Meet the Crew
Pierre Caouette
Captain
Pierre started both sailing and flying at an early age, and he earned his sailing stripes as a member of the Canadian Olympic sailing team in the 1980’s. Pierre is an experienced captain, not just on boats but as a commercial airline pilot on Airbus jets for Air Canada, and before that he flew Lear Jets around the world. Pierre is an entrepreneur having founded 4 companies including a clean technology company in the marine field. Some of electric propulsion systems that he developed hold world records for speed and/or efficiency and he continues to consult in the field. Previously, he was co-founder of a biotechnology company with his wife Lisa. Prior to that, Pierre founded a company specialized in computer operating systems. Pierre’s background is in computer systems, electrical and mechanical engineering, and he can fix just about anything. From his first round-the-world with his wife Lisa, and over a dozen Atlantic crossing (many races) he is pretty good a fixing boat systems when needed!
Tiller
Crew
Our little dog Tiller loves adventure and living on the boat! Tiller is an Australian Labradoodle and is quite the traveler. She was born in Boston and as a puppy she visited Florida to learn to swim. When 5 months old she flew with us to France to move aboard BioTrek. She loves to explore new places, especially where there is a white sand beach. At sea she chills out and gets special treats, such as home-made chicken broth to keep her hydrated. While she finds ocean crossing a bit long, she is always excited to visit new destinations. Tiller, like her parents, is a tropical girl and likes to swim to cool off.
Lisa McKerracher
First Mate
Lisa is a neuroscientist and sailor. She grew up with boats at an island cottage on Stoney Lake, Ontario and purchased her first keel boat in 1998, a Mirage 24 which she sailed near Montreal on the St. Lawrence river. After meeting Pierre, she graduated to ocean sailing and catamarans and together they completed a circumnavigation 2005-2007. In addition to sailing, Lisa is a scientist and serial entrepreneur who has dedicated her career to developing drugs to treat serious neurological conditions. She spent 15 years as a university professor with an active academic research program, and received multiple awards, including the Christopher Reeve Medal, before leaving a tenured faculty position for leadership roles in biotechnology companies. Pierre and Lisa moved to Boston 10 years ago where the company Lisa founded, BioAxone BioSciences is located, and they are now naturalized Americans. Lisa enjoys writing scientific papers and her new hobby is the BioTrek-sailing YouTube channel.
Family and Friends
Crew
We usually sail the boat with just the two of us. However, we love when friends and family visit us in interesting locations for exploring and diving. From past experience they know that we can plan to be at a certain place on a certain date, but we cannot guarantee that both time and place will coincide. When weather does not cooperate, changes in plans can happen!