Captain Red is the best of the best -- knows his stuff and obviously very committed to customer safety and experience.
James Palkovic
The Vessels
Blackbeard’s cruises are delivered on one of our two 65′ diving liveaboard sailboats, the Sea Explorer and the Morning Star.
- Exceptional oceanfront and island views
- Dining – picnic-style outdoors in the horseshoe or inside near the kitchen (galley)
- Bunks – beds come in doubles and singles as uppers or lowers
- Bathrooms (heads) – small and shared with your mates
- Showers – hot water and long showers are a luxury – enjoy them before you arrive
- Kitchen (galley) – yes, a compact space where all your meals are prepped. We’re serious.
Don’t pack tons of clothes. We’d rather have room to store all the food we’ll eat each trip.
Our dinghies are our transportation to and from islands.
Meet Our Crew
Jim
The Captain
Captain Jim first joined Blackbeard’s in 1991 as the dive instructor on the Sea Explorer. He later served as engineer, until earning his Captain’s license and began the rest of his time as First Mate and Relief Captain throughout the fleet. He also sailed a few times as the chef! Jim left in ’95 to work in yachting. He came back in early 2016, missing the pirate life. Outgoing, friendly, and full of stories, he’s returned to his passions, sailing, scuba diving and fishing. Jim is a world traveler, and an avid motorcyclist/collector. Hobbies also include snowboarding, paddleboarding, rock climbing, and cooking.
Michael "Red"
The Captain
Red joined us years ago and hails from Virginia originally but if you ask him, the Bahamas he calls home. He went to the school of hard knocks and got a BS in BS. He loves to travel, take wild road trips to see NASCAR and never misses Talladega! He enjoys cook outs with friends especially. The lure of the sea brought him to diving. He started out as a cook and worked his way up to Captain. When he was just 14, he used a fake ID to join the crew of the Schooner AMERICA and sailed to Key West from Norfolk. She was built in 1851 and was the first winner of the America’s Cup. When they arrived in Key West, he was detained and then sent home. He found his way back to a sailing vessel a few years later and has made it his life.
Iain
Captain, Engineer & Dive Instructor
AKA Podgey, this criminal psychologist major decided to pursue diving as a profession back in 2008 but has been diving since he turned 14. He enjoys watching real football and also playing it. He likes to go out, take long walks on quiet beaches and has no intention of telling us a secret about himself so we’ll be creative and make one up — Podgey likes to take bubble baths with rose scented soap!
Drew
Captain & Assistant Crew Chief
Drew has a long history with Blackbeard’s! going to his college days at Ole Miss where he was the scuba club sponsor and brought new students out each year for spring break. We finally lured him to the life at sea and he joined us as an instructor working his way up to captain. He hails from Itta Benna, MS and now lives in Miami Beach when not on the boats.
Ian
Captain, First Mate, Engineer
Ian “Hoppy” comes from a small town in sunny South Africa. He is a PADI dive instructor as well as a PADI Freedive instructor. He has been working as an instructor for the past 5 years along the South African coastline. Ian is passionate about the ocean. Ian loves playing soccer and is an avid cricket and rugby fan. Something no-one knows about Ian, he loves all animals except for squirrels.
Thato
Dive Instructor / Engineer
Thato was born in Johannesburg South Africa and went to university in Cape Town. It was there that she fell in love with the ocean and travel in general. After University, she moved to South Korea to teach English and travel through Asia. Thato visited the Philippines 8 years ago and did her open water course in Coron; known for its shallow shipwrecks. Over the next 8 years she travelled and dived all over Asia including, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam and Cambodia. During this time, she accumulated her higher diving certifications until she completed her divemaster training in El Nido Philippines. This was two years ago and that is when she decided to become a professional diving instructor. She also wanted to explore the Caribbean, so she moved to the Dominican Republic where she completed her training as an Open Water Instructor and MSDT. Thato worked full time as an instructor both in Punta Cana and Bayahibe. Hobbies: Diving, Videography, Cycling, Snowboarding, Surfing, Reading and Writing
You would never guess that she once travelled through every major city in South Korea over 2 months by bicycle.
Morgan
Engineer
Morgan, or Biggins as his friends know him, comes to us from Orlando, Florida. When he was just eight years old, he took a trip to Boston with his family and ended up meeting his father’s scuba instructor, Steve. Morgan was fascinated by the underwater photos that were on Scuba Steve’s walls and told himself that he too, would one day get scuba certified. He got his scuba certification in 2010 and has loved being on the water ever since. All thanks to Scuba Steve! Morgan took to the water for 4 years with The Navy as an Aviation Electrician and when he got out he went to the Marine Mechanical Institute in Orlando for a year. In his spare time he loves metal working and aquariums. When you see him, please make sure he has put on sunscreen!
Chris
First Mate/ Engineer
Hailing from San Diego, Chris is a professional Uno player and believes you can stack multiple pickup cards on top of each other. A recently certified diver, working towards his rescue course, he now enjoys the recreational activity of practicing rescue breathing on damsels in distress. His favorite color is pink, he owns the most magnificent flamingo shirt. He traded in his bar tending skills and cold water fishing expeditions for the sunny teal blue skies of the Bahamas. Tinkering is his strong suit, therefore as one of our engineers, he plays with all sorts of tools.
His hobbies included crafting animal figurines out of used o-rings, and racing Japanese imported hamsters.
Charlie
Dive Instructor
Charlie hails from Wabash, Indiana where he grew up around the aviation industry. He spent some time in aviation fabrication and repairs until 2014 when he took his Open water scuba course. He was hooked and knew that he wanted to pursue a career in diving. He became a PADI diving professional in 2015 and has never looked back. Charlie’s favorite dives are deep, night, and wreck. When Charlie isn’t soaking wet from a good dive, you might find him hiking, camping, kayaking or horse back riding! One place you won’t find Charlie is around reptiles. He does not like them at all. The more teeth they have the less he likes them!
Sarah
Dive Instructor
Sarah comes to us from Ontario, Canada. While working at Ripley’s Aquarium of Canada in Toronto, she got her Open Water certification and never looked back knowing life on the water was where she was meant to be. After an unusual journey to become a PADI Dive Instructor, Sarah has worked in Cozumel and Italy, and diving everywhere in between, with The Bahamas having a special place in her heart. When she’s not diving you can find her doing yoga, reading every book in sight or pursuing her other passion as a professional hammock sleeper. She is known to be the human form of a pineapple and her favourite animal is the Great Canadian House Hippo.
Sarah
Chef
Sarah’s from the sunny beach town of Plettenberg Bay, South Africa. Starting from a young age when she was able to look over the kitchen counter top, food overtook her imagination and most of her free time. If she’s not busy you’ll find Sarah baking something delicious, running around barefoot on an adventure, or asking a billion questions about everything to anyone who’s listening. Hobbies include baking, reading, hiking, swimming and photography. You would never guess that she’s secretly a qualified ninja, and her favorite animal is a penguin!
Stephen
Dive Instructor
Stephen was born in Michigan, the land of 10,000 lakes. He started diving in the Great Lakes and local quarries & fell deeply in love with diving while visiting his parents in Fiji in 2018. Stephen came home, quickly sold everything he owned and quit the corporate lifestyle to make the ocean his office. He believes his passion for the water came from his parents raising him on a houseboat, literally spending every waking moment on or in the water! He is a big fan of anything water sports, fishing being his #1.
Chelle
Dive Instructor
Chelle is originally from Manchester, England but for the last 10 years has been travelling and working around the world. She fell in love with diving 4 years ago and became a PADI MSDT so she could call the ocean her office. She loves animals, yoga, dancing, underwater photography and anything that gets the adrenaline pumping; especially jumping out of a plane or white-water rafting!
Dale
Dive Instructor
Dale joins us as Dive Instructor on board and is from Cape Town, South Africa. He has traveled all around the world and puts Japan towards the top of his favorites. When not diving, he enjoys hiking and music as well. He finds dolphins to be quite entertaining with all their personality and thinks squid are just incredible on night dives. He also plays the flute and has a growing collection of them- with 7 in his possession so far!
Pancho
chef
Francisco joins us from Chile and his friends call him Pancho! He graduated with a bachelor’s degree in hospitality and tourism. Once he graduated from college, he started travelling the world to really start his education– Japan, Australia, Thailand, and the Phillipines. That is where he found his love of cooking and eating good food. Each place he visitied had a different style of cooking that he had to try to keep with me when I left. He also fell in love with scuba diving during his time in Australia on the Great Barrier Reef. Here, he can combine his two greatest passions which are food and diving! Other hobbies are snowboarding, photography, and learning new languages. Hide your chocolates when Pancho is around because he is extremely addicted to it!
Fabian
Cook
Fabian is from Guayaquil, Ecuador. He grew up close to the water and can never remember not enjoying being on or in the ocean. Fabian also grew up loving to be in the kitchen preparing food. He learned to dive when he was in the Galapagos and has spent his time since then staying near the ocean! He joined Blackbeard’s to combine his two great passions– Cooking and Diving! When he is not cooking or diving, Fabian really enjoys doing anything that has to do with nature and wildlife.
JOSH
Engineer/Dive Instructor
Josh is from the sunny UK. When he was 13, he moved to the Cayman Islands where he spent the rest of his high school days. During that time, he got certified as an open water diver, and when he finished school, he worked his way up to being a dive instructor and a local boat captain running day trips. He worked in cayman for 8 years as a dive instructor before adventuring to the Bahamas. When he is not diving, he likes to learn about boats and the mechanical side to them as well as getting the lines in the water to see what we can catch for dinner. Every change he gets, he is looking for new places to travel to and see new areas of the world. His favorite color is blue as it’s the best color water to dive in.
Chris
Dive Instructor
Chris joins us an instructor that has traveled all over the world to dive! He loves sharks, they are his best friends. He hails from Fairfax, VA and studied Biological Oceanography in school. He enjoys cave diving, free diving, snowboarding and golf in his spare time.
We Are Now Hiring
We are always looking for adventurous individuals to join the team.
Life on board is hard work but very rewarding- send in your application today!
Dive instructors, chefs, and engineer positions available.
James
Dive Instructor
James joins us from Bournemouth, UK where he attended school and learned to play the saxophone. He’s been lucky enough to travel to 32 countries so far. He learned to dive in Thailand and has most recently been in Mexico as a shark wrangler before joining our team.
Laura
Cook
Laura was born in New Jersey, but found that seasons just weren’t for her. So, after too many cold winters up north, she decided that she wanted to find an adventure in the sun. When she’s not out and about, she enjoys video games, watching hockey, attempting to learn French and ASL, and of course cooking. Her favorite food is any and all seafood. She’s really excited to one day meet an octopus.
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