AQUARIUS

Crew Profiles

MEET YOUR HOSTS — TRAVIS & TARA TOWNSLEY

For Travis and Tara, welcoming guests aboard Aquarius is personal.

They don’t simply crew the yacht — Aquarius is their home, their business, and a continuation of a life they have spent years building together on the water. Having lived aboard sailing yachts full-time for more than eight years, they bring something to the charter experience that goes well beyond professional credentials: the perspective of people who genuinely love this lifestyle and enjoy sharing it with others.

Together they have sailed more than 30,000 nautical miles, completed two Atlantic crossings, explored the Caribbean and Mediterranean, and spent months experiencing the cultures, coastlines and cuisines of North Africa and Europe.

Now entering their seventh charter season in the Caribbean, Travis and Tara have spent the past six seasons personally hosting guests aboard their previous yacht, RumAway. Aquarius represents the next chapter in that journey.

Today, they personally host every charter aboard Aquarius in the British Virgin Islands, creating relaxed, highly personalized weeks built around the guests themselves.

CAPTAIN TRAVIS

For Travis, life on the water isn’t something he steps into for charter season — it has been home for more than eight years.

Together with Tara, he has logged more than 30,000 nautical miles, including two Atlantic crossings and years of cruising throughout the Caribbean.

One of those adventures became a seven-month journey across the Atlantic and through the Mediterranean. Travis and Tara spent time exploring North Africa before working their way north to Italy, where they spent several months along the Amalfi Coast and operated charters before eventually crossing the Atlantic again.

That experience has given Travis far more than miles in a logbook. It has taught him how to read conditions, adapt an itinerary, find the right anchorage and, perhaps most importantly, understand that the best days on the water are often the ones that weren’t planned too tightly.

Travis holds a U.S. Coast Guard 100-Ton Master license as well as an STCW II/3 Master endorsement for vessels under 500 gross tons.

Long before sailing became his way of life, Travis spent years around the race car industry and later in his family’s business. He still jokes that his two passions have always been fast cars and slow boats — which may explain how someone who loves horsepower ended up happiest traveling under sail.

What Travis enjoys most about chartering is sharing the places he and Tara have come to love. His style is relaxed and personal: finding a beautiful anchorage, showing guests a favorite snorkeling spot, adjusting the day when something better presents itself, and helping guests experience the islands rather than simply visit them.

CHEF TARA

Cooking has been Tara’s passion for more than twenty years. A self-taught chef, she has spent the past six years especially devoted to elevating her craft, turning a lifelong love of food into an important part of the experience she creates aboard Aquarius.

Tara’s cooking style centers on delicious, approachable food with a Caribbean flair. She loves fresh ingredients, vibrant flavors and meals that feel perfectly at home in the islands.

Her menus are also inspired by the places she and Travis have traveled.

After spending a summer along the coast of Italy, Tara brought home a love for Italian coastal cuisine and now incorporates an Italian-inspired menu into her charter offerings.

Her culinary adventures extend well beyond the Mediterranean. One of her favorites is a Moroccan tagine with couscous, inspired by time spent in Morocco and the flavors she discovered there.

For Tara, however, cooking is about much more than what is on the plate.

She believes food should nourish both the body and the soul.

A week in the BVI is a chance to slow down, reconnect, laugh, explore and simply enjoy life. Tara sees every meal as part of that experience — from a relaxed breakfast after a morning swim, to lunch enjoyed in the island breeze, to dinner as the sun disappears over the Caribbean.

Her goal is simple: for every guest to feel cared for, well nourished and completely at ease.

TOGETHER ABOARD AQUARIUS

Travis and Tara believe the best charters don’t feel scripted.

Some guests arrive wanting adventure. Others want quiet anchorages, great meals and nowhere they need to be. Most want a little of both.

Their job is to understand the people who step aboard and create the week around them.

Because Aquarius is Personally Hosted by Its Owners, there are no rotating crews and no management company deciding what the experience should look like. The people welcoming guests aboard are the same people who know the yacht, know the islands and have chosen this life for themselves.

The result is something relaxed, authentic and deeply personal — a week aboard Aquarius that feels less like being accommodated and more like being welcomed.