Paul and Sheryl Shard – Presenters, Distant Shores TV series
Bestselling authors and award-winning filmmakers, Paul and Sheryl Shard, are known to worldwide viewing audiences as the fun-loving and adventurous hosts of the Distant Shores sailing adventure TV series which airs in Europe on the Nautical Channel as well as in the USA on AWE TV.
Both Canadians, the Shards grew up on the shores of the Great Lakes in Mississauga, Canada, and as schoolmates shared a love of the water and boats, outdoor adventure, photography and drama. Paul's first ever photography assignment was to document the high school play in which Sheryl played the lead role of Antigone. The rest is history...
In 1982, they both graduated from York University in Toronto, Sheryl with a Fine Arts degree in Theatre and Paul with a B.A. in Computer Science. Before their marriage in 1985, they worked in their respective fields gradually building their stage, film and camera credits while stashing their savings to fulfill a shared dream of building a boat and documenting their adventures sailing to foreign lands.
After 6,000 hours of combined work the couple built their first boat, a Classic 37 sailboat which they named “Two-Step”(the Shards love to dance). They launched her in Lake Ontario in 1988 and in 1989 set sail on their first international voyage travelling south to the Bahamas, across the Atlantic Ocean to the Mediterranean, then on to Madeira, Canary Islands and Brazil, returning home via the Caribbean. The experiences of this epic voyage, which included underwater encounters with sperm whales and sharks, became a one-hour documentary, Call of the Ocean, which aired on Discovery Channel in 1994 and launched their television careers.
Following that, the Shards co-produced the 17-episode series, Exploring Under Sail, with Canadian director, Peter Rowe (Angry Planet). Their latest series, Distant Shores, now 156 episodes and still growing, brought them back across the Atlantic Ocean to further explore countries of the Mediterranean aboard Two-Step. In 2007 “Two-Step” went into retirement and Paul and Sheryl moved aboard a new Southerly 42 sailboat which they named “Distant Shores”. The boat was built in England and the Shards sailed from there to Madeira and the Canary Islands, then made a transatlantic crossing (their 4th) from the Canary Islands to the Caribbean where they filmed season 5 and 6 of the series exploring the islands of the Caribbean, Bahamas, the eastern coast of the USA and the Great Lakes.
In 2010 they sailed from England to countries of the Baltic Sea for Season 7 this time aboard their new Southerly 49, Distant Shores II. Season 8 includes a journey from England to Ireland, Scotland, Norway and Brittany France. Season 9 includes crossing France by the small canals, and on to Morocco before crossing the Atlantic with the ARC and more Caribbean adventures. Season 10 features more Caribbean and Bahamas, and an Atlantic crossing to the Azores.
They are currently filming Season 13 featuring more top cruising destinations in the Caribbean and Europe.
The Shards have won two WorldFest Film and Video Production Awards for Best Sailing and Water Sport Documentary and the Distant Shores series now airs weekly in over 200 territories in 24 languages on AWE TV, and Nautical Channel.
The Shards also inform and entertain travellers through writing. They are the authors of the best-selling book, Sail Away! A Guide to Outfitting and Provisioning for Cruising, currently being updated to a third edition; they have an award-winning web site and blog on www.distantshores.ca, and are contributing writers for Canadian Yachting (columnists since 1994), Cruising World, SAIL, Sailing, Cruising Outpost, DIY Boat Owner, Practical Boat Owner and Blue Water Sailing magazines.
Paul and Sheryl have now travelled to over 60 countries and colonies around the Atlantic Ocean, Caribbean, Mediterranean, North and Baltic Seas; have sailed 110,000 nautical miles and have crossed the Atlantic Ocean 9 times.
Bestselling authors and award-winning filmmakers, Paul and Sheryl Shard, are known to worldwide viewing audiences as the fun-loving and adventurous hosts of the Distant Shores sailing adventure TV series which airs in Europe on the Nautical Channel as well as in the USA on AWE TV.
Both Canadians, the Shards grew up on the shores of the Great Lakes in Mississauga, Canada, and as schoolmates shared a love of the water and boats, outdoor adventure, photography and drama. Paul's first ever photography assignment was to document the high school play in which Sheryl played the lead role of Antigone. The rest is history...
In 1982, they both graduated from York University in Toronto, Sheryl with a Fine Arts degree in Theatre and Paul with a B.A. in Computer Science. Before their marriage in 1985, they worked in their respective fields gradually building their stage, film and camera credits while stashing their savings to fulfill a shared dream of building a boat and documenting their adventures sailing to foreign lands.
After 6,000 hours of combined work the couple built their first boat, a Classic 37 sailboat which they named “Two-Step”(the Shards love to dance). They launched her in Lake Ontario in 1988 and in 1989 set sail on their first international voyage travelling south to the Bahamas, across the Atlantic Ocean to the Mediterranean, then on to Madeira, Canary Islands and Brazil, returning home via the Caribbean. The experiences of this epic voyage, which included underwater encounters with sperm whales and sharks, became a one-hour documentary, Call of the Ocean, which aired on Discovery Channel in 1994 and launched their television careers.
Following that, the Shards co-produced the 17-episode series, Exploring Under Sail, with Canadian director, Peter Rowe (Angry Planet). Their latest series, Distant Shores, now 156 episodes and still growing, brought them back across the Atlantic Ocean to further explore countries of the Mediterranean aboard Two-Step. In 2007 “Two-Step” went into retirement and Paul and Sheryl moved aboard a new Southerly 42 sailboat which they named “Distant Shores”. The boat was built in England and the Shards sailed from there to Madeira and the Canary Islands, then made a transatlantic crossing (their 4th) from the Canary Islands to the Caribbean where they filmed season 5 and 6 of the series exploring the islands of the Caribbean, Bahamas, the eastern coast of the USA and the Great Lakes.
In 2010 they sailed from England to countries of the Baltic Sea for Season 7 this time aboard their new Southerly 49, Distant Shores II. Season 8 includes a journey from England to Ireland, Scotland, Norway and Brittany France. Season 9 includes crossing France by the small canals, and on to Morocco before crossing the Atlantic with the ARC and more Caribbean adventures. Season 10 features more Caribbean and Bahamas, and an Atlantic crossing to the Azores.
They are currently filming Season 13 featuring more top cruising destinations in the Caribbean and Europe.
The Shards have won two WorldFest Film and Video Production Awards for Best Sailing and Water Sport Documentary and the Distant Shores series now airs weekly in over 200 territories in 24 languages on AWE TV, and Nautical Channel.
The Shards also inform and entertain travellers through writing. They are the authors of the best-selling book, Sail Away! A Guide to Outfitting and Provisioning for Cruising, currently being updated to a third edition; they have an award-winning web site and blog on www.distantshores.ca, and are contributing writers for Canadian Yachting (columnists since 1994), Cruising World, SAIL, Sailing, Cruising Outpost, DIY Boat Owner, Practical Boat Owner and Blue Water Sailing magazines.
Paul and Sheryl have now travelled to over 60 countries and colonies around the Atlantic Ocean, Caribbean, Mediterranean, North and Baltic Seas; have sailed 110,000 nautical miles and have crossed the Atlantic Ocean 9 times.