Yacht for Charter
JOIA THE THE CROWN JEWEL

John, a 3rd generation seafarer, was born and raised on the South coast of England. Sailing 36ft Sigma racing yachts competitively from a young age. Moving onto square rigged tall ships he circumnavigated the UK via Iceland. John then joined the Super Yacht Industry in 1994 at the age of 20. He worked his way through the ranks over the years, gaining a wealth of experience along the way on many well-known super yachts worldwide. He achieved his MCA Masters at Warsash Maritime Academy, UK. John has been full time in command of Double Down since June 2021. In November 2022 John hired Andrew Poole who he has known for 12 years to share the position as Captain on a rotational basis. In John’s free time he can be found between the Scottish Highlands, Spanish Pyrenees, and Northern Greece, enjoying many outdoor pursuits.

Kalin grew up in Shimen, Bulgaria in the Eastern Block during Communism. Kalin studied at the Warsash Maritime Academy and successfully gained his Chief Mate 3000GT there. After spending 5 Years on Royal Caribbean Cruise ships as a Stage Technician that set up the professional standards for the rest of his career. Kalin then joined the Yachting industry in 2006. Yachting ticked all the boxes for career development that he was looking for as well as travelling, working within a close-knit team, and having the opportunity of crossing oceans together. Kalin enjoys having a passion for health, personal finance, fitness, hiking, and participating in volunteer work.

Sean was born in 2000, having grown up by the sea in Spain, he spent most of his time competing in all kinds of sailing competitions around the Balearics. He joined the industry in 2019 after spending 2 years teaching water sports to adults and school groups of all different abilities and backgrounds. He has worked between the Mediterranean, Caribbean, and US on various yachts between 35m and 67m with high clientele. He has also worked his way up from Deckhand to Bosun and continuing to study to progress and climb the ladder in his Yachting career. In his spare time, he enjoys just about anything on the water, from going out sailing to diving. Whenever the opportunity presents itself, he enjoys traveling off the beaten track to new countries and cities.

Jared aka Barrett was born in Boksburg South Africa and grew up in Benoni (or you can just say Johannesburg) He grew up with 2 older brothers and parents who always very supportive of any interests he had. They taught him to always be himself and to do his best in whatever it is I am interested in. Jared went to high school at St Dunstan’s College and finished school in 2015 graduating in 2018 with a bachelor’s degree in business management at the University of Pretoria and then went on to complete his Honours (2019) and master’s degree (2020) in Marketing. Jared joined Yachting from his love for traveling/exploring and the outdoors in 2022. He has always had an interest in meeting people from all over the world and learning about different cultures. Jared has a fantastic work ethic and a positive energy, occasionally the clown on board who often dances and sings on deck as if no one is watching (when that is often not the case) In his spare time Jared enjoys the gym/fitness, sport, water sports, diving, and traveling.

Alec, known as ‘Smitty’ grew up in Panorama, South Africa with one younger sister. During his childhood he enjoyed driving his father’s boat and being able to take friends and family members to do a variety of water sports. After Highschool in 2021 Alex went to work Two Oceans Manufacturers building fiberglass boats to gain a better understanding about repairs and yacht design. The boat he was working on was an 87ft power catamaran. Alec learned how to correctly work with teak caulking, doing fiberglass repairs and laminating. Both his childhood and first professional opportunity led him to a career in Yachting. He thrives in the balance between work and training. He enjoys being a member of the team as we have such a diverse crew who bring different outlooks on life. Alec’s personal interests include fishing, spearfishing, diving, cycling and a range of water sports.

Dave grew up in Birkenhead, United Kingdom where he spends his time in his 34-year-old V12 classic car and on his 1100cc motorbike with his family. After completing his time at West Cheshire College, he obtained a HND general engineering degree where after he worked as a Multi skilled engineer for 12 years at Unilever. Dave joined the yachting industry in 2001 after feeling it was time for a lifestyle change and met his wife while building a boat in Taiwan. Dave is a family-oriented character which transitions to being a valuable crew member on Doubledown, always on hand to offer assistance or advice. Dave’s hobbies include camping, motorcycles, gadgets and most importantly spending time with his wife and son.

Lachlan’s yachting career started in NYC bar whilst he was backpacking the planet at 25 years of age. Having a beer and a laugh with a friend of a friend led to a free sailboat ride from NYC to Bermuda to the Turks and Caicos Islands. This turned into a three-month trip earning his keep in exchange for varnishing the teak on a 64’ Hinkley sailboat. This then led to a 3-year career as a deckhand on motor yachts before conscientiously crossing over to the dark side of engineering. Lachlan started in the bilges assisting the chief engineer on the weekends. Seven years after cleaning his first bilge he had graduated to a yacht Chief Engineer. Lachlan has never lost his love of the bilges and often can still be found hiding down there. In his time off, he pursues his passion of offroad motorcycle racing in various parts of the world.

Shamir, also referred to as “Sham” was born on the tropical island of Jamaica called Kingston. After school he would play soccer in the streets and grew up loving every second of it. Sham joined the Caribbean Maritime University and got his associate degree in applied science. He started out his career as a Marine Engineer on commercial LPG & LNG tankers and joined the yachting industry in 2022. Sham is goal driven, dynamic and enthusiastic about engineering, information technology and mechanics. Sham is jovial, peaceful, and kind-hearted which makes him a joyful crew member to have onboard. In his free time, you will find Sham working out in the gym, out on the water, and he has a keen interest in motorsports.

Warwick also known as ‘Chefie’ has twenty-four years of experience as a chef managing award winning five-star restaurants and resorts throughout Australia and the South Pacific. He spent the first 10 years working in the wine region of the Mornington Peninsular, cool climate vineyards, at Delgany Country House, a Relais & Chateaux hotel. After four and half years, he then moved on to the Head Chef position at Lindenderry at Red Hill. After five years at Lindenderry, Warwick moved to central Australia as Head Chef at Longitude 131, a 30 person 6-star tent style venue with private views of Ayres Rock. Warwick transitioned to the yachting industry 13 years ago and have experience on Private, Charter and Expedition yachts, travelling throughout Europe, Norway, The Baltic, The Caribbean, The United States and the South and North Pacific. As a yacht chef for the past 14 years, he has honed his skills for dealing with high profile owners and VIP guests and managing the galley and crew on an international level. Chefie takes pride in working as a team with the Interior to deliver the ultimate experience and keeping up to date on dietary trends, plating styles, modern food techniques and cooking methods.

Alex grew up in Wales, United Kingdom and spent most of her life in the countryside until joining the Yachting industry in 2018 where she began exploring the world. Alex worked in a variety of hospitality environments and began searching for a path to elevate her career. Her passion for personal development and the level of service required to succeed excelled through discovering the world of Yachting. Alex has worked on oceans between Asia, United States, and the Mediterranean over the last few years with a variety of high-profile clientele. Having studied Theatre and Drama in 2012 and going on to work in television for a few years afterwards she believes this environment really set her up for a career in Yachting, to perform the service required as and when. Alex became a Chief Stewardess in 2020, continued to progress through to Assistant Purser on a 134m Yacht. Alex spends her free time outdoors, on the water, at the theatre or at any live performance.

Fernanda Grew up in the capital where there’s a lot of colonial history and the biggest and the best-preserved downtown in LATAM. She grew up with her mom, father and one brother between two cultures (mom from the coastal, father from the highland) Previous to Yachting her career consisted of language teaching, host, promoter, modeling, restaurant: table service, managing, accounting, leadership, solving problems, etc. Fernanda joined yachting to expand professionally to find opportunities of growth within an international environment and to find satisfaction of delivering an excellent service to guests. Fernanda has been on a variety of vessels between 38m to 65m in the last 6 months bringing along with her a positive attitude, team player, cross cultural understanding, adaptability, and hard work. Fernanda enjoys cultural events, reading, photography and art, sports (cycling, running, swimming, diving, yoga) and wellness and languages.