TWIN FLAME

Captain: Kieran Bown

Kieran & Michelle met back in 2012 in Mexico whilst working in the dive industry as instructors and photographers. Since then they have been on an unstoppable adventure that has taken them across the Caribbean, Americas, Europe & SE Asia.

They have now been in the charter industry for 5 years and are definitely enjoying their home in the British Virgin Islands. A country full of history and secrets that has allowed them to slowly discover more and more as their adventure continues.

Both Kieran & Michelle were led to the ocean by a passion for scuba diving and adventure, it is was this passion that formed the foundation for a life destined on the ocean. Being on boats has been an integral part of their lives since they were young and it was a natural progression to move on to running sailing yachts in the Caribbean.

Michelle is a trained chef, completing the Ashburton Chefs academy in 2017 to add to her extensive personal experience of working under an array of incredible Yacht & Restaurant Chefs. She also has dive instructor rating and is a qualified captain that thrives on deck.
Kieran is an accomplished diver as well as Captain. He enjoys most water sports and has a keen interest in marine life.

Following Irma & Maria in 2017, Kieran & Michelle spent 15 months living on Tortola rebuilding a hurricane damaged catamaran and returned it to the charter fleet. This was an invaluable experience for any charter crew rebuilding a yacht from the ground up and learning every aspect of the rebuild, repairs and upgrades along the way. Here they collectively developed a strong knowledge of Boat Building, Project Management and general Marine Engineering.

In addition to working on charter yachts, Kieran & Michelle’s other passion is adventure and photography. It is this combination that led to the birth of Panga Expedtions. For the past 6 years they have been travelling the world, capturing incredible footage from both above and below the surface and have been featured on countless National TV Channels/Online Media Oulets including Nat Geo, Discovery, Shark Week, GoPro & Google. Whilst enjoying brief sponsorships from GoPro, Light & Motion and other adventure sport companies to help capture incredible footage.

They’re now working on developing a worldwide itinerary that will include guided trips to participate in; Humpback Whales in water interactions, Tiger Shark Dives, Wakeboarding, Whitewater Kayaking, Mountain Biking whilst being filmed in 4K. This will be operated during the hurricane season and will allow them the opportunity to both charter and pursue their dream of running expeditions.

Gema Martínez, originally from Spain, is extremely devoted to sailing and boats life.
After crossing the Atlantic in 2017 in a 40 feet monohull with friends and sailing the whole Caribbean, she realised that giving other people the possibility to experience what living in the water is, would make her happy everyday. She is embodying this life and sharing what she loves the most!

Gema loves sports. Before coming to the Caribbean she lived in Norway for 6 years working as a kindergarten and school teacher. There she became proficient with snowboarding and cross-country skiing. Also lots of hikes up the mountains and biking. She was member of a mountaneering association. In Spain she played rugby during her university years, and now she is becoming a diver!

She believes that life is a learning experience, and as a former school teacher, she thrives on teaching guests new skills on the boat, in the water, and behind the tender.

Gema will happily teach you everything she knows about how to sail Twin Flame.

Kierna Brown Qualifications

RYA Sail Yachtmaster 
Offshore CE 200 
Tonnes 

MCA AEC 

RYA VHF 

STCW-95 

ENG-1 

PADI IDC Staff Inst. 

AIDA Level 2 

EFR Inst 


Michelle Preciado Qualifications

Certificate in Professional Cookery
Level 2 Award in Food Safety in Catering
PADI Open Water Instructor
STCW-95
RYA Competent Crew
RYA Day Skipper
ENG-1
RYA VHF Certified
DAN Insured
AIDA Level 2 (Freediving)
EFR Instructor

Gema Salar Qualifications

RYA DAY SKIPPER
RYA POWERBOAT LEVEL II
RESCUE DIVER PADI