Thursday, October 30, 2014, saw The International SeaKeepers Society play a host to their annual Founders’ Dinner. The event honored vessels that participated in the 2014 DISCOVERY Yacht expeditions, SeaKeepers Drifter deployments, as well as outreach programs.
SeaKeepers Founders Dinner 2014 Honoring Discovery Yacht Members - Photo by MagicalPhotos.com/Mitchell Zachs
Founders’ Dinner took place at the waterfront residence of Founders’ Dinner Chairs, Tom and Katia Bates, in Fort Lauderdale on the opening night of the Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show. Michael T. Moore, Chairman of the Board of SeaKeepers and Richard Snow, President and CEO of SeaKeepers awarded 2014 DISCOVERY Yachts Copasetic, Defiance, Fugitive, LoJo, Meduse, Penny Mae, Shredder of Fleet Miami, and Valkyrie yacht for their generous contribution to DISCOVERY Yacht missions.
This year, SeaKeepers facilitated three scientific expeditions, four outreach programs, and had five SeaKeepers Drifters deployed. Motor yacht Copasetic hosted a genome sequencing expedition and housed a custom-made at-sea mobile laboratory. Charter yacht Penny Mae hosted a week-long tiger shark tagging expedition with assistance from LoJo. Fleet Miami’s Shredder hosted a three-day expedition monitoring the behaviors of various designs of ocean drifters.
Claudia Potamkin, Michael Moore, Sandra Yawn and Richard Snow - Photo by MagicalPhotos.com/Mitchell Zachs
Five SeaKeepers Drifters were deployed thanks to charter yacht Defiance, Fugitive, superyacht Meduse, and Valkyrie.
Defiance hosted two educational outreach programs this year: a drifter deployment with school children in Bimini, Bahamas and a lesson on ocean conservation with children from the Boys & Girls Clubs of Newport County in Newport, Rhode Island. Shredder introduced youth of the Miami-based organization StreetWaves to ocean currents, drifter instrumentation and oil spill research. Copasetic led an outreach program teaching children about microscopic organisms and conducted a tour of the genome sequencing lab.
Founders’ Dinner guests viewed a video highlighting the 2014 DISCOVERY Yacht missions and had the opportunity to board Shredder, which was docked at the venue. A silent auction, featuring items from sailing experiences to vacation getaways, took place during the event.
Glen Allen, Tom Heyer, Kathy Kennedy and Richard Snow - Photo by MagicalPhotos.com/Mitchell Zachs
SeaKeepers received support from their generous event sponsors; Bentley Motors, Bradford Marine, Data-Dynamix Inc., Anything on the Water, Fleet Miami, IsoTropic Networks Inc., Florida Luxurious Properties, Bulgari, Merrill Lynch Miller, Broich & Associates, University of Miami Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science & Source Water, Christofle, Kalla, Edrington, Russian Standard, Cuba Tobacco Cigar Company, and Denison Super Yacht Division. Innovative Creations Interior Design, and media sponsors Yachts International & South Florida Luxury Guide.
