Staff Spotlight: Joe Snowdon

Title:
Academy Manager

Photos

Joe is a London-based sailing and cycling enthusiast with many years spent traveling and working abroad. He is interested in history, cooking, and photography.

What is your favorite travel memory?

That's a tricky question although one story has stuck in my mind. Getting on a train in Kiev, Ukraine we were joined in the 4 person sleeper cabin by a huge Russian man who insisted we share the huge bottle of Vodka he had brought for the 16-hour journey.

The other two people were Ukrainians who spoke some English and after many shots and celebrating everything we could think of (I remember David Beckham for some reason). We all fell asleep and woke up in the Crimea.

What is the best story you've heard from a return student?

One of our students who did the course in 2015 said hello at the Southampton Boat show and was telling me all about working in Dubai for an RYA Centre. For two weeks they were teaching sailing to the sons of a rich Sheik from a 50m Motor Yacht stopping in bays to take them sailing in Hobie Catamarans and Open Bic Dinghies. Each evening they ate dinner with the owner of the yacht.

If you could go on any program that your company offers, which one would you choose and why?

Although I already have the qualifications our programs offer if I was to go back gain I would love to learn to sail and become an instructor in the sunny and warm waters of Greece.

Learning to sail and become an instructor in the cold grey waters of South West England was great but somehow isn't quite the same as learning in the crystal clear waters of the Greek Islands.

What makes your company unique? When were you especially proud of your team?

As Seafarer is a small company we are able to be very personable with all our guests and create a lovely atmosphere for both holidays and courses. We can also be flexible to create tailormade packages that suit everyone.

Using these values, we have built a great team of people who love what they do and represent all different parts of the sailing industry. Amongst our staff in 2018, we have the former Mirror European Champion and the Greek Yacht Racing National Champion.