ERIC LOSS AND SHANLEY MCENTEE – Shore Side Operations
Eric Loss and Shanley McEntee have been with Pangaea Exploration since 2012. They were the permanent crew on board until 2020, when they transitioned to terra firma to run the shore side operations of Pangaea. They have extensive sailing experience, both on and off Sea Dragon, having sailed 200,000NM between them. They know Sea Dragon well and support both current boat crew and guest crew with their understanding of life on board and all the facets of passage life. While on board, they sailed Sea Dragon through the Panama Canal, up the St. Lawrence Seaway to Chicago, and to the Baltic, the Caribbean, West Africa, Central America, and the Central and North Pacific. Shanley grew up surfing and swimming in the Pacific and throughout her youth, she worked with the Surfrider Foundation to protect California’s coastlines. She has a BA in Environmental Policy and Marine Science from Western Washington University. Her love and curiosity for the sea also extends underwater, where she is a PADI Rescue Diver. After college she learned to sail, combining her passion for science, the environment, and the sea by spending several months aboard Sea|Mester’s schooners Ocean Star and Argo. Soon after she earned her Ocean Yachtmaster license and the rest unfolded. Shanley is an Ocean Yachtmaster with commercial endorsement, USCG 100 ton master, PADI Rescue Diver, and holds her MCA Proficiency in Medical Care at Sea. Eric has sailed dinghies (raced CFJ’s, Larks, and C420’s), and taught sailing to children in many different settings. As a member of the Sea Scouts when he was young, Eric gained experience sailing and repairing cruising sailboats, 80’ to 130’ schooners, ketches, and brigs, locally and on several ocean crossings. He also earned the Sea Scout Quartermaster Award. After graduating from Bowdoin College, Eric became a PADI Divemaster while working for ActionQuest and Sea|Mester, developing his teaching skills as he progressed from running summer programs on 50’ yachts to skippering 88’ and 113’ schooners throughout the Eastern Caribbean and across the Atlantic. In 2011, Eric took a break from professional sailing to buy and refitOdyssey, an Islander 36, to attempt anon-stop solo circumnavigation. Eight months later, he returned to Los Angeles, having sailed past the Great Capes of the Southern Oceans and back up the Pacific to his home port. Eric is an Ocean Yachtmaster with commercial endorsement, USCG 100 ton master, PADI Divemaster, and holds his MCA Proficiency in Medical Care at Sea.
HOLLY VINT – CAPTAIN
Holly first started sailing at 19 on what she had thought was a “once-in-a-lifetime” passage from Plymouth, UK, to La Coruna, Spain with a youth sail training organization, but during the voyage she became totally invested in a life at sea. She volunteered for that charity for a few years before becoming a full-time sailor in 2015. Since then, she has worked for similar charities around the UK, all of which specialize in providing valuable experiences for vulnerable or disadvantaged young people, and also instructs adults on adventurous coastal and offshore trips anywhere from arctic Svalbard to the Caribbean – with some of the ocean crossings being undertaken by celestial navigation only. Holly has been fortunate enough to sail on Sea Dragon several times in the last 8 years: on eXXpedition voyages researching the prevalence of oceanic plastic pollution from Senegal to Guyana, in the Caribbean, and around Britain, and most recently across the Pacific from Mexico to Tahiti in 2023. Holly is a Yachtmaster Instructor, and holds Yachtmaster Ocean with commercial endorsement and Proficiency in Medical Care certificates. She has sailed 65,000+nm.
ABI DAVIES – FIRST MATE
Abi grew up in Dorset, UK and exhibited a passion for all things sport and outdoors early on, spending most non school time playing/competing in various sports or being outside along the SW Coastline. Having completed her BSc in Geophysics at the University of Liverpool and an MSc in Exploration Geophysics at the University of Leeds, she decided to join the RAF to seek more adventure. Initially joining as a Fighter Controller, she changed branches to become a Communications and Networks Engineer and has deployed on various operations and exercises, giving her a breadth of experience in different high stress environments. During her time in the RAF she has represented the service in volleyball, athletics, bobsleigh, waterskiing/ wakeboarding… and sailing, both racing and on expeditions. The most memorable expedition was sailing from Iceland to Greenland, having to navigate huge icebergs/shelves and experiencing midnight sunsets. In 2023 she sailed with Sea Dragon from Hawaii to Tahiti via Kiritimati, which was the final confirmation needed to pause the military and pursue life as a professional sailor. Abi holds a commercially endorsed YM Offshore ticket and MCA Medical First Aid qualification.
JANOS PETERS – DECKHAND
Having always been drawn to the outdoor world, Janos has spent much of his life sailing, travelling and in the mountains. Growing up near Glasgow in Scotland, the highlands and islands of the Scottish west coast were a playground from young age. After a few years of dinghy sailing, he was drawn to bigger boats and the sea. This led to spending time volunteering with Ocean Youth Trust Scotland, where he learned to sail Challenge 72’s and started gathering qualifications from the RYA. Whilst studying Geography with Environmental Studies at the University of Edinburgh, he used the long summer breaks for trips to explore the Norwegian mountains and to sail in the Baltic Tall Ships Races. After graduating in 2017 he embarked on a bigger adventure across the Atlantic, sailing from the Canaries to the Caribbean. Once ‘across the pond’ he travelled on to the US, where experiences in the Tetons and Yosemite have rekindled a passion for climbing and mountaineering. Having qualified as a Mountain Leader in the UK, he has worked seasonally as a hiking guide whilst completing a master’s degree in Sustainable Development at the Universities of Leipzig and Graz. After the Covid pandemic cut short a first stint aboard Sea Dragon in 2020, summer work aboard the Brixham trawler Provident was his sailing fix. Now he is excited to be back aboard Sea Dragon for the summer of 2024 in the Northern Atlantic!
DR. SPIKE BRIGGS, BSc, BM, FRCA – CHIEF MEDICAL ADVISOR
Spike serves as principal medical advisor to Pangaea Exploration. With the full MSOS team, he provides direct at-sea medical support to the Sea Dragon crew. He is a Consultant in Intensive Care Medicine and Anaesthesia in Poole, UK. He originally graduated with a degree in civil engineering and worked for ten years designing foundations for oil rigs, before returning to medical school. He has sailed all his life, including the Fastnet and racing around the world in 1996 as navigator. He is an instructor for advanced life support and advanced trauma life support courses, and he lectures at Southampton Medical School. He is an advisor, instructor, and examiner on medical aspects of yachting for the British Maritime and Coastguard Agency. Medical Support Offshore Limited (MSOS) was formed in 2006 by Dr. Spike Briggs, Dr Campbell Mackenzie, and Dr. Tommo Tomson. The aims of the company are to provide medical training, medical kits and telemedical support to the sailing community, which includes racing teams, adventure companies, and private individuals. The directors have very strong sailing backgrounds, and all have dealt with medical emergencies at sea, from the Solent to the Southern Ocean. This gives them valuable experience and authority when teaching sailors how to deal with life-threatening medical emergencies, and when giving advice over the telephone to sailing boats, far from help on the ocean.
