When Lynda spotted Leighton in a cinema queue she wasn’t expecting sparks to fly. It was 2010, and she was happily single after moving to Sonoma, California, the previous year. “I had lots of friends, a great career in marketing, and I had started studying Ayurvedic medicine,” she says. But the second she saw Leighton something “stood out”. “It was like love at first sight. I just thought, ‘How do I meet this guy?’”
The cinema’s ticket-seller had failed to show up, so Leighton, who was friends with the theatre’s owner, offered to help out. “I got to the front of the queue and made a joke, asking him how he liked his new career,” she says. They sat near each other to watch the film and, after it was over, Leighton’s friend, Vic, invited Lynda to join them for a drink.
“We had a great conversation that night,” says Leighton. “I am a keen sailor and have my own boat, which I told her about. I found out she grew up in Rhode Island and was always surfing, so she knew lots about the water.” Lynda discovered Leighton was also based in Sonoma, but was getting ready to sail his boat around Hawaii for several months. “At the end of the night I exchanged contact details with Vic. He was happily married but clearly trying to set Leighton and I up, so he suggested I join them on a sailing trip sometime.”
Although Lynda was excited about the prospect, it never materialised. For the next two years, Leighton took extended trips to sea, occasionally popping back to Sonoma to see his mother. “We would bump into each other occasionally, but nothing else happened,” Lynda says. Then, in 2012, they saw each other in town and got chatting. Although Leighton was planning to go sailing again, he invited her out for dinner before he left. “When we exchanged business cards, mine had a sailing boat and hers had a life ring,” he remembers.
During their date, Leighton told Lynda more about his boat and she was captivated by his stories. “When he showed me videos of dolphin stampedes, I commented on how great his life was,” she says. “He told me it would be better if he had someone to share it with – I immediately asked, where do I sign?”
They agreed to keep in touch, though Lynda worried they’d drift apart while he was at sea. Then, shortly after Leighton set sail for Hawaii, he was called back because his mother’s health was rapidly declining. He told Lynda what had happened and they arranged to meet in Santa Cruz, where she was studying, and sailed back to Sonoma. Although their relationship was very new, something felt right. She stayed with him to help nurse his mother during her final weeks.
“We hadn’t been together long, but she was such a support to me,” says Leighton.
The following year, they decided to go on a long trip together, and spent their winter sailing around the Channel Islands in California. Lynda soon fell in love with sailing and it remains a big passion for them as a couple. They married in 2020, and now spend their winters in Sonoma, and their summers sailing around the north Pacific coast.
According to Lynda, an astrologer predicted their romance after their first meeting. “She told me I’d been single for so long because Venus wasn’t in my house of relationship, but that I would be dating someone by 2012,” she says. When she called her to tell her about Leighton, she “wasn’t surprised”. “She also told me that Venus goes by another name – Morning Star – which is the name of Leighton’s boat.”
Leighton describes his partner as beautiful, intelligent and adventurous. “I needed to be with someone who would want to come on these adventures with me. Not everyone can take that step, but Lynda’s very courageous and has become my first mate on the boat.”
Lynda says the beauty of meeting someone later in life is that you don’t have the same insecurities you have when you’re younger. “I felt I could be very honest with him. He’s confident in himself, but very smart, measured, compassionate and patient. I knew I could trust him to take care of me.”
