Your Crew
CAPTAIN Grant Surtees & CHEF Ulrika Fredrikson
Captain Grant Surtees
Born and raised in Durban, on the east coast of South Africa, Grant lived around the water and mountains experiencing all aspects of the outdoors while growing up. Family vacations and weekends were spent taking part in water sports, fishing and riding off-road motorcycles.
Looking for opportunity elsewhere, he gravitated towards yachting. Having a strong background with water sports and boats he found no difficulty adapting to the new lifestyle which began in the South of France working on super yachts. He then made the move to the BVI working on catamarans and realized that the interactions with guests and being apart of something bigger, someone’s happiness and memorable moments was really what drove him.
Outside of yachting, Grant's other passions are kitesurfing, water skiing, wakeboarding, fishing and golf. He looks forward to sharing those activities and stories with guests.
Chef / First Mate Ulrika Fredrikson
Ulrika was born in the northern part of Finland. As a child she would often go sailing with a family friend and was always fascinated by the sea. Every summer Ulrika spent months in the Swedish archipelago at her grandmother's villa. Her grandmother grew everything herself: a variety of different food crops, vegetables, herbs, fruit and berries. Her grandmother hosted countless beautiful family feasts that brought the whole family together outdoors in her beautiful garden. Her grandmother’s cooking and lifestyle built the foundation to Ulrika's interest in food and cooking at a young age.
While Ulrika was in high school, she went on an exchange year in Thailand where she spent the year living with a local family and learning about the culture and the language. During her time in Thailand she also fell in love with the local cuisine. Ulrika soon realized how much she loved traveling and exploring new places, cultures and cuisines. A lot of Ulrika’s cooking takes influences from Asian cuisines.
A few years later she got accepted into one of the world's top ranking art universities in Helsinki, Finland to study product design. During these years she would often find herself catering for events, exhibitions and vernissages and always dreaming of and planning the next adventure. She moved to Stockholm, Sweden and ended up working in tech for some years. She longed for a change and decided to pick up her sailing skills and took a sailing course in Tenerife. After rediscovering her childhood dreams of sailing and falling in love with the sea all over again she decided to take a close friend's advice and combine her love for the sea and cooking.
Team
Grant and Ulrika met in the Bahamas while working on a yacht and Grant quickly swept her off her feet while sweeping the floors around her. Grant and Ulrika have teamed up and enjoyed experiencing the sweeter things of life while creating unforgettable memories for their guests. They have quickly become an inseparable team and a well oiled machine, working together seamlessly. They are excited to be on a journey together and looking forward to welcoming guests aboard Unwavering.
Awards:
Best in Show (under 53”) at the 2023 CYS Fall Charter Yacht Show onboard Unwavering
