A white October sun hung high above the Chesapeake Bay, casting dazzling fragments of light onto the gently rippling water.
"Clayton has got the jibe," captain David Lightman shouted as his admiral — and wife — helped execute a critical maneuver to change the direction of their 49-foot sailboat, Promise, as it traveled downwind.
While the Lightmans live far from the water in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania, they are seasoned sailors who regularly make the 175-mile drive to Annapolis, Maryland, where Promise is moored.
Assisted by native New Englander Suzanne Snyder, the Lightmans nimbly guided Promise away from an approaching flotilla of racing sailboats so flawlessly that nary a drop of champagne spilled from their passengers' delicate flutes.
"There's nothing better than feeling the wind in the sails, and you're being powered by nature and you're out on the water, which can be so healing," Snyder said.
On this trip, especially, the healing aspect is essential.
Snyder is executive director of Sail Beyond Cancer USA, a nonprofit group that hosts three-hour private respite sails at no cost for cancer patients — the group calls them nominees — and their loved ones.
Volunteers such as the Lightmans provide their vessels and their services for the journeys.
Their nominee on this balmy Saturday was Susie Subia, a 47-year-old mother of three from the Washington, D.C. suburbs who underwent a double mastectomy in August as part of her treatment for breast cancer.
Subia is no stranger to sailing. She and husband Daniel, a U.S. Navy veteran, have a boat of their own, but her cancer battle had kept them away from the water this season until their October sail aboard Promise.
"It's wonderful. You can be at peace and one with nature," Subia said as she basked in the breeze, taking in the commanding view from a seat at the back of the boat as Promise glided toward the center of the broad blue bay.
"Especially when the engines go off, you know, it's like everything falls away and it's just you and the waves," Subia said.
'Leave cancer on shore'
Snyder was a single mother of three living in Burlington, Vermont, 14 years ago when she found a lump on her chest.
"Yes, I had cancer. I had breast cancer," she said.
"So I went through the whole thing and fought hard, and came out of that bald as bald could be," Snyder, 62, said.
Two themes were on Snyder's mind in the wake of her successful battle.
First was the far-reaching impact of cancer. "Everybody's affected by this disease," she said.
Second was the healing power of sailing in her own life, from childhood through her cancer recovery.
"I'm very fortunate that I grew up on Long Island Sound in a very big sailing family. My father and I used to sail all over, and it was really a natural thing for me to want to share the love of this sport," the Connecticut native said.
In 2014, Snyder launched a nonprofit organization in Burlington to provide free respite sails on Lake Champlain for anyone of any age battling cancer — any type, any stage.
"The idea was to use sailing as a tool, really, to be able to leave cancer on shore for three hours, to let the person and their loved ones, just be together and reconnect and make a lot of lasting memories," Snyder said.
During the voyages the nominees have a chance to steer the boat — which is fun, but also deeply symbolic.
"We give the helm to the nominee so that he or she has something that they're in control of," Snyder said.
A growing organization
In its first five years, the organization served over 1,500 cancer patients and their loved ones, and Snyder was receiving requests for advice on creating similar programs around the country.
In 2020 she founded Sail Beyond Cancer USA to serve as a national coordinating agency as new chapters were added.
After Burlington came Salem, Massachusetts, followed by Annapolis in 2022, while a Rhode Island chapter is expected to launch in 2025.
Each chapter has its own dedicated vessel, while private boat owners, such as Lightman, also offer their services.
Interest in the program continues to grow.
Between 2022 and 2024 the three chapters brought 2,504 passengers out onto the water through 475 cancer mission sails and 21 Memorial/Celebration of life sails, with the help of 536 volunteers, according to information provided by Snyder.
"We survive on individual donations, some family foundations, some corporate grants," Snyder said. "But really, it's about reaching out to people to let them know that this exists."
Participants can be nominated through the group's website. Subia and her husband, meanwhile, learned about the program while visiting their booth at the popular Annapolis Sailboat Show.
"That's how I found it, and it's wonderful," Subia said.
Lightman: 'Sign me up'
The Lightmans have four children, now grown, with whom they enjoyed sailing over the decades.
They've found a new audience to share that passion with through Sail Beyond Cancer.
Lightman, 71, is an ophthalmologist with special training in diseases of the retina. He retired a few years ago, but found himself restless and went back to working part time.
"I'm somebody that likes to give of myself, give of my time," he said. "I'm a physician, and that's what my career is."
He discovered Sail Beyond Cancer by accident during a visit to the office at the marina where Promise is berthed.
"I rarely do go to the office. I don't have much reason to go to the office. But I stopped in the office for some reason that day, and Suzanne (Snyder) was there," Lightman said.
"She was wearing her Sail Beyond Cancer shirt, and I struck up a conversation with her, and she explained the the program to me, the mission, and so forth," he recalled. "I said, 'Sign me up.'"
While Lightman has not suffered from cancer, it has claimed the lives of people close to him — his mother, his uncle, his brother-in-law. And like Snyder, he recognizes how many families the disease touches.
"You know, it's everywhere, right?"
Also like Snyder, Lightman had a long relationship with sailing, going back to his childhood in Tennessee and the passions imparted by his father, a U.S. Navy veteran.
"He loved sailing, and he always had a small boat, ever since I can remember," Lightman said.
Sometimes they would sail in a small lake off the Mississippi River. Other times they would travel farther afield, to Florida or Alabama and much wider waters.
"So I've been sailing a long time," he said.
Lightman bought his first vessel, a 38-foot sailboat, in 2002, but quickly realized it was too small for his family of six. He bought Promise in 2004 from a previous owner, and kept its name.
"I'm told that it's bad luck to change the name of the boat," he said. "But also, I thought and thought and couldn't find a better name."
Since then, he has traveled thousands of miles aboard Promise, as far afield as Maine, Florida and the Virgin Islands.
"It's a nice way to travel," Lightman said. "It's a really solid, well-made boat, and it's very seaworthy."
Since joining Sail Beyond Cancer midway through the 2023 season, Lightman has done more than 20 sails.
"The organization is extremely professional. They vet every one of their volunteers, whether they're captains, first mates or ambassadors, but they want to make sure that they are the right person, that they're qualified, that they are good for the enterprise," he said.
While Lightman is passionate and serious about the mission, he also strives to keep the trips enjoyable for all.
"I don't really dwell on the fact that these people have cancer, some of whom may have terminal cancer and won't be here much longer," he said.
But "most of the people that I've taken out seem to be OK," Lightman added.
'Put your health first'
Subia boarded Promise wearing a black t-shirt with a pink breast cancer ribbon and two words: "I won."
In March she was diagnosed with HER2-positive breast cancer, which has a protein that promotes the growth of cancer cells.
While it is an aggressive form of breast cancer, it also is highly treatable.
Subia underwent a lumpectomy in April, followed four months later by a preventative bilateral mastectomy with a deep flap reconstruction.
"It doesn't put my risk of the cancer returning to zero, it just dramatically lowers my chances of it reoccurring," she said.
Subia had been diligent about scheduling mammograms and other screenings since she was 35, given a family history of cancer. It was a mammogram that found her cancer.
"I've always been adamant," Subia said, "whether it was going to have a mammogram, going to the lady doctor, as I put it, or having a skin cancer scan."
Being preventive is important for everyone, she said, but especially for mothers.
"A lot of time, women don't put their health first, and I want them to realize it's not selfish for you to put your health first," she added.
"The biggest thing with women and mothers is when you get on an airplane they tell you (in the event of an emergency) to put your oxygen mask on first before you can help anyone else," she said. "You have to put your mask on first before you can help your family."
'I highly recommend it'
Subia was joined on the trip by husband Daniel, as well as by Courtney Volpe and Jonathan Dorough, two coworkers from the Washington, D.C. accounting firm where she is an administrative assistant.
They have been close for many years.
"From the first or second year I started folks would tell us, 'Oh, you should meet her. You'll be friends.' And we were and have been since," Dorough said.
"We are the cool kids," he added, laughing. "No offense, but we've earned it, yeah."
During the trip they sipped champagne and ate snacks as Promise gently bobbed over the waves.
"It's a great cause, and just to be there as a friend and coworker, absolutely, this was amazing," Volpe said.
Each had a chance to take the helm, but Daniel Subia did seem to stay at the wheel longer than the others.
If he seemed comfortable guiding Promise through the water, there was a good reason: Subia served in the Navy for eight years, having attended the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, "down the street" from the marina, as he put it.
At the end of each voyage, the nominees and their loved ones are invited to sign a guest book that Lightman keeps aboard the boat.
Susie Subia did, then Daniel Subia spent several minutes deep in thought as he wrote out his reflections.
Back on deck, he expressed gratitude to Lightman, Snyder and all connected with the experience.
"It was absolutely wonderful. It was amazing. Beautiful weather," Subia said. "I highly recommend it for anyone that is going through a cancer journey and they just want to come out and relax and get away from the stresses of having to go through that cancer journey."
Susie Subia agreed.
"I would recommend it to other women facing breast cancer, and I would also recommend it to other sailors who could donate their vessel and their time to such a worthy cause," she said.
