Fueling a Passion, Filling a Need

Aboard a Navy ship in the Middle East, Ricky Gonzalez BS’19 often followed a morning routine with fellow Marines. He would drink coffee on the ship’s deck and pause to take in the vast ocean surrounding him.

“That’s where my love for the ocean started,” Gonzalez said. “That and the maritime history and traditions of the Marines Corps.”

The legacy of his time aboard Navy vessels in 2015 and 2016 inspired Gonzalez’s passion today – volunteering with an organization that uses sailing as adventure therapy for veterans dealing with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The group, Skeleton Crew Adventures, is based on the Gulf Coast at Kemah, Texas, on Galveston Bay, and offers single and multiday sailing trips.

“Probably one of the most beneficial things about this approach to therapy for PTSD is camaraderie and getting to meet other veterans with similar experiences and struggles with the transition to civilian life,” Gonzalez said.

Before Gonzalez was introduced to the ocean as a Marine, he grew up in Garland, Texas, hundreds of miles away from any large body of water. After graduating from Garland High School in 2012, Gonzalez enrolled in El Centro College in downtown Dallas, but attended for less than a year before joining the Marine Corps.

In 2015, Gonzalez was deployed as part of the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit to the Middle East as part of Operation Inherent Resolve where he was stationed aboard the USS Kearsarge in and around the Red Sea.

“My sea deployment gave me the opportunity to do something I always wanted to do, which was cross the ocean,” Gonzalez said. “I remember having conversations with my friends on board this huge ship about how awesome it was, but what if we did this on a sailboat?”

In 2017, Gonzalez completed his time in the Marines and returned to Texas to complete an associate degree from Dallas College. He then enrolled at UT Dallas where he studied business administration in the Naveen Jindal School of Management. Gonzalez said he was deeply influenced in his career trajectory by the school’s faculty, especially Dr. Steve Guengerich, then-director of the Institute for Innovation and Entrepreneurship.

“I enjoyed Dr. Guengerich’s non-academic teaching style and passion for startups,” Gonzalez said. “He had a wealth of experience to pull from during his lectures, and post-graduation he has served as a great mentor.”

Gonzalez graduated from UT Dallas in 2019 and accepted a sales position with AppFolio in Richardson, Texas, a technology company that develops software for commercial real estate management and investment managers. In 2020, as the seriousness of the COVID-19 pandemic enveloped the world, Gonzalez’s job became remote and he realized he could work from anywhere – even Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Entering New Territory

Gonzalez moved to Milwaukee to take advantage of the city’s lower cost of living and while there discovered the South Shore Yacht Club on Lake Michigan. Without any sailing experience, Gonzalez approached boat owners at the club and shared his interest in learning to sail, even volunteering to help crew boats during race season. His dream of sailing was becoming a reality.

“Not every boat was willing to take me on, but I found a few boats willing to have me and I was eager to learn,” he said.

While in Milwaukee, Gonzalez also volunteered at the city’s police department-owned horse stables for an equestrian therapy program.

“A nonprofit provided equestrian therapy for veterans and inner-city kids who, rather than riding, learned to take care of and interact with horses,” he said.

While volunteering there, Gonzalez said he realized that he wanted to combine his love of sailing with helping veterans. He just had to find an organization that did that and, unbelievably, he found one in his home state of Texas.

Skeleton Crew Adventures was started by Taylor Grieger, a Navy veteran who left the service only to be shocked by the number of veterans who suffered from PTSD – himself included – and by the number who were taking their own lives. Grieger and his volunteers offer adventure therapy for veterans who participate in an active, outdoor pursuit to help quiet the turmoil they suffer.

“Sailing is one form of therapy that is physical rather than the traditional kneecap to kneecap,” Gonzalez said. “For veterans, getting out on the water takes them out of their everyday negative patterns of thought.”

Gonzalez reached out to Grieger in 2022 to ask about volunteering but didn’t hear back until January of the next year. Grieger offered him a place on the Skeleton Crew’s all-veteran American crew entered in the around-the-world Ocean Globe Race for sailboats. Gonzalez couldn’t believe his luck. However, he turned down Grieger’s offer because he had just started a new job.

But Gonzalez said he couldn’t sleep thinking about missing out on the adventure of sailing a boat around the world. He finally decided that he would quit his job after all and move back to Texas to join the crew. But then fate made a career decision for him when he was laid off before he could give his notice.

Worlds of Opportunity

Now free to move, Gonzalez reported as a Skeleton Crew volunteer and began helping the group prepare the 51-foot sailboat Godspeed for the eight-month, 27,000-mile race. In June, the seven-man crew sailed from the coast of Texas aboard the Godspeed for the race start in Southampton, England, a 7,800-mile journey.

On Sept. 10, 2023, the Godspeed and a flotilla of competing sailboats left England for the first leg of the race to the Cape Town, South Africa. But from the start the Skeleton Crew seemed to be plagued with bad luck. One of its experienced crewmen broke his leg at home before leaving for England, and the boat’s first mate had to leave the race before the second leg for personal reasons. The decision was made to drop out of the race.

“It was bittersweet, but our goal was to raise awareness of veteran mental health, and we accomplished that,” Gonzalez said. “Participating in the race raised awareness of Skeleton Crew Adventures and has increased the demand of veterans to sail with us, so we accomplished our goal tenfold.”

Gonzalez, now living in Waco, rejoined the AppFolio company he worked for in Dallas and continues to volunteer with Skeleton Crew Adventures, sailing with veterans as well as working as the organization’s manager of corporate relations.

“It’s always been an aspiration of mine to sail, and Skeleton Crew has afforded me the opportunity,” he said. “For me, sailing is a life-defining experience and I hope it will always be a part of my life – especially if it involves working with veterans, a group of people that I care very much about.”

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