Meet Our Early Foxtrot & Early Sierra Adventures' Leadership Team

James “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!

Alex Polli
Program Director
Northport, NY

Alex spent the past year living in the San Francisco Bay Area working for a non-profit which provides free home repair for low income homeowners. She spent almost every weekend sailing on the bay or hiking in all of the beautiful parks California has to offer. Alex graduated from Penn State University in 2016 with a degree in Psychology. She sailed for the Penn State Sailing team for all four years and served as Commodore in 2015. Having lived on the water all her life, Alex grew up sailing since she was 7 and attended Sail Caribbean as a student from 2008 until 2012. In September, Alex starts her Master’s degree in Education with a focus in School Counseling at Seattle University.

Ciarán Gibbons
Captain
Dublin, Ireland

This is Ciarán’s second summer with Sail Caribbean, having spent the summer of 2016 with us and loving it. He has a wide range of experience in the outdoor industry from kayaking to windsurfing to hiking, but his real passion is sailing! He spent the summer of 2015 working with Cal Adventures in Berkeley as a sailing instructor and has a lot of youth camp experience in a wide range of sports. He is always looking for a new adventure – having skydived, bungee jumped and cliff dived to name a few! Ciaran previously studied Outdoor Adventure management in Dublin and wishes to use all his knowledge and experience to ensure that the SC 2017 is the best yet.

Lauren Rowsey
Captain
Austin, Texas

Lauren (aka Rowsey) graduated from the University of Texas at Austin last fall with a major in Marine and Freshwater Biology and a minor in Russian and Eastern European studies. She has loved the ocean since infancy and currently lives in a small Texas beach town researching how fish breathe and swim after exposure to oil. Rowsey loves to travel anywhere with a beach and play in the water with all types of sea life including her spirit animal – the California sea lion. She plans to attend graduate school to pursue a Master’s degree in Fish Physiology and Ecology, but only after spending more time in outdoor education teaching others how awesome the ocean is!

Sarah McMeikin
Mate
Victoria, Australia

After graduating Charles Sturt University in 2015 with a Bachelor’s degree in Environmental Science, Sarah moved to the small ski town of Revelstoke, BC, Canada, where she currently resides. Sarah fell in love with the Caribbean island life and oceans surrounding them when completing her Divemaster in Roatan, Honduras in 2012 and has since undertaken a Marine Park Ranger Internship on the small Dutch island of St. Eustatius. Although growing up in the mountains in Victoria, Australia, she has a passion for the ocean as long as she can remember. She loves to travel, sail and cook and is excited to share knowledge and new experiences with like-minded people!

Luka Walshe
Mate

Meet Luka soon!

Zosha Wiktor
Mate
Avalon, California

Growing up in sunny California, Zosha has always been in love with the outdoors, especially the ocean. As a pesky travel bug inspired by her passions, she studied abroad in New Zealand and continued on to travel through Southeast Asia where she got her PADI Master Diver certification in Indonesia. She graduated with a BSc in Marine Biology from University of California, Santa Cruz. Following graduation, Zosha started her career in outdoor education working for Catalina Island Marine Institute as a Marine Science instructor. At CIMI, she teaches students about the ocean and conservation while leading guided snorkel, kayak, and hiking expeditions. On days off, you can find Zosha camping, freediving, or rock climbing. She is so excited to share her passions and stories with others.

Paul McCormack
Mate
Dublin, Ireland

Paul has been studying Outdoor Adventure Management for the last three years, training in sailing, windsurfing, whitewater kayaking, powerboating, mountaineering and rock climbing. Last summer, Paul spent three months in the backcountry of California and the Sierra Nevada mountains. While working in California, Paul taught sailing, windsurfing, and kayaking to campers from all over the United States, and was also involved with backpacking trips into Desolation Wilderness. Paul also worked around the island of Ireland and the French Island of Corsica. He is very excited to have a great summer of sailing with all!

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!

Courtney Sarik
ASA Instructor
Manassas, VA

Growing up in Northern Virginia, Courtney enjoys all elements of the outdoors. She graduated from George Mason University in 2013 with a degree in Psychology and a minor in Intelligence Analysis. This coming fall, she will start her journey at medical school to become a Physical Therapy assistant. Her true love for the outdoors lies not only within her own adventures but also in inspiring and teaching others. Ever since she could walk, her feet were on skis and snow, and in the summers, she would backpack and sail. As a certified ski instructor, ASA sailing instructor, PADI OW Diver, and a licensed USCG Captain, Courtney is always looking for the next skill that she can learn and teach. On days off, she will go kayaking or hiking, but truly loves to bake up some incredible desserts!