Andy was born in Spain of British parents, educated in England then entered the Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm where he became a fighter pilot and flying instructor. He grew up sailing in the Isle of Wight and has been a successful racer in a variety of classes. After leaving the Navy he moved to the Antigua, in the Caribbean, where he ran a boat yard and chandlery business as well as skippering and delivering a wide range of yachts, both classic and modern, sail and power. He was also a founder of both Antigua Yacht Club and Antigua Race Week. Since 1973, after the Copelands moved to Vancouver, Canada, Andy has had a yacht brokerage business. As of April 2005 he has officially retired!

Liza grew up in Twickenham, England and studied Social Work at Trinity College, Dublin University in Ireland. She emigrated to Canada in 1967 and completed an BA in Psychology at Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario and a Teaching Certificate and Masters Degree in Special Education at the University of British Columbia. Her career has included Vocational Rehabilitation, Medical Social Work and Educational Psychology, mostly in hospital settings. Racing on the Solent and River Thames in England, since she was nine years old, Liza has sailed in a variety of boats in University, National and World Championships, as well as in long distance races. She is now a fulltime writer and seminar speaker, inbetween cruising of course!

Liza and Andy met at the Sunfish World Championships in Venezuela. They ran  charter boats together in the Caribbean and delivered boats to and from the US.  After marrying aboard the famous classic yacht Ticonderoga they completed their first Atlantic crossing in the old Fife built Eileen before moving to Vancouver. Here they raced avidly, cruised the Pacific northwest with their three sons, led charters to the Caribbean and traveled widely before setting off on a two-year cruise that became a six-year circumnavigation. Since returning Andy went back to yacht broking and dreamt about tropical cruising. Liza has became a full-time writer giving seminars at Boat Shows and to a wide variety of other organizations, both on boating and travel. She and Andy also lead groups on sailing vacations to exotic places around the world. With their voyage around North and Central America, a trip across the Atlantic, four summers in the Mediterranean, then down the West African coast to Brazil and the Caribbean, they have sailed over 170,000 miles together,114nm in Bagheera who has now visited 114 countries.