularly do gymnastics on deck with my dumbbells or pedal on my exercise bike.” On days when no shore excursions or swimming trips are possible, Michael passes the time with lots of books or his piano: “Every now and then I take my piano out from behind the couch and reach into the keys. I'm not a musician, but luckily no one hears me on the high seas”, he laughs.

We thank Michael for this exciting insight and wish him always a hand's breadth of water under his keel for his future cruises!

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