Mark Venardi was born in 1962 in Seattle, Washington. He was raised in Peoria, IL, a Midwest blue-collar town. He enlisted in the United States Coast Guard and proudly served from 1980 through 1985. He spent the first two years on a sea-going tug performing search and rescue and marine law enforcement from the Grand Banks to the Windward Passage aboard the Coast Guard Cutter Tamaroa, which was the Coast Guard vessel that performed the rescue in “The Perfect Storm.”
Life at Sea
During this time period Mark sailed the Eastern seaboard in boats from 37 feet to 205 feet. He then served two years in Southeast Alaska aboard the Coast Guard Cutter Planetree, a 180-foot tender, which generally patrolled Southeast Alaska, but also included a voyage from Alaska to Hawaii and back. Mark spent his last year at Group Seattle performing search and rescue. Upon receiving an honorable discharge as an E-5 from the United States Coast Guard, Mark worked for approximately one year on the Chevron offshore oil platform Hermosa, off Point Conception, California.