Our Team

Please meet our core team: founder Martha Boston and her husband/partner/sailing captain Peter Branning. We are joined from time to time by some of the best of the best from around the world.

Martha Boston

Martha grew up in a small town on the dusty plains of west Texas. She was always drawn to the sea, but it took her a while to get there.

From the plains she first went to Austin, Texas, where she completed her undergraduate studies and law degree at the University of Texas, and then set up her law practice.  She argued and won a landmark U.S. Supreme Court case at the age of 29, but her truest passion lay in the intersections between mind and heart, and between the inner life and life in the world.

This naturally led her to the field of personal development. Leaving the law, she was quickly trained and mentored as a facilitator of large-scale personal growth workshops. Martha has always been active and adventurous, so adventure learning became a natural fit for her. When she dreamed the dream of combining personal growth with a tropical sailing trip, she finally made it to the sea, sailing (and eventually living) in the Caribbean over the course of almost 30 years.

Martha’s arena was never limited to the sea, however; and she has worked with clients on whitewater rivers and mountaintops, at resorts and spas, in parks and pastures, conference halls and boardrooms, and through the amazing facility of experiential online workshops and gatherings.

In the world of organizations, Martha’s skills and heart have helped many businesses and agencies boost productivity, morale and profitability by improving communication, connectedness and commitment among their people. Her ability to find common ground for uncommon outcomes has made her a high-demand facilitator for meetings, conflict resolution, and team-building. Martha’s skills at inspiring the hearts of her one-to-one clients made her a life coach before it was ever called life coaching. A lifelong student of the heart, she has assisted thousands into greater levels of authenticity, effectiveness, joy and love in their lives.

Martha has completed coursework for her doctorate in spiritual science, lacking only her dissertation. She has been a master trainer for Insight Seminars and Interaction Associates. She is a licensed captain and master through the U.S. Coast Guard. She and her husband and partner Peter and their standard poodle Luci now make their home not on the sea, but in the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains of Western North Carolina.

Peter Branning

Peter began sailing on Miami’s Biscayne Bay at the age of 11, and spent as much of his youth on the water as he could. Before leaving high school, he had won several sailing championships and had sailed through the Florida Keys and to the Bahamas and back - without adult supervision.

As an adult, Peter became a world-class sailor, garnering a long string of elite racing championships. Wanting to share his love of the sea and the alchemy of wind, water and sail, Peter became a highly respected sailing instructor, and has been honored as an Outstanding Instructor by the American Sailing Association. he is licensed by the US Coast Guard as a captain and master. As the principle of Lightheart Sailing, a Caribbean charter and sailing instruction company, Peter won multiple awards for “Best Charter Boat” in the Virgin Islands.

Peter is a natural on the sea, and to most people it appears to be an almost mystical connection. However, his life on land is impressive too. He’s been a firefighter, schoolteacher, commercial pilot, and sailmaker, and was a successful trial lawyer for almost 30 years. Yet with all the mental and physical activity along his path, there was always a draw to the quieter work of the heart. As he began winding down his law practice, he went back to school for a masters degree in mental health counseling and training as a life coach. His desire to find a way to combine life coaching and sailing – and some serendipitous encounters - led him to Captains Courageous. As he tells it, he looked for a job, and got that plus a wife.

Now living in the mountains of Western North Carolina, Peter is an active behind-the-scenes partner in the work of Captains Courageous. He has found the inspiration to begin making art again after a long absence, and most days find him at his easel happily honing his skills. Several times a year, he heads back to the sea to support wounded veterans as an instructor with the Warrior Sailing program.

Peter’s friends say he’s always been an example of "living the dream." Peter says his his greatest dream is supporting others to live theirs, by leading with their hearts.

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