Grant Calverley
Grant Howard Calverley, 61, passed away unexpectedly from a sudden cardiac event on May 27, 2026. He had been living aboard his 53-foot classic ketch in Bremerton with his partner, Amy Greenlee, preparing to set sail in 2027 on a multi-year voyage around the world.
Born in Quesnel, British Columbia, on September 24, 1964, he was the beloved son of Roderick and Janeen Calverley. His lifelong journey of adventure began at just three months old when his parents moved with him to Afghanistan and then Malaysia, where his father served as a dedicated physician for CARE-MEDICO. After returning to Canada for the birth of his sister in 1967, the family relocated to San Diego in 1972 when his father became a professor of anesthesiology at UC San Diego. They enjoyed ocean sports and travel, including explorations to Baja California with their VW camper and Klepper sea kayak. During a sabbatical year in England, Grant organized a family bicycle tour through Europe, the first of many expeditions he would plan throughout his life.
In 1983, Grant met Shannon Block (now Shannon Calverley) through the UC San Diego outing club, where they were both students. He left San Diego in 1986 to join Shannon in Santa Cruz, California, where she was finishing school, bringing his window cleaning business along with him. After marrying in 1987, they sold the business to fund a two-year bicycle trip around the world through 24 countries. Returning to California following the Loma Prieta earthquake, they took on home improvement and earthquake retrofitting projects to rebuild their savings. Their interests soon shifted back to the water, leading to sea kayaking expeditions in Baja, British Columbia, and along the offshore reef system in Belize.
In 1991, they moved north to explore building a lodge for sea kayakers in British Columbia, ultimately choosing to settle on San Juan Island instead. Grant started and ran several businesses, including San Juan Mobile Sawmill and San Juan Timberframes, which featured projects around the US. After building a lodge-style home using timber they milled themselves, they welcomed three daughters: Amelia (1999), Zoe (2002), and Tasha (2006) and the family began camping and sailing together around the Pacific Northwest.
A natural mechanical thinker, Grant thrived on solving complex technical problems. In 2008, his interest in wing, foil, and blade desgn led him to invent a high-altitude wind power generation system. Over the next 17 years, he earned many US and foreign patents. Although the technology was never fully commercialized due to funding constraints, his dedication to the project drove global collaborations, especially in India.
Following a two-year family stay in Seattle starting in 2014, Grant moved to Bremerton and embraced life aboard a classic sailboat. During the next decade, he continued to innovate, travel abroad, and sail with his partner, Amy, and his daughters. A loving father, he was always ready to lend a hand to his daughters and others. Just a week before his passing, he and Zoe finished restoring a 23-foot sailboat and sailed it north to Friday Harbor.
Grant was predeceased by his father, Roderick (1995); his mother, Janeen (2026); and his brother-in-law, Eric Jensvold (2022).
He is survived by his daughters, Amelia Calverley of Olympia, WA, Zoe Calverley (and partner Peter Strasser) of Friday Harbor, WA, and Tasha Calverley (and husband Paulzor Bhutia) of Bothell, WA; his sister, Christine Jensvold, and her children, Leah and Soren, of Murphys, CA; his former wife, Shannon Calverley of Friday Harbor, WA; his partner, Amy Greenlee of Bremerton, WA; and family and friends around the world.
A private interment of ashes will be held at San Juan Cemetery and at sea in August, followed by a gathering at the Bremerton Yacht Club in September.
Remember him as the sea breeze blows and far horizons beckon… carpe diem.