Meet Our Bravo 1 & Charlie 1 Adventures' Leadership Team

Ish Alexander
Program Director
King of Prussia, PA

Ish graduated from Prescott College in 2015 with a degree in Psychology and Adventure Education. His degree came after spending a busy four years tramping and camping around the Arizona desert and much of the western United States. Since graduating from school, he has kept himself busy surfing, skiing, rafting, rock climbing, stargazing, camp firing, and dancing! Over the last couple of years, he has split time between the BVI, Arizona, California, and Alaska! He is excited to return for another summer with SC before moving down to the islands full time in the fall!

Mark Kennedy
Fleet Captain
Dublin, Ireland

Mark is a professionally trained instructor and tutor in many adventure activities, achieving a Higher National Diploma in Outdoor Adventure Management during his 3 years in college. This is where he trained as a powerboat, sailing, kayaking, windsurfing, climbing and mountaineering instructor. He has worked in the Desolation Wilderness in Eldorado County, California, where he lived in a tent for three months and delivered leadership programs to students of all ages through the medium of true wilderness. This was a life changing experience for him — it is where he developed his love for sharing his skills and knowledge with his students and learned how to develop their true potential. After having an amazing summer as a captain at Sail Caribbean in 2016, Mark is extremely excited to get back at it this season.  In the times Mark was not out teaching and adventuring over the remainder of the 2016-2017 year, he worked as a Data technician in Dublin airport installing and maintaining the extremely complex network of communications and security equipment.

Trevor Gardner
Captain of Mersault
Ottawa, Canada

Trevor was born and raised in Ottawa, Canada and grew up on or under the water. He first took part in Sail Caribbean in 2010 as a camper and fell in love with the lifestyle. He has been living around the Caribbean for the last 5 years working as a Dive Instructor. He is looking forward to long sails this summer the most!

Lindsay Walsh
Captain of Xeres
Centerport, NY

Lindsay just finished her second year at Siena College studying Marketing and is planning on studying abroad in Austria in the fall. Growing up on Long Island, she spends a majority of her time on the water. Last summer, Lindsay completed the Echo program and spent the summer being a Mate In Training. Lindsay has a passion not only for sailing but for scuba diving as well, having gained her Advanced Open water certification through her previous years as a student at Sail Caribbean.

Mike Harrington
Captain of Fermi
Gorey, Ireland

Growing up in Ireland, Mike became a Sailing Instructor in 2007.  Having taught in Ireland for a few years, he discovered he could use his instructor certifications as an international passport to travel and adventure.  Since then he has enjoyed working in the US, Australia and Canada.  Graduating in 2014 with a BSc in Environmental Biology from University College Dublin, Mike decided that real jobs were for grownups and moved to Whistler, BC to become a ski instructor.  He is looking forward to seeing what the Caribbean has to offer this year!

Andrew Arter
Mate of Mersault
Damariscotta, ME

Andrew grew up on the coast of Maine and has been sailing his entire life. After graduating high school, he sailed from Maine to the Bahamas with a friend. Previously, Andrew worked as the keel boat sailing coach for the Portland Yacht Club. He is also an avid J24 racer. He holds a US Captain’s license with sailing and towing endorsements. Currently Andrew attends the University of Maine and is studying Mechanical Engineering and Math. During the summer, he enjoys sailing the coast of Maine and spending Saturdays with the boys.

Eliot Faust
Mate of Xeres
Bethesda, MD

Eliot joins us from Bethesda, MD. He just graduated from Haverford College in PA where he studied Political Science with a minor in Chinese language. Starting in 2007, Eliot spent five years enrolled as a student of the program. He enjoyed the friends he made who kept returning each summer. The Sail Caribbean program really attracted Eliot due to his interest in marine biology from a young age. After participating in a bubble maker program on St. Thomas, he knew he wanted to pursue a life underwater. Following his time as an SC student, Eliot then completed the Sail Caribbean Dive Master Internship and is a member of Sail Caribbean’s staff this year as a Dive Master and mate. Always ready with a funny one-liner, Eliot loves diving at the Fearless and the Indians or sailing to his favorite location of Little Harbor on Peter Island. He will never forget hanging out at the Baths with his core crew of friends who always returned for a summer with Sail Caribbean. This fall, Eliot will be starting a Master’s Program at Johns Hopkins SAIS, spending his first year in Nanjing China.

Luka Walshe
Mate of Fermi
Dublin, Ireland

Luka is joining us for his first year at Sail Caribbean. He has just completed a three year Higher National Diploma in Outdoor Adventure Management, where he learned to teach sailing, windsurfing and whitewater kayaking from some of Ireland’s most experienced outdoor leaders. Luka has a wealth of experience teaching and instructing in many outdoor sports, including leading wilderness canoe trips in Canada, raft guiding and kayaking on Irish rivers and seas, sailing and windsurfing in Corsica and up and down Ireland’s west coast. Luka is a big believer in self-development and experiential learning, and has a passion for teaching and sharing outdoor sports with others.

Addie Benthien
Provisions Manager
Basking Ridge, NJ

Addie grew up in New Jersey and graduated from Elon University in 2014. She has spent her post-graduate life pursing her biggest passions: health & wellness and the great outdoors. Addie is a certified Wilderness First Responder and has been an Adventure Guide for the Philadelphia Outward Bound School and Frost Valley, YMCA. She is also a certified Personal Trainer and is excited about the challenge of staying active while living on a boat. Time to get creative!

Ellie Honan Drogheda, Ireland First Year

Ellie has just finished up at the University College Cork, Ireland after 4 years with a degree in Geology. She grew up hopping between the East and West coasts of Ireland, spending a lot of time in the very, very cold waters of the Irish Sea and the Atlantic Ocean, where she developed a love of diving and windsurfing. Her main passions are fossils, climate and crafts, and especially working with young people in the outdoors. Ellie spent last summer traversing the trans-boundary Juneau Icefield of Alaska and Canada, studying the glacial climate and completing a glaciology field skills program where she learned a huge amount about expedition provisioning and scientific communication. The summer before that she was down a cave system in Western Ireland working as a spelunking guide, so she’s exited to spend a summer outside in the sunny(!) Caribbean with enthusiastic young people!

Emily Graf
Dive Coordinator
Albuquerque, NM

Emily started diving in 2013 and quickly developed a passion for marine life. She is currently living in Tortola working as a PADI Scuba Instructor year round. Growing up in New Mexico (a state with no oceans), she is grateful to have been introduced to the ocean in such an exhilarating way! Emily obtained her B.A. in Environmental Studies at the University of Redlands in California, and worked as an environmental scientist for many years before she discovered her affection for scuba diving and marine life. She loves to travel, experience new cultures, observe wildlife, and laugh a lot! Scuba diving has become one of her biggest passions along with yoga, mountain biking, and bird watching. Emily hopes to inspire people to love and conserve our oceans by sharing what she has learned about the magical underwater world.

Julia Malone
Mate-In-Training
Winter Springs, FL

Having been raised in New York, California, Georgia, and Florida, Julia grew up loving the adventure of discovering new places and grew accustomed to the thrill of seeking new and different lifestyles. Having lived in Florida for thirteen years now, Julia has found catharsis in being by the sea and has fallen in love with the outdoors. Whether it be hiking, mountain biking, snorkeling, cliff jumping, camping, SCUBA diving, sailing, or just being around great people in great places, Julia loves discovering new passions in the adventure of traveling the great outdoors! Now entering her junior year at the University of Florida, Julia is completing her bachelor’s degrees in both Environmental Science and Neuroscience. After spending part of the summer sailing the beautiful islands of the BVI several years ago, Julia has come back to join Sail Caribbean as a staff member this summer. Julia is so stoked to embark upon another great adventure with the lovely staff of Sail Caribbean and all the wonderful people who she’ll meet along the way!

Meredith Davies
Mate-In-Training
Plainsboro, NJ

Meredith grew up in New Jersey and just completed her freshman year at Rhodes College. She studies Environmental Studies with hopes of becoming an environmental lawyer. Meredith found her passion for the ocean, sailing, and scuba diving during her summers as a Sail Caribbean student in 2014 and 2015. She recently interned at Cape Eleuthera Institute at the Island School studying southern stingrays in the Bahamas. She has returned to Sail Caribbean as a student on the Ocean program and as a Mate in Training for the 2017 season. She is excited to be back in the BVI for another summer of adventures!

Quinton “Q” Cirko
Mate-In-Training
Huntington, NY

Meet Q soon!