Jonathan Radtke has spent his adult life living and working in Maine. He came to Maine for college and now lives on Portland's East End with his wife and two daughters.

The most important events in Jon's life have always started with the question, why not? Especially when it involves stepping away from "normal" life. Hop as freighter from New York to Cape Town, why not? Drive a duck boat from Georgia to Maine, why not? Salvage boats for a living, why not? Live in and drive around Mexico for a year, why not? Send your teenage daughter off on a tall ship for two weeks, why not? As a high school teacher for most of his professional life, Jon has watched as countless students jump through all of the hoops, go off to all the "right" schools while never really discovering what they are passionate about. Those who do discover their passions are inevitable the ones willing to ask why not . . . and then go for it.

Jon became involved with Tall Ships when his ninth grade daughter asked if she should apply to be on a ship for two weeks as part of a school contest, predictably he said "Why not?" It was a great experience for her, one that lead to another trip the following summer and has her thinking how she could one day be a captain of a tall ship. Jon believes that all kids deserve the opportunity that his daughter had, the chance to step away from daily life, the chance to immerse themselves in the natural world, and the chance to become an integral part of a crew and perhaps to discover a life long passion for adventure.