A little bit about us...
Established in 2010, Pilgrim Sailing is operated by Paul & Clare Ley, who are passionate sailors and love sharing their beautiful yacht with you. Find out more about the Pilgrim Sailing story below.
Meet THE CREW
PAUL LEYOWNER/OPERATORx
Paul has been working in the marine industry for over 20 years and holds the following commercial maritime tickets (Master 5, MED 3 and RYA Yachtmaster with commercial endorsement). Paul has been the skipper of Pilgrim since 2010 and prior to that was the captain of a wide array of commercial and private, power and sail boats of different sizes including 5 years as a Royal Yachting Australia Instructor teaching Introduction to Sailing, Competent Crew and Day Skipper courses. In his early career he qualified with the RAAF as a fitter and furthered his career down the track as a marine mechanic, fixing engines and other marine specifications. Prior to Pilgrim Sailing, Paul had previous experience in the tourism industry while working as a Dive Master out of Cairns in the late 1980’s. Paul has lots of experience, thousands of sea miles under his belt and lots of stories to tell. He loves having a chat to our guests! |
CLARE LEYOWNER/OPERATORx
Clare has done thousands of sea-miles as well. She combines her 20 year experience in the corporate world with her talent for entertaining, bringing out the fun and social aspect of a day's sailing. Clare is a chartered accountant with over 20 years experience in the financial services industry in several roles including Senior Finance Manager and Project Manager at Ernst & Young, Investec Asset Management, AMP and Perpetual. Since 2010, Clare has been the Operations, Marketing & Finance Manager for Pilgrim Sailing managing all the behind the scenes bookings, administration, marketing and finances for the company. And on board during charter as a first mate and managing all the catering and hospitality needs. Clare is highly aware of the levels of professionalism and attention to detail needed for a successful event and will ensure your day runs like clockwork. |
CLAYTON SCOTTSKIPPERx
Clayton is a North Queensland boy with "salt water in his veins" and has called Magnetic Island home for the last 15 years. Prior to settling on Maggie, Clayton spent 5 years circumnavigating Australia on his yacht Buccaneer - an experienced sailor who has a love for the sea and of course Magnetic Island. Many know Clayton from his days running his successful Fruit & Veggie Business in Edge Hill, Cairns, the iconic Arcadia Store here on the island with his partner Julie, as the ‘welcoming smile’ at Mitre 10 or as one of the islands dedicated Volunteer Rural firefighters. Clayton always has a story to tell and is as passionate about Pilgrim as we are. Jump on board and swap a yarn with him...... |
OUR FABULOUS DECKIES
GEORGIA SMITHx
Georgia joined the crew in February 2021, while she was studying marine biology at JCU. Since then Georgia has pursued her career in marine biology on the Great Barrier Reef, initially working on the Crown of Thorns management program and more recently at Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority. Lucky for us, she has been around boats all her life. Not only that, she has grown up in the tourism industry with her parents running a very successful eco-tourism business in Darwin, @seadarwin. So she certainly knows how to make you feel comfortable on board! Make sure you ask her about her extensive knowledge of turtles! |
CLEM Durelx
Clem, our favourite French Backpacker! 🇫🇷 Clem introduced herself to us in 2019, because she loved Pilgrim and wanted to come for a sail on her (even though she had never sailed before)! We took her on as crew for a few charters before she headed off to travel and pick carrots for her visa! Early in 2020, just as the coronavirus hit, she sailed with us from Sydney to Magnetic Island and we self-isolated in the best possible way. Once on Maggie, during the coronavirus lockdown, Clem helped Paul renovate & re-paint Pilgrim and was invaluable during that time. Pilgrim is now super shiny! 😍 Clem was born in 1992, the same year as Pilgrim was launched! She grew up in the Loire Valley in France, and studied Events and Tourism before coming to Australia in February 2019, when it was love at first sight with Magnetic Island. She also loves swimming, snorkelling and biking around Maggie. |
BRIDIE LEWISx
Coming Soon! |
Each and everyone of us is passionate about sharing the best experience with you.
OUR PROMISE AND OUR PARTNERS
WE LOVE LOCAL BUSINESSESOn board we are passionate about serving quality local produce.Here are a few of our favourite local or family run businesses:
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WE CARE ABOUT THE ENVIRONMENT AS MUCH AS WE CARE ABOUT OUR GUESTS....We try in everything we do to respect the environment and protect it from the impact from our business
We promise to continue to consider the impact of our operation on the environment and strive to continue to reduce our impact and prevent pollution. Our environmental practices are as follows:
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