Meet the hosts of Windjammer Angelique!
Captain Dennis Gallant and Candace Kuchinski have been at the helm of the WINDJAMMER ANGELIQUE since 2014, bringing together a love of sailing, a commitment to hospitality, and years of hands-on experience along the Maine coast.
Before Dennis ever set foot on a sailboat, he worked in professional theater crafting sets as a carpenter. But by 1994, the sea called. He started windsurfing and transitioned to sailing larger vessels gaining experience working aboard two daysailing vessels in Camden. Then he’d spend his winters in the mountains of Maine as a snowboarding instructor and training director.
By 1996, Dennis had sailed aboard a few different vessels in the fleet—doing stints on MARY DAY, WENDAMEEN (now in Portland), and ultimately ANGELIQUE, where he found his maritime match. It was love at first sail. “I loved the feel of ANGELIQUE and the easygoing nature of Mike,” Dennis recalls, referencing the former captain, Mike McHenry. “It all just clicked,” Dennis says. He spent the next decade learning every inch of the vessel, before taking over ownership of the boat with Candace when Captain Mike retired. In the winters he worked at the Sail, Power and Steam Museum in Rockland where he rebuilt a friendship sloop with local volunteers. He also captained several yacht deliveries.
Candace’s introduction to sailing came from a place of curiosity and courage. “I was in my junior year in college,” she says, “and many classmates were studying abroad. I wasn’t keen to do the same classroom studies just in a new location, so I found SEA’s semester program aboard a tallship that was studying, but also an adventure. I had never been sailing before in my life.”
Raised in California, Candace had never seen boats as something accessible. “I always thought boats were for the rich, and I didn’t know any of those people,” she explains. But her experience on the SSV CORWITH CRAMER (SEA’s sailing school vessel) changed her life: “I loved the physical work of sailing, though I was afraid of it at first; the intellectual work of navigating; and the connections made with my shipmates and the bigger world.”
That experience set her on a new course. She later spent two years working aboard the Schooner J. & E. RIGGIN and daysailed on the NORTH WIND (where she met Dennis!). She stepped away from windjamming for a few years to launch a few businesses of her own—drawn to the independence and creativity of entrepreneurship. “It wasn’t my plan to come back to windjamming, per se,” she says, “but with a partner who definitely wanted to keep windjamming, it made sense that ANGELIQUE would become OUR business together.”
Today, cruises aboard the ANGELIQUE offer far more than wind and water. You’ll find an atmosphere of camaraderie, care, and curiosity. Whether it’s a naturalist-led exploration, a watercolor workshop at sea, or a yoga and wellness experience, each trip is shaped by the personality and presence of its hosts. They welcome all aboard, whether seasoned sailors or curious first-timers, and guide them through an experience that is equal parts adventure, relaxation, and inspiration.
Category: Meet captains and crew
Tags: Windjammer Angelique
