The sailor is Robert S. Douglas. Son of an advisor to presidents, he might have joined the family business. He might have become a rancher or a jet aircraft pilot. Each of these might have called him, but each failed to capture his devoted attention. Instead, this Midwesterner made a singular and historic seagoing vision the centerpiece of his life’s work. He became the builder, owner, and captain of the engineless topsail schooner he refers to simply as my Shenandoah.