David Harmer-Brown

I started working with Boatshed Trinidad in September 2022.

What did you do before working with Boatshed?
In 1988, along with my mother and father, we sold all our worldly possessions in the UK and built a 55ft steel ketch, Kaelia in Grimsby Fish Docks, quite an experience in itself. The idea was to sail around the world making our way financially as we went, as none of us had any reserves! I worked in the North Sea in commercial fishing and then also Safety Standby to the Oil and Gas Industry, to keep us "afloat" financially in the construction days, and in between helping build the boat on my months off. In the summer of 1991 with the boat 80% complete we made the decision to leave the UK on our venture, now or never. We departed and took the traditional route across the Biscay, down to the Algarve, Canaries and across the pond/Atlantic to Antigua. In Antigua my folks set up a business in Nelsons Dockyard called Dockyard Electrics.
I went to work on Superyachts for a period and then on to smaller sailboats as a charter captain in the Caribbean through to New England.
In 1994 I arrived in Trinidad & Tobago to perform a refit on a yacht that I was captain of. I fell in love with Trinidad and Tobago and advised my folks that business wise they would be wiser to come to Trinidad. So said, they arrived in Trinidad and set up Dockyard Electrics here. My father retired some years ago and I have taken the company from a small boat electrical company, to a satellite communications provider, a function we still perform today.

What is your most memorable boating experience?
My most memorable experience on our yacht Kaelia, was whilst crossing the Bay of Biscay in absolute flat calm. The sea was like a pond and suddenly from astern came a pod of dolphins, they were making the most incredible bio luminescent streaks as they darted through the pitch black water, what a sight! On the same trip and the same night a submarine decided to surface and take a peek at us, I looked around one minute to see a stack of lights of our aft starboard quarter. Inspection of the chart revealed that it was indeed a submarine exercise zone!

What attracted you to become part of the Boatshed team?
During the process of listing my own boat I came to the realisation that there are no decent yacht brokerage companies in Trinidad & Tobago. So, I set about finding the best one to list my own vessel on. That lead me straight to the doors of Boatshed and the realisation that not only could I list my own boat with them but I could actually partner them. I can't say enough positive about the operation and I look forward immensely to introducing Boatshed Trinidad to the region and the world.

Are you a motorboater or a sailor?
I am a sailor who currently owns a motorboat!