Meet the participants

Caribbean Odyssey 2017: some participants profiles

Start: 10 January 2017.

You can click on the pictures or the blue names to learn more about the participants.


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Paolo Casoni Ariel

Paolo Casoni is a doctor with qualifications in General Surgery, Vascular Surgery and Oncology and has worked in hospitals and medical schools in Italy and Spain. He is an expert in the management of onboard medical and surgical emergencies.

A sailor since 1983, Paolo has sailed 50.000 miles in the Mediterranean and Atlantic, having completed two Atlantic Ocean Crossings. His current boat is Ariel, a Hallberg Rassy 53.

Paolo Casoni did the Atlantic Odyssey in 2014, aboard MISTERO BLU, a Hallberg Rassy 46. See the video of his last crossing:


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Stewart & Barbara Anne Burness Bright Eyes

After a lifetime of trying to fit sailing into a busy working life, now I am retired, with time on my hands, I would love to take up the challenge of crossing the Atlantic.

I have loved boats and the sea all my life, from sailing model boats aged 2, rowing at boarding school, building plywood cats and cruisers in the 60s and when working at Sony Uk, helping provide Ellen MacArthur’s and Global Challenge with computing and AV requirements for their various circumnavigations.

My previous long voyages were, the 2 handed AZAB race, a leg of the Global challenge and sailing my Moody down to it’s home in Menorca. We bought this Moody 38 in 2013 and it was already called Bright Eyes, we liked the sound of the name, so left it as it was.

Looking forward to picking up tips from Jimmy and Doina with their wealth of knowledge, not to mention the social side of the event.


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Karl Joachim Kerwer Damisa

Karl, Marcus, Hans-Georg, Lothar (left to right)

We are four friends who know each other from sailing (age 48 to 64). We come from Rheinland Pfalz in Germany close to the rivers Rhine and Nahe. Far, far away from the sea…

During the Caribbean Odyssey we want to discover more than just the sea. We have got quite some experience and have prepared on an intense level since December 2015.

Our boat is a Bavaria 410 named DAMISA. The name was given by the former owner and is the female version of the boys name DAMIS – meaning vivacity, speed, independence and willingness to give the best. DAMISA was sailed by several crew and the owner Karl from Croatia to Cyprus as well as from Greece to Tenerife.

Crew

Karl – our captain: – He is responsible for us as a team and makes sure there is always enough to eat for everyone. He is a traveler, a friend and – most important – a man who knows every corner of his boat. He is sometimes like the sea, usually gentle and sometimes stormy and fierce. He likes to share his sailing experience with the team.

Hans-Georg – our navigator: He makes the crew smile and laugh. And he knows how to use the sextant or how to set the windvane-steering-system.

Lothar – He has sailed thousands of miles, loves nature and knows how to catch fish! No question. He likes being on, in and under the water. And above all, his abilities as a mechanic are more than welcome.

Marcus: He is our youngest crew on board and takes care of our communication systems. He knows the SSB, the satphones and the sources of weather information. Thanks to his abilities we can stay in touch with our families. We know him as a very relaxed person.

We look forward to our Atlantic crossing! We also look forward to new experiences, new challenges, open-minded crews, cosmopolitan people and the Caribbean way of life


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Øystein & Hege Huse Ghost

We are a Norwegian family of five. We live in the northern part of Norway (Vesteraalen) and we have planned, saved money and dreamt of this adventure for five years. We have sailed for 9 years, and have had different motor boats since we were young. We bought Ghost four years ago, and have sailed in Greek waters until this summer.

The name Ghost was set by the first owner, and we learned to like it after a while, so we haven’t changed it…

From June to August we sailed from Corfu to Tenerife, and had a great trip. This will be our first ocean crossing, and we look forward to meeting you all in Tenerife.

Warm regards from:

  • Hege (45 years Young, works as a psychologist)
  • Øystein(46 years old, works as a science teacher)
  • Elias (19 years old, student)
  • Emil (13 years old student…)
  • Eskil (12 years old, student…)


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Fergus Dunipace & Jenevora Swann Two Drifters

The name Two Drifters comes from the song, Two Drifters Off To See The World and the fact that there are two of us on the boat, all be it with the dog, but we could not find a song lyric that worked with two humans and a dog off to see the world.

My wife, Jenevora, and I decided to step out of the rat race for a few years and see some of the world.

Unfortunately we now know how wonderful life without the rat race is so the chances of us going back are very slim !

The following article kind of sums up what we are doing: Couple sold everything they owned to go sailing around the world: ‘It’s challenging but we wouldn’t change a thing’

We have a boat Facebook page TwoDriftersTravel which we use as an ongoing blog for the boat.


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