“WE TRADED THE SALT FOR THE MUD”

Catherine and Rick Topel met a Chapman’s School of Seamanship in Stuart, FL in 2003. Their lives have been a diverse and constant adventure ever since! Both elevated to USCG 1600 Ton Master captain’s licenses and their careers took them nearly 100,000 nautical miles. Operating private yachts for more than a decade, the call for more freedom and an agrarian lifestyle took hold in 2017. Fearless in the face of change an incredible unfolding is forever taking place.

Two people, a man and a woman, wearing cowboy hats and outdoor clothing, are tending to a drift of Mangalitsa piglets under a shelter in a field with dry grass.
A smiling couple is on a boat with water and a distant shoreline in the background.
Marina with boats and a large white yacht docked in the water under a cloudy sky.
Boats docked at a marina during twilight with a large thunderstorm cloud illuminated in the sky.

A pork chop prepared by one of the yacht chefs drove the whole business

Farming has played a part in both of their ancestry but it wasn’t until they purchased the ranch that they decided to actually become farmers. A delectable pork chop experience during their yachting days drove the whole business!

Black and white photo of a man in a hat and suit surrounded by a herd of Brahma bulls in a farm setting. The man appears to be inspecting or checking the animals. Senator William A. Shands
A man and woman outdoors in a park, smiling at the camera, wearing baseball caps and sunglasses, with trees and grass in the background.
Person working at a farm or construction site, building a metal fence with wooden posts in a grassy area with trees and hill in the background.
Three people stand in front of a red excavator on a construction site on a sunny day. One man is wearing a gray shirt and sunglasses, while a woman is wearing a black vest and sunglasses. The third person is in the cab of the excavator. A dog is standing on the ground nearby. Vehicles are parked in the background.
A man outdoors in a wooded area holding a white bag with a banana on top. He is wearing a dirty t-shirt and pants, with sunglasses pushed up on a red cap, and holding a large thermos. The background shows trees, a wooden staircase, and a stone pathway covered with fallen leaves.
Raw Mangalitsa pork chop on a piece of butcher paper.
A man sitting in a utility vehicle on a grassy field with mountains and a blue sky with clouds in the background.
A smiling man and woman standing outdoors in a grassy field with trees and a house in the background, along with a dog at their feet.