Much of what Terry Godbold learned about life and business, he learned from sailing.

The successful real estate professional, property manager and business owner has been sailing since 1967, when he was trained on a lightning-class racing sailboat off the coast of Quantico Va.

“I’ve been racing and sailing ever since,” said Godbold, 64.

While racing boats in the Gulf of Mexico, he learned to rely and depend on others.

“It’s amazing to have two or three friends spending a weekend offshore going from one port to another,” Godbold said. “You either get to know people really well or you don’t like them when they get off.”

While single-handing boats from Florida to Texas for delivery, alone in a vast ocean, he learned to depend on himself.

“It is [scary]. As a former Marine, I learned that above everything else, one needs to depend on one’s own expertise,” he said. “When you’re out on a sail boat, alone in the middle of the Gulf of Mexico at 2 a.m. and a storm comes up, you just need to know what to do.”

That is a lesson the Vietnam combat veteran has applied to his professional career and his business, Reliable Property Management, Inc. He has grown the five-employee business from just 30 properties 17 years ago to 350 properties recently. His employees are like the crew of his ship, close knit and like a family.

In sailing and in business, “You get very close to people when you have to depend on them,” Godbold said.

Godbold brings the same dedication and passion that he has for sailing to his professional life. As a property manager, one of the most litigious areas of real estate, high standards and professionalism are a must, he said.

“Unfortunately, in the past, property managers have been considered the red-headed step children of real estate, the rent collectors,” Godbold said. “Today, our professional property managers have far more responsibility than they did 20 years ago, but for the most part we’re still thought of as slum lords.”

For the past 17 years, he’s been working to dispel that perception. He has taken on numerous professional certifications and licenses and sits on committees, is a past president of the National Association of Residential Property Managers, is a member of the Institute of Real Estate Management and is heavily involved with the Austin Board of Realtors.

He said he feels he has to go above and beyond in his field to dispel the slumlord label.

“I feel that I’m performing a service to those investors that either don’t know how or are living out of the city and can’t manage their investments,” Godbold said. “I’m managing some of their biggest investments, and I have to do it right. I have to maintain the professional standards that are above most other real estate professionals.”

When he needs to get away from his work, Godbold heads to Rockport, where he has a 48-foot sailboat, the Moonshadow, and a 24-foot fishing boat, the So Bad.

“No matter what the weather is, I can head out,” said Godbold, who holds a captain’s license. “When it’s really windy, you can’t go fishing, so I go sailing. When it’s really calm, you can’t go sailing, so I go fishing.”

When he heads out on the water he takes his first mate, wife Dorothy, who he still refers to as his bride.

“She’s my soul mate, and it took me a long time and several relationships to find her,” Godbold said. “The 17 years that I have been with her have been the best 17 years of my life.”

Occasionally, his son TJ, a photographer for the U.S. Navy, will join them on the boat, where they all crew the ship together.

“I love being on the water,” Godbold said. “It gives a certain amount of serenity that is rare on dry land. It’s because you can’t go anywhere and you can’t do anything but be on the boat. Once you realize that, it’s comforting.”