Crew Profiles:
MEET THE 2023/2024 CREW:

Captain Luke

I am Luke Nienaber a born and bred South African. I was born in the interior of South Africa before moving to the coastal town of Port Elizabeth also known as the Windy City where my love for the ocean and all its wonders began.

From a young age I enjoyed using the force of wind as a form of play, from flying all sorts of kites to propelling myself on a skate board with a homemade sail. I have always been an adventurous and thrill seeking person, with a passion for meaningful social interaction and taking in all that life has to offer.

My sailing journey although starting late at the age of 19 was what put all that I enjoyed into one place. After completing my sailing Yachtmaster Offshore and many other qualifications flyby the end of 2021, I made my way to Antibes, France on the search for my first job in the yachting industry. Three weeks later through hard work and dedication, I was offered the position of sole crew member including the role of captain on a Nautitech 54ft sailing Catamaran. This is where I spent 6 months onboard sailing the entirety of the Croatian Coastline and 2 months cruising through the waterways in and around Venice, Italy.

After returning home early this year, I was fortunate to be given the opportunity to take part in the delivery of a Knysna, South Africa built 44ft catamaran from Cape Town, South Africa to Greneda at the bottom of the Caribbean chain. This took a total of 49 days on the ocean and 5833 nautical miles, a truly remarkable experience.

Now I have the pleasure of using all that I have learnt sailing as well as my exposure to many different cultures and people to give you an adventure filled experience that you will never forget.


Chef/First Mate Eddie

Your chef, Eddie, is 31 years old and is originally from Philadelphia. He grew up playing football and playing music in bands with his friends. Eddie has always been very social and is able to relate to almost anyone that he meets. He went to university to study modern music production, but then unexpectedly fell in love with cooking and decided to give the his culinary career a go. Since he was 20 years old Eddie has been cooking in fine dining atmospheres. When he was 26, he was apart of the chef team at Vernick Food & Drink, and while he worked there, their team was awarded the Best Chef James Beard award in 2017. After that, he moved to the Fort Lauderdale area where he was introduced to the Yachting industry. Soon after, Eddie began his dream job of cooking on charter catamarans in the US Virgin Islands. Eddie really values a hard work ethic and being able to work in the beautiful Caribbean islands inspires him daily. He plans to one day achieve his commercial Captain's license and to be able to travel and work all over the world. In his free time, Eddie loves exercising, playing guitar, singing (especially karaoke!), free diving, snorkeling, spear fishing and line fishing, and making connections with everyone he meets.


Luke and Eddie look forward to welcoming you aboard Galaxsea!