Justin Jenkin and Emerald Epke are the editors of The Waypoint. They live and work at sea. This is who they are and how they got here.
Justin Jenkin
Editor & Co-Founder · British & South African · Currently at sea
Justin escaped Apartheid-era South Africa as a child on a small sailing yacht, on an oceanic voyage that set the tone for the rest of his life. He has spent thirty-eight years at sea, captaining vessels across the Pacific, Indian, and Atlantic oceans, and raising a family in Vanuatu before the world locked down and separated him from his children for two years.
He holds an MCA Master 3000 GT license, is a qualified marine surveyor with the IIMS, and currently commands a 70-metre superyacht that’s just completed a world circumnavigation with 20+ crew. The Waypoint is his answer to a media world he no longer trusts — and a dedication to his children about the kind of information diet worth having.
Emerald Epke
Editor & Co-Founder · American & New Zealander · Currently at sea
Emerald grew up sailing competitively before trading racecourses for ocean passages. She has crossed the Pacific by sail, dived the coral reef systems of Raja Ampat and the Great Barrier Reef, and has spent the last four years managing the complex logistics of a 70m yacht’s circumnavigation and subsequent voyages.
She biked 3,100+ miles across the USA when she was 15, holds degrees in International Relations and French, with a minor in Environmental Sustainability, is an SSI Divemaster with over 300 dives, and is thinking about her Captain’s License next. She remembers a childhood of climbing trees, carefree and happy boredom which fostered imagination, and a childhood that wasn’t stolen by selfies and social media. She edits the Place section and brings to The Waypoint an eye for the world that only comes from having actually moved through a lot of it.
The Waypoint is published weekly from wherever the anchor happens to be down.