| Your crew are all fantastic!!! They certainly exude BC hospitality and charm. |
| Liz Howard, Fraser Yachts |
The Crew
Your crew of 5-6 looks forward to welcoming you with exceptional service:
Owner ~ Captain Colin Griffinson
His love of the water started with his Irish heritage and childhood in DunLaoighre Harbour in Dublin, Ireland. From his early fishing experience in the North and Irish seas to his first 72-foot seiner, Colin is passionate about boats. When he is not involved in the running his business concerns in Vancouver, Colin can often be found aboard this special boat.
Executive Chef ~ Milan kocourek
Milan was born in Brno, the second largest city in the Czech Republic, in 1978. 18 years later he began his professional cooking career in Ottawa, Canada . In 2002, he packed up and moved to Vancouver in search of extreme sports and the ultimate in culinary education. He began by working at Bacchus in the Wedgewood Hotel, owned by the leading luxury hotel and dining moguls Relais and Chateaux. Still looking for the best in culinary experiences Vancouver had to offer, he began working for well-known chef Rob Feenie at the award winning Lumiere, which became the first independent restaurant to be listed under Relais and Chateaux’s properties. After several years in Vancouver, Milan couldn’t avoid BC’s sports mecca any longer and moved to the internationally acclaimed Whistler Mountain to both carve his path on the slopes and sharpen his culinary skills as the executive sous-chef of Araxi, voted best restaurant in Whislter several years running. Now that he has experienced everything the city and the mountain have to offer there was only one place left to expand his culinary knowledge, the open ocean. He now joins the Pacific Yellowfin team as our creative executive chef where he delights in fresh ample seafood, ever growing island organic markets and our fabulous guests from around the world allowing him to be always learning, always growing and always creating new culinary delights. Visit our menu page to see a sample of Milan’s 2009 summer menu. Chief Steward ~ Jenevieve LeBlanc
Jenevieve LeBlanc is a native of Quebec and has spent all of her college years studying in the beautiful city of Montreal. While completing her diploma in International Human Studies she traveled to China to teach French to elementary students. After, she traveled to Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore.While in Asia, she realized that English really was an important international language to have. Upon completing her diploma she moved the Lake Louise Alberta, not knowing any English but determined on becoming fluent. She immediately fell in love with the Rocky Mountains and took a job at the Fairmont Chateau in Lake Louise which allowed her enough time to learn how to rock climb. This became her first high end fine dining experience. Realizing that the more she moved westward the more prestigious the food became she packed her bags and moved to Whistler, BC. While in Whistler she worked alongside some of BC’s most prestigious chef’s, including gold medal winner Melissa Craig.
Jen now spends her time working fulltime on board the Pacific Yellowfin in the summer season and snowboarding Whistler’s internationally acclaimed slopes in the winter. She is a delightful, energetic, and friendly addition the Pacific Yellowfin team and we have heard nothing but rave reviews from our guests about her. You can’t even tell that 3 years ago she didn’t understand or speak a word of English.
She is currently working on becoming a sommelier and is hoping to return to school for International Hospitality Management.
Mate ~ Liam Johnston
Liam Johnston is a BC Native, having grown up on the beautiful Salt Spring Island. Throughout his life he has been an active member in all sea going activities, spending his summers in sailing camps and kayaking trips to the Queen Charlottes and the Broken Group. During High School, Liam raced with a local sailing team and trained with the Coast Guard Auxiliary. Through all of this he still managed to graduate early. This allowed him to join the Pacific Grace, a 138’ Gaff rigged schooner to sail from Japan to Hawaii. He then hopped on a plane to join the Pacific Yellowfin for three more months of ocean cruising. Fall 2008 will see him sailing from the North Atlantic south along the coast of Africa and across to Brazil aboard the Fryderyk Chopin, a 185’ double masted, square rigged sailboat, as part of a university sail training program. Upon completion in the spring of ‘09, he will join the crew of the Pacific Yellowfin before returning to school again in the fall. Liam Johnston’s young energy and unquenchable thirst for everything ocean going has made him an incredible asset to the Pacific Yellowfin team. 
Chief Engineer ~ Jack Dixon
With just a little prompting, Jack Dixon can tell fascinating stories from his many years of maritime experience aboard coastal freighters and tankers along the BC coast. His dry sense of humor is also a welcome addition.
Deck hand - Sam Field
Sam Field grew up down under in Sydney, Australia. After finishing high school in 2006, Sam spent some time working as a mechanic. Realizing that his thirst for exploration wasn’t satisfied, he booked a trip around the world with two of his mates from home. Sam lived on the water his whole life and spent a lot of time surfing the gigantic waves of Australia’s Island coast as well as casually getting familiar with working on boats. Therefore coming to Vancouver, one of the most beautiful city ports of the world was a natural choice of destination. On top of delivering exceptional service, Sam will be more than happy to give you a few wake board lessons.