New to Sailing | Based in Panama | Looking for Adventure & Long Passages
Hi! I’m Shaker, 31, originally from Syria, now a Norwegian citizen and currently based in Panama.
I’ve lived a pretty international life and have travelled, worked and lived in different parts of the world, including Italy, Jordan, Costa Rica, Mexico, Argentina and Panama. I speak Arabic, Norwegian and English fluently, as well as Spanish.
Professionally, my background is quite varied. I’ve worked at the Norwegian Embassy in Jordan, with NGOs and media, and I currently work remotely, including as an Arabic–Norwegian interpreter. I’m also a certified personal trainer and massage therapist and have worked with massage and wellness here in Panama.
I’m new to sailing, but learning to sail and experiencing life at sea has been a dream of mine for a long time. My previous experience at sea is unusual: years ago, during my journey as a refugee, I crossed the Mediterranean by boat from Egypt to Italy. I don’t consider that sailing experience in the technical sense, but it did mean spending a long time at sea under extremely difficult conditions. Now I’d love to experience the ocean in a completely different way — learning seamanship properly, becoming useful aboard and eventually being capable of joining longer passages.
I’m happy to start as volunteer crew and learn from someone experienced. I’m fit and healthy, practical, tidy and very willing to help with whatever needs doing. I genuinely enjoy cooking and preparing good food, cleaning and keeping a shared space organized. I can also contribute my skills in massage, fitness, languages, communications/social media and remote work where useful.
I’m particularly interested in longer adventures rather than just a day or two of sailing — Panama, the Caribbean, Central/South America and eventually longer ocean passages would all interest me. I’m flexible about where an adventure might lead.
Personality and atmosphere onboard matter to me. I’m a gay man and would love to sail with open-minded, LGBTQ-friendly people where everyone can simply be themselves. I’m interested in meeting kind, adventurous people from different backgrounds, learning from them and hopefully becoming a valuable member of the crew.
I’m currently in Panama and ready to start learning. ⛵
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