CAPTAIN Eric Warner & CHEF Madison Hite

Eric Warner

The ocean has always been a passion of mine, so I have designed a life on it! I bought my first boat with a close friend in 2016. Our Cantola 34’ was a trimaran that would race between my hometown of Santa Barbara and the one of a kind Santa Barbara Channel Islands National Park. Often ferrying surfboards, dive gear, and a dozen friends, we would take trips rain or shine to catch the best conditions at the islands. Naturally, this led to more boats and crewing local charters as part time work. Sharing the outdoors with others has always been easy with sailing, but to reach a larger audience I also spent years volunteering with outdoor education groups for kids and young adults. In 2020 I began phasing out of my job as a carpenter to pursue sailing further afield. After sailing a variety of yachts across oceans, for deliveries and for fun, I bought my second boat with the love of my life in 2022. Madison and I found our 42’ Albin Nimbus laid up in a boat yard in Nova Scotia, Canada. Our adventures took us down the East Coast and eventually offshore to the Lesser Antilles. 

I hold a USCG Masters License and, as a captain, I want to share the joys of sailing with others in a fun and safe environment. I am a waterperson and derive immense joy from diving, wing foiling, and sailing. Ashore, I check in to island time and love to eat my way across town and check out local events. I have a life off the boat too. Time on land is spent visiting family across the US, taking off on rock climbing/mountaineering excursions, and crafts like brewing, wood working, and music. I have sailed throughout the Eastern Caribbean, all the Hawaiian islands, and much of the Pacific Coast of North America. Of all the areas I have sailed, I have found the Virgin Islands to be absolutely idyllic. I would love to share them with you!

Madison Hite

My favorite way to get to know someone is over a shared meal. Growing up in the Midwest, my family communed over holidays and special events with big, good food as the centerpoint. Between sharing time in the kitchen with a large family and picking food fresh from the garden, food was a cornerstone of my upbringing.

When I moved to the West Coast at 18, I found myself naturally creating this wherever I landed. Initially, this looked like cooking for nanny clients and working with a holistic nutritionist serving pop-up dinners. Over time, as my career in management took me further from the kitchen, I started hosting themed dinners for friends, cooking my way through different cookbooks and cuisines that intrigued me. This led me to working for a catering company where I really got to hone my skills in a professional setting. While I loved the creativity and total immersion in food, I also wanted to feed my adventurous side…

Eric and I got a wild hare and decided it was time to pursue the dream of cruising full time. So we sold everything, bought a boat, and started sailing! We began in Nova Scotia, CA, sailing down the east coast of the US and then finally through the Caribbean down to Trinidad. Throughout this time, I had more space than ever to dive into my hobbies. While of course that largely meant walking through any grocery store or open air market I could find and tasting new things along the way, it also meant more time for play! Some of my favorite things outside of the galley are snorkeling, rock climbing, stand up paddle boarding, hiking, swimming, drawing, playing ukulele, tattooing, trying to wingfoil, and reading.

While this might make me sound busy (which I can be!), I also find few greater joys than tying a float out behind the boat, sipping a cocktail, and taking in the beauty of the places I get to call home. “Il dolce far niente”, which means the sweetness of doing nothing in Italian, is also such a beautiful part of being in stunning places with good company.

I look forward to sharing the magic of these islands with you and yours.