Who needs four degrees from Columbia when you have an eight-month sailing voyage under your belt? Denver husband-and-wife duo Patrick Riley and Alaina Moore plunked down some cash on a sailboat, packed their bags and set sail on an eight-month voyage along the East Coast. “I started seriously saving for a sailboat four years ago,” Riley recalls. The indie-pop pair subsequently produced an EP under the preppy moniker Tennis that conveyed their journey in a way their sailing blog, White Satin Gloves, just simply couldn’t. “Every song reminds of time, place, people and experiences. There were no instruments on the boat—we had to acquire all the musical equipment we sold to take the trip in the first place,” said Moore.

This past year, they have been working ever since they returned, affording them another small sailing trip. “I’m hoping that rather than documenting our experiences, we’ll be able to have a third-person overview of our life back in the States.” Though they do not intend to continue drawing on their sailing experience for inspiration, their full length Brian Wilson-meets-Daniel Johnston lo-fi pop album Cape Dory is impressive given it’s origins in a $1,600 petty cash fund and a knowledge of the seas originating entirely from “The Annapolis Book of Seamanship” and DVDs.