Meet The Crew
Kaya
Kaya holds a 100-ton USCG Master Captain license and is a marine biologist. She was born and raised in Puerto Rico and spent her life fishing, crewing, and living aboard boats traversing the British, US, and Spanish Virgin Islands, particularly Culebra Island where her family vacation home was located. Kaya was introduced into the world of scientific SCUBA diving at Florida International University where she obtained her Bachelor's degree and worked in a seagrass ecology lab. Kaya graduated summa cum laude, with undergraduate research experience, teaching experience, and membership into Phi Beta Kappa honor society. She also developed a love for teaching, working as an instructor for credited supplementary courses for Calculus and Organic Chemistry at San Francisco State University. Her marine biology career continued soon after in the Virgin Islands, where she completed her Master's degree and expanded her diving experience, becoming a certified technical diver with TDI advanced nitrox and decompression diving. Her marine biology expertise is on Ciguatera Poisoning as well as tropical coral and fish ecology. Kaya’s diving experiences have been incredibly unique with hundreds of scientific dives completing surveys for coral health, coral reef fishes, lobster, toxic algae, and more. Apart from her ocean experiences, Kaya is fully bilingual, loves playing with her dog Waldo, and loves traveling the world with her husband Chris.
Chris
Chris holds a 100-ton USCG Master Captain license and is a marine geophysicist. He has been sailing since he was a small child growing up surrounded by the barrier islands and marshes in the Carolinas. His first jobs were teaching sailing and then crewing larger monohulls which led to several months aboard a 120’ schooner in New Zealand at 18. At the College of Charleston, he double majored in Anthropology and Geology with a minor in Archeology. He also worked as a Divemaster and Aquarium Diver, and later joined scientific and marine crews aboard oceanographic research vessels. Chris continued working aboard research and survey vessels through grad school while completing his Masters in Geology at UCSB. In this time, he made the first maps of tens of thousands of seafloor methane seeps offshore California, the Gulf of Mexico, and Siberia. He also began taking friends on epic bareboat sailing adventures in the Channel Islands while advancing his scuba background and exploring his new obsession of kitesurfing. Following grad school, Chris continued working in the marine geophysical survey and oceanography industries beginning in Antarctica. In 2013, he established his own freelance consulting business, and to date has worked in all the world's oceans and continents while maintaining an excellent offshore safety record. A life-long extrovert, Chris loves meeting people from all walks of life and sharing stories. He spends his free time traveling, kitesurfing/foiling, trying to break out of the beginner ranks of free diving and wing foiling, and playing in the ocean with his wife Kaya.
Kaya and Chris
Kaya and Chris met on a marine science job in Culebra, PR in 2015 and were soon spending every free moment together. After the job, Chris followed Kaya first around Puerto Rico, and then began visiting her between jobs. Conspiring with her sisters, Chris surprised Kaya during a family trip in Ireland when she finally agreed to be his girlfriend. They have since crossed the US via camper van, traveled to dozens of countries together, and lived in CA, FL, PR, and the USVI together. They have made a point of taking regional cooking classes as they have traveled the world, and take pride in being adventurous eaters. They are both passionate marine scientists with teaching experience at the university level, and love introducing their guests to the wonders of the ocean world. Kaya and Chris got married June 2024 in Culebra Island where they first met and honeymooned in Peru, Spain, Morocco, Korea, and Mongolia!
Waldo
Waldo is the true St. Thomas local of the crew. Born and rained in St. Thomas, Waldo is what locals refer to as a coconut retriever. He has lived most of his life aboard Physalia and is more used to life at sea than on land. The number one question we get asked is… Where does Waldo go to the bathroom? Believe it or not, Waldo has been trained to use astroturf in the crew’s bathroom which gets rinsed with soap every single day under the shower… That means, guests have never seen (nor smelled) any evidence of Waldo messes while on charter!! Waldo is also very proud of his repertoire of tricks. For a few treats, he would love to show you his spin, sit, down, bow, speak, high five, and more! Waldo’s ideal day is chasing a ball on the beach, having beach zoomies, playing with one of his stuffed animals (he has a lot of them), snuggling with Kaya on the hammock, and taking a long nap on the flying bridge.