Mark Waddington (aka "Snark")
Director / Captain
Mark first came to work for the Guided Discoveries family in 1994 as a sailing instructor at Catalina Sea Camp during his summers off from college. Once out of college he began working at CIMI at Toyon Bay. After satisfying some wanderlust, he came back to assist in the CTSE program aboard SSV TOLE MOUR in 2001. He has served as a Dive Master, deckhand/instructor, 2nd Mate, 1st Mate and Captain aboard the TOLE MOUR and a variety of other vessels around the country. He became Director of CIMI Tall Ship Expeditions (CTSE) in 2005 and hasn't looked back. He also serves as Captain.
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Kristina Barber (aka "Barber")
Program Director
Barber grew up in Maine. She started sailing as a student with Ocean Classroom Foundation where she formed a passion for experiential ocean education. She sailed as a deckhand on the Maine Windjammer, the Mary Day and as an educator aboard New Jersey’s A.J. Meerwald before finding her home on the Tole Mour. Barber has put her degrees in marine conservation and education to good use here on the Tole Mour, sailing in a variety of positions including Summer Counselor, Instructor, Deckhand, Medical Officer, and now as Program Director. Barber’s favorite Channel Islands organisms include the Two Spot Octopus, the California Sea Hare, the Horn Shark, and the Spiny Brittle Star. If she could be a member of any Phylum she would want to be an Echinoderm so that she could have mutable connective tissue.
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Pat started sailing with kids as a tall ship volunteer in 1997 on the schooner Californian, then based out of Long Beach. Soon after, he also began volunteering every weekend on the schooners Bill of Rights, Swift of Ipswich, and the Pilgrim of Newport. In 2003 he left the corporate world and has been at sea or in a maritime classroom ever since. He has sailed as mate and captain on the brigantines Irving Johnson and Exy Johnson, and has been a mate on the four-masted barque Sea Cloud. Pat joined the Tole Mour in January. He is a graduate of the University of Connecticut and Indiana University.
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Heidi is the cleanest 2nd Mate/Bosun to ever work on a tall ship, as her superpower is repelling grime. She was born and raised in Vermont where she spent her summers playing in the waters of Lake Champlain. She went to several colleges and finally graduated from the University of Vermont. While in college she studied abroad with Sea Education Association and became hooked on tall ships. Heidi has sailed on the Corwith Cramer, Robert C. Seamans, and SoundWaters before making her way as an instructor to the Tole Mour in the fall of ’08. She loves her two dogs and sea hares in general.
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Michael MacGregor
Chief Engineer
Michael MacGregor was born and raised in Loch Lomond, Scotland. He developed his love for the sea aboard his uncle's fishing boats, and sailed with both his father and his grandfather all around Europe. When he was sixteen he left his homeland for America to attend Penn State University where he received degrees in history and physics. Micheal then joined the U.S. Navy and served as an Engineering Officer aboard nuclear fast attack submarines. During this time he would take every opportunity while on leave to work aboard tall ships. Thus far, he has worked on 10 tall ships in America. Micheal has been chief engineer aboard ships now for 10 years and has taught high school. “I really enjoy this program and am amazed at the joy and learning that takes place every day aboard the Tole Mour.”
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Jennifer Grod
Second Deckineer
Jen grew up in a sunny southern California valley and enjoyed studying at rainy Humboldt State University, graduating with a major in Physical Geography and 3 minors in SCUBA diving earning her a NAUI Divemaster certification. An avid diver and traveler, Jen volunteered with Planetary Coral Reef Foundation where she sailed to remote islands researching the health of the worlds’ coral reef ecosystems. Since finding the Tole Mour in 2007 she is still excited for every opportunity to instill love and respect for everything ocean, especially in our next generation.
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| Dai Mar Tamarack
Instructor/Deckhand
Born and raised in Savannah, GA, Dai Mar was lured to the Tole Mour with the promise of grits every morning. After studying marine biology at the University of GA and University of Hawaii at Hilo he spent four years working and traveling the world, eventually finding his home at the Catalina Island Marine Institute at Toyon Bay. After two and half years at Toyon the call of adventure on the high seas was too powerful and he made the move out to the Tole Mour.
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Ben Eisenstein (aka "Ben-Jammin'")
Instructor / Deckhand
Ben grew up in Wilmington, NC and developed a love for the ocean at an early age. He spent much of his youth in the ocean either surfing, canoeing, diving, or just hanging out at the beach. This passion for the water inspired him to study ecology and environmental biology at Appalachian State University. After graduating he moved to the Florida Keys and worked as a marine science instructor at the Newfound Harbor Marine Institute. A year later he discovered the Catalina Island Marine Institute and has been working at Toyon Bay ever since. An avid waterman, he just couldn’t pass the opportunity to sail and teach this summer aboard the Tole Mour.
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Lara Gaasland-Tatro
Instructor / Deckhand
Lara started working on sailboats from a young age when she was given some sandpaper and sent into the crawlspaces of a boat as a toddler. Growing up in Washington State her family had a rule that they would only go sailing when there were whitecaps. By the age of five, Lara could spot a whitecap a mile off. At 13, she went out on the Schooner Adventuress for a week and decided that someday she would be real crew on a tall ship. Her love for the ocean stayed with Lara as she grew up and studied biology and ecology at Grinnell College and earned a Masters Degree in Environmental Education. She is now a professional schooner bum and has sailed tall ships all around the US, including schooners Adventuress, Roseway, Liberty Clipper and the environmental education flagship the Sloop Clearwater. Oh, and she makes cool stuff, like wood carvings and knives.
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Morgan Miller
Instructor / Deckhand
Morgan was raised in Maine, and she loved the ocean so much she decided to get a degree in marine biology. She graduated from Maine Maritime Academy this past spring getting her B.S. in marine biology. Also, she is going back to school for an extra year to get her 200 ton license. Not only does she love the ocean but she also loves working with children. She spent countless summers teaching basketball to children and became instructor for adventure camps in the education department at SeaWorld in Orlando, Fl. She wants to combine fun, hands on experiences, and knowledge to help educate the public. She believes that the Tole Mour and the crew are the coolest bunch ever, and she recommends this experience for everyone.
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Dan Tucker (aka "Dan-O")
Instructor / Deckhand
“Dan-o” grew up in a small town in North Carolina and decided to move west. After graduating from the University of Advancing Technology in Tempe, Arizona, with a B. A. in Multimedia Arts, he kept going west until he ran into the Pacific ocean and started sailing. He’s got three years of tall ship sailing behind him, in the offshore waters of Southern California, as well as the Coral Sea between Australia, Fiji and Vanuatu. In his spare time, he plays the pennywhistle, eats chocolate chip cookies, and catches up on his summer reading. He hopes to give the students onboard the same confidence that he gained in summer camp, many years ago.
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Sean was born and raised in the town of La Verne, California and is a recent ’09 graduate of the University of California, at Irvine with a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science and minors in history and criminology. Sean was also a one-time sailor aboard the Tole Mour back in 2003 and knew right away that sailing was in his future. Along with staffing on the Tole Mour, he has also been a lifeguard and counselor for the Cherry Cove Cub Scout Camp on Catalina Island. Aside from setting and striking the sails, Sean also plays the bass guitar, is an avid LA Angels and Denver Broncos fan, and wants to be an American ambassador living in the Middle East in the coming years.
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Alyssa was raised in Arizona. She attends college at the University of Arizona and is majoring in Spanish. Her true calling is to be a tall ship sailor, which is why she has come back to the Tole Mour for the past six summers. She was a student aboard the Tole Mour for five years and has come back for more great sailing in southern California. She enjoys playing Ultimate Frisbee and eating Korean food.
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Nick Parks
Chef
Nick Parks hails from the East Coast. He comes from a family of watermen and was raised on Virginia’s eastern shore where they plied the waters of the Chesapeake Bay in their “bay built” boats. He has had a colorful history and has worn many hats in his past. He has been everything from a Senior Designer for United States Navy to a sushi chef. He has been on the Tole Mour for five seasons and is loved by everyone! He has commented that the Tole Mour has ruined him so that he will never be able to work in land based restaurants again.
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