Crew

Captain Jan Miles Captain Miles joined Pride, Inc. in 1981 and was one of three rotating Captains on the original Pride of Baltimore.  He is a tall ship master with more than 35 years of experience as a professional sailer, which includes five Atlantic Ocean crossing as well as three Pacific voyages of 5,000 miles, each taking about 25 days.  Captain Miles holds a USCG 500 Ocean Master License for Power and Sail, as well as numerous other certifications. Prior to joining Pride, Inc., Captain Miles serves as master or mate aboard 15 vessels, including Lady Maryland, Californian, Bill of Rights, New Way, Alexandria, Brillirant and Clearwater.  Along the way he also helped develop model saling programs for youth at risk. His accomplishments and contributions to the tall ship sailing profession have been recognized both within and outside of the maritime community. He was named Marylander of the Year by the Colonial Society of Maryland in 2001 and Sail Trainer of the Year by the American Sail Training Association (ASTA) in 2001.

Jamie Trost, Captain
Jamie Trost returns for a second season as partner Captain aboard Pride of Baltimore II. Captain Trost began sailing small boats at an early age, and has been working aboard and commanding traditional vessels for ten years. Captain Trost rejoins Pride II this spring, after spending early 2009 in California as Captain aboard the Privateer Lynx, a Melbourne Smith designed Baltimore Clipper built in 2001. No stranger to the Chesapeake Bay, he was Captain of the Schooner Sultana out of Chestertown, Maryland for nearly three years. He also served as master of the Schooners Denis Sullivan, Wendameen and Bagheera, and as mate of the Schooners Amistad and Inland Seas, and the Brig Niagara. Captain Trost holds a 200 Ton USCG Masters License and other certifications.

In addition to his maritime experience, Captain Trost has a Bachelors Degree in Creative Writing from the University of North Carolina at Wilmington, where he was Captain of the Crew team. His writing and photographs have been published in Time Asia, Sailing and Chesapeake Bay Magazine. He also speaks Japanese, having taught English in a small farming town of Bisei-Cho in Okayama Prefecture.

Matt Oates, First Mate
Matt Oates takes over as First Mate for the remainder of the 2009 Season, after starting the season as 2nd Mate. Prior to this season, Matt sailed with Pride II in 2006 on her tour of the east coast and the Great Lakes. During his time away from Pride II, Matt ventured to Europe and beyond, spending his time racing 19 meter Fife-built cutters in the Mediterranean and traveling the world. Matt spent the first few years of his sailing career aboard the Clearwater, Lynx, and Seaward, taking on varying roles including deckhand, bosun, engineer and educator. Matt holds a 100 Ton Inland Masters License, Near Coastal Mate, and is USCG AB Sail certified.

Emily Harwood, Second Mate
This fall we welcome back Emily Harwood to take over as Second Mate aboard Pride II. Since last sailing with Pride II in 2006, Emily has sailed aboard the Niagara and most recently served as Chief Mate aboard the Spirit of South Carolina. She began sailing as a youth, and has extensive experience aboard many vessels, and also includes teaching maritime history, nautical science, marine biology, and oceanography to both middle school and high school students. Emily has a B.A. in Geology from Colgate University., and has the medical certification of Wilderness First Responder.

Brendan Meagher, Engineer
Brendan remains on this fall as the Ship's Engineer. A native New Yorker, Brendan holds a degree in Literature from the State University of New York. He was aboard Pride II as engineer in 2007. Brendan has sailed on several traditional-rigged vessels for the past nine years, getting his start as a volunteer on the HMS Rose. He has also sailed aboard the Pioneer, Adirondack, Surprise, and most recently, Spirit of South Carolina. Brendan has served as engineer, senior deckhand, winter maintenance crew and as an experiential educator, teaching teambuilding, sailing and boatbuilding skills to urban youth. Brendan has certifications as STCW Lifeboatman, CPR for Professional Rescuer, and Wilderness First Responder.

Robert Lampe, Cook
Robert is no stranger to Pride of Baltimore II, as practically every member of his family has sailed aboard the ship at some point in their life. In 2007, Robert had a month long stint as relief cook aboard the ship. He joins the ship in 2009 for the first half of the sailing season. He has been in the food industry for fourteen years, most recently as the head baker for an Artisan Bread Bakery. He is looking forward to visiting each of the ports on this year's Itinerary. As for sailing aboard Pride II, Robert says it's in his blood and he couldn't get Pride II out of his life if he tried.

Allison Taylor, Bosun
Allison joins Pride II as the Bosun for the first half of the 2009 sailing season. Over the past 3 years, she has gained extensive experience aboard a variety of vessels including the Liberty Clipper, Denis Sullivan, Geronimo, and Sea Cloud II. She has held a number of positions with responsibilities including mate/educator and deckhand. Through her travels, Allison has completed five coastwise deliveries along the east coast, one open ocean transit and a Transatlantic Crossing. She is drawn to working on traditionally-rigged vessels and is passionate about continuing the tradition of tall ships, promoting maritime heritage, and encouraging youth education. Allison earned a B.A. from Colgate University and also holds a 100 Ton Near Coastal Master license.

Keith Barkwood, Deckhand
Keith rejoins Pride II for another tour as a deckhand. He first sailed with Pride II during the 2008 fall season. Keith is USCG certified Able Bodied Seaman and has studied navigation. Prior to joining the crew last year, Keith spent the past few years working on Prince William Sound in Alaska. Keith grew up sailing recreationally. He entered the maritime industry because of his love for sailing.

Jeff Crosby, Deckhand
Jeff has been part of Pride II's crew since the fall of 2008. When the season ended he stayed on with the ship to work as one of the winter crew, rolled right into the Spring up-rig and is eager to be sailing as part of the crew as she travels up and down the east Coast. Jeff is a native of Duluth, MN, where he spent his youth sailing and racing. Jeff is a graduate of the Landings School of Boatbuilding and Design in Maine and spent several years restoring and repairing boats, including hull restoration, woodworking and rigging.

Elizabeth Foretek, Deckhand
Elizabeth first joined Pride II's crew in 2007 for the East Coast tour. She has been working aboard sailing ships for the past five years. Her initial interest in sailing began when she served as a volunteer aboard Gazela Primeiro in Philadelphia. Elizabeth has also worked on Northwind, Niagara, Hawaiian Chieftain, Lynx, and Spirit of South Carolina, as well as vessels in Mystic Seaport. She enjoys working with different crew and volunteers and teaching students about both the present-day and historical maritime industry. Elizabeth earned a B.S. in Marine Biology from the College of Charleston.

Sarah Herard, Deckhand
After spending the winter helping with repairs and maintenance on Pride II, Sarah is staying aboard as a deckhand for the first half of the sailing season. A native of Michigan, Sarah grew up sailing on Lake Huron. During college she took up traditional sailing, and for the past three years has worked full time on a variety of vessels, including Spirit of South Carolina, Highlander Sea, Quinnipack, Corwith Cramer and Lettie G. Howard. Sarah holds a 100 Ton Inland Waters Masters Certification, a 200-Ton Near Coastal Waters Master Certification and AB Sail. She earned a B.A. in Sociology from the University of Michigan.

Louise Ruffle, Deckhand
Louise jumped aboard Pride II in Charleston, SC. A native of Belfast, Ireland, Louise got her start on the water sailing and racing dinghies before she got hooked on tall ships. She has sailed aboard the Replica of Captain James Cook's Endeavour, Silvery Light, Jolie Brise, as well as various racing yachts. Louise attended Bristol University, where she earned a degree in Classical Studies.

Amelia Smith, Deckhand
Amelia joins Pride II for the remainder of the 2009 season, after sailing aboard the ship earlier this year on the voyage from Jacksonville to Bermuda. She also sailed aboard Pride II in 2005, as a trainee crew for several legs of the European tour. As an ASTA intern this past summer, Amelia sailed joined the crew of the Virginia to Charleston to Norfolk and then hopped aboard the HMS Bounty for the Transatlantic crossing from Halifax back to Europe. She has also sailed aboard the Sultana and Prince William. Born in Michigan, Amelia now calls Maryland home.