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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Emily Beckett
Chief Mate
Emily Beckett is the embodiment of sea warrior and state-woman. Emily is back on board for her seventh season after wintering high up in the Rockies, and she brings her theatrical flair to the songs and running of the Tole Mour. She has crossed the equator, plowed the shallow waters of the Long Island Sound and even surfed the rocky reefs of the outer island around California.
All hands to the halyards!
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| Scott Beckett
Instructor / Deckhand
Scott Beckett is a waterman from the days of old. Schooled in physics and geology, he has traded in his abacus and slide rule for a snorkel and marlinspike. Surfer, spear-fisher and former Program Director, he is back to fill in as instructor. Faced into the wind, and eyes on the horizon, look for him aloft singin’ out, “Whales to the port!”
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Mary "Mad Dog" Ichniowski
Instructor / Deckhand
Mary “Mad Dog” Ichniowski grew up in Silver Spring, Maryland and attended St. Mary’s College of Maryland, where she received a degree in Biology. Mary made her way to CIMI in 2006 and worked at Toyon Bay for seven seasons. For the last two summers, Mary sailed to warmer water, working as a program director for Sail Caribbean, cruising around the British Virgin Islands. She loves SCUBA, nudibranchs, spinning fire and orders a grilled cheese animal style from In and Out.
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Holly Couling
Instructor / Deckhand
Holly Couling is a California transplant from Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. She has five siblings and feels perfectly at home in the hard-working community lifestyle aboard tall ships. She started sailing tall ships after graduating from Humboldt State University in Northern California, and has been working in outdoor education for eight years. She loves ballet, Jane Austen novels, and California sea hares.
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Robert Mizer
Chief Engineer
Rob is originally from Washington State, but spent most of his youth in California. A long-time lover of the water, he was SCUBA certified by age 11 and was an instructor at 18. He enjoys many other water sports, including frozen water sports, having been a downhill ski racer as well. He got his start sailing tall ships on the brig Lady Washington. After sailing on various tall ships for six years and completing the Transpac aboard the schooner Lynx in 2009, he has now found a home onboard the Tole Mour. He is looking forward with great excitement to exploring the Channel Islands while here. Oh, and by the way, he loves Disneyland!
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Jackson Dowd
Instructor/Deckhand
Jackson Dowd hails from North Carolina where he was born. Jackson first became enamored of the sea on a Boy Scout trip to the Bahamas, and has carried that memory with him to this day. When considering higher education he decided that a life of adventure was his goal and so pursued and received his degree in Wilderness Leadership and Experiential Education from Brevard College. Jackson loves surfing, rock climbing, whitewater kayaking and sailing. His goals for the season include honing his sailing skills and giving his students a love of the ocean.
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| Laura Nelson
Instructor/Deckhand
Laura Nelson is originally from Hinsdale, Illinois and graduated from Dartmouth College in 2005 with a degree in biology. She has been working on educational tall ships for the past three and a half years and sailed on both coasts for the Sea Education Association, Call of the Sea, and Soundwaters. She is very excited to be working on the Tole Mour and to have the chance to play in the water and then go sailing all in one day. When not on big boats she enjoys sailing on small boats and other aquatic pursuits like swimming and water skiing. She also is a big fan of camps, the Midwest, and strawberry rhubarb pie.
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Forest Reeves
Bosun's Mate / Second Engineer
Hailing from the great seafaring city of Newport, Washington, Forest Reeves' attention was caught by tall ships at the age of fifteen, and he’s been pursuing them ever since. He has had a ravenous thirst to expand his sailing knowledge and ability ever since a family friend who was captain of the Brig Lady Washington invited him on board. Forest looks forward to the rest of his time on the Tole Mour whether sailing, sewing sails or working on her engines. Forest's other diverse interests include activities such as hunting, hiking, fishing (spear and rod and reel), skateboarding, skurfing and surfing. He can’t wait to meet you on the Tole Mour!
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Deckhand
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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