The Crew:

While aboard the Big Eagle, expect only exceptional service from her crew. Not only does the Big Eagle represent the finest in equipment, comfort, and appointments, but the service you will receive while living aboard is that of only the highest standards.

Captain, Christiana Virgilio
Nationality: American
Christiana grew up in San Diego, California. Her childhood revolved around the water; sailing, diving, surfing, windsurfing, and waterskiing. Almost every summer was spent on her family’s sailboat. After graduating from UCLA with a degree in Economics she decided to travel and have some fun working on sailboats. Fifteen years later the yachting industry is her career. Christiana served as the 1st Mate on board for 10 years she obtained her Captain’s license eight years ago. For six years she then served as the 1st Mate and the relief captain for Atlantic Crossings and other passages. In November 2006 she became the Captain on board Big Eagle. She is also a Dive Master and enjoys guiding the guests on dives.

First Mate, Lesley Fleming
Nationality: Canadian
Lesley was raised in Ontario, Canada. After graduating from Queen’s University she moved to Bangkok for a year to teach kindergarten. Whilst looking for another teaching job, a position opened up for a stew on board her uncle’s boat. Six years later she has gone from stew to deck, working on board various boats of all different sizes. In her spare time she earned her Personal Trainer certification and continues to study and practice to enhance those skills. Working on yachts balances Lesley’s need for physical challenge her desire to travel and see the world.

© 2008 Big Eagle Yacht

Chief Engineer, Neli Teodorescu
Nationality: Romanian
Neli was born and raised in Romania. He is a graduate of the Romanian Naval Academy. He has served as an engineer for over twenty five years, and worked as a chief engineer for fifteen years. He worked on commercial ships in the Romanian fleet initially, moving onto cruise ships, and then to the yachting Industry. There is not much that Neli is not capable of fixing. He is invaluable here to us on the Big Eagle where he started as relief engineer then became full time in 2008.

Bosun, Ryan Allison
Nationality: Australian
Growing up on the Australian East Coast, Ryan developed a love of the ocean early in life that still holds true today. Ryan started working on boats at the age of 17 where he worked for nine years as a Diver/Engineer in the Pearling and Beche-de-mer industries of Northern Australia. After studying Civil Engineering at University and then traveling to many parts of the world, Ryan joined Motor Yacht Big Eagle. Ryan’s favored pastimes include surfing, golf, spear fishing and free-diving.

Deckhand, Christian Smith
Nationality: English
Christian was born in the South East of Great Britain. He left at the age of four to travel on his families 68` motor yacht around South East Asia and the Indian Ocean. In 1993 his family traveled up the Red Sea and into the Med. After working in a ship yard for four years he decided to join the yachting industry. Christian previously worked on MY Tully as a Deckhand. Christian enjoys spending his spare time diving, kite-surfing, travelling and spinning poi on a beach while watching the sunset.

Chef, Grant Orchard
Nationality: New Zealander
Grant comes from a small sea port called Picton at the top of the South Island in New Zealand. On completing a formal apprenticeship within large hotels throughout the country Grant moved back to Picton and honed his skills in cookery and hospitality under the guidance of German chef Lothar Greiner and his wife Tracy. From there, Melbourne Australia beckoned, where he got the rare chance to cook and work alongside some of his food heroes from the United Kingdom and beyond.

Chief Stewardess, Fiona Verstappen
Nationality: Australian
Born and raised in a small coastal town on the East Coast of Australia, Fiona has spent her life by the ocean. Her love of sports and the outdoors saw her working for the Professional Golfers Association of Australia, before transferring to London to work in Event Co-ordination for Credit-Suisse International. Her first taste for the yachting industry was while working on the pearling vessels in Australia after she returned from travelling throughout Europe. She enjoys all water sports and traveling the world.

Stewardess, Kirstin Podmore
Nationality: South African
Kirstin Podmore was born and raised in Kwa-Zulu Natal, South Africa. After school Kirstin moved to the wine lands in the Cape to study Humanities at the University of Stellenbosch and achieved a post-grad in Marketing and Advertising. She then travelled to the United States where she spent four months working at a Ski-Resort in Idaho. Kirstin’s love for travelling and people took her to Europe where she entered into the yachting industry and a year later joined us aboard Big Eagle. Kirstin enjoys photography and is looking forward to learning how to dive along with the rest of the Big Eagle crew.

Stewardess, Charlotte Brown
Nationality: English
Charlotte was born in Cornwall, England. After finishing school she moved to Thailand where she became a scuba diving instructor and used this as her ticket to travel the world. After leaving Zanzibar, where she has been for the past 5 years running dive centres, Charlotte joined the yachting industry aboard Big Eagle. In her free time Charlotte still enjoys diving and all other watersports and likes to travel and socialize with her friends.