Director : Carel Van Heerden

Carel Van Heerden has over 18 years of boating experience as captain, engineer, first mate & crew.  Carel grew up on a farm in Zimbabwe, Africa, where swimming & fishing in dams & hunting in the bush was a way of life. After his family moved to South Africa, he settled by the ocean & became involved in water sport such as water-skiing, windsurfing, scuba diving & sailing. Carel's love of the sea & of sailing began with club racing in the rough waters off the South African coast & evolved into blue water cruising around the world.

He has accumulated over 80,000 nautical miles sailing across the Atlantic, both North & South, the Caribbean East & West, Florida & up the East coast of the USA to Maine, Cuba, Mexico, Belize, Guatemala, Costa Rica, the Panama Canal, Southern Argentina, the Seychelles, Thailand, Malaysia & parts of the Pacific. He has many interesting sea stories to tell. Carel has an acute understanding of electrical & mechanical systems, instrumentation & celestial navigation. His diverse sailing experience & 2 years of military service has equipped him to handle sea conditions & emergencies with knowledge & confidence.

 Director : Beatrix Van Heerden

Beatrix (Bea) Van Heerden has 13 years of boating experience ranging from driving dive boats to extensive offshore sailing. Bea grew up on the lake of Zurich, Switzerland, & spent her summers in the lake & her winters skiing. As a teenager she fell in love with ballroom dancing, which she continued whilst working as a banker in Zurich. Bea began her traveling when she worked as an au pair (nanny) for a year in Bronxville, New York. Her friendly nature & love of children led her to a second year, this time in St. Martin. There she fell in love with the ocean & scuba diving. She became a dive instructor & worked for a year in Grand Bahama teaching & guiding divers, & hand feeding Caribbean Reef sharks. Her sailing experience began cruising on a 39-foot sailboat from the Chesapeake Bay (USA) through the Bahamas down the Caribbean Islands to Venezuela. It was on this trip that she met Carel who was working as captain/engineer on a 65-foot boat, also heading south. It was love at first sight. A romantic but somewhat frustrating love story followed as Bea's boat was always a little ahead of Carel's so that she would be sailing out of a port as he was sailing in. After too many goodbyes, they decided to work together on the same boat & have been crewing private yachts together for the last 12 years. They were married in February 1999

Bea has a keen interest in cooking & loves to bake anything from fresh crunchy bread to fancy layered European-style tortes. After taking cooking in high school, she attended a cooking & household school in Zurich to learn even more culinary delights. Swiss cooking is heavily influenced by French, Italian & German. During her travels she has picked up interesting dishes from all over the world. Bea speaks fluent English & German, good French & a bit of Spanish.

 When they are not working, Carel & Bea love to cruise on their own 40-foot catamaran "Rampant". They love all water sports, hiking, travelling, & getting to know different cultures. They wish to share their love of the sea & sailing with you while providing a relaxed & enjoyable vacation.