The SeaSkye Team are all certified and trained to the highest standard following the RYA/MCA regulations for commercial vessels. Our top priority at all times is to ensure your safety. We will do our best to assist in any way required from boarding our vessels to teaching you about the local wildlife.
Kenny Mackinnon
Skipper / Owner
Kenneth is locally born and bred in Dunvegan, Skye. He has been around boats from an early age, helping his dad on the fishing boats in Loch Dunvegan. Since then he has gained his RYA Ocean Master and MCA Master 200. Working on all sorts of boats from container ships to super yachts, his boating adventures have taken him all over the world. Kenny & Kerry started SeaSkye in late 2017 to share the magical coast of Skye with all its visitors.
Kerry Cochrane
Crew / Owner
Kerry grew up in the Kingdom of Fife and did not always have access to the ocean. Her travels around the world as an international teacher & volunteer have given her a fondness of all things aquatic, Kerry is now a keen diver & kayaker as well as being one of SeaSkye’s most excitable guides! She enjoys nothing more than sharing her knowledge of the local wildlife in the classroom & with visitors alike.
Simon Paterson
Crew
spent his younger years sailing and fishing on the shores of Loch Long joining the local sailing club at 16. Based in Oban in his late teens, he worked on charter vessels, including the puffer known as the" Auld Reekie",wreck diving boats, and a 40ft. sloop. His career as a ski instructor spanned 15 years, working in Glenshee, Andorra, France and Spain Simon spent last summer working on a tour boat taking visitors to Loch Coruisk and Isle of Canna. Simon is working on completing his skippers ticket.
Gill Houlby
Crew
Over the years Gill has spent time on the water kayaking, white water rafting, as a mate on a yacht and as rescue crew on a lifeboat. She even lived on a boat for a couple of years. As well as loving being at sea she is keen to take care of our oceans and coastlines. She is a local Surfers Against Sewage rep and has organised countless beach cleans. Gill also works as an expedition leader supporting young people to challenge themselves and explore the world.
Willie Beedie
Skipper
Willie is an experienced sea goer, having first gone on a commercial fishing vessel at the age of 7 from Dunvegan on the Isle of Skye where he continued fishing from until 1993; resuming after time in the forces until 2013 when he decided enough was enough. From there Willie went onto the commercial maritime industry, having been a barge master on a crane barge and sub-contracting as a skipper for crew transfers on Windspeed RHIBs on large scale marine construction contracts as well as at the new Queensferry Crossing on the Firth of Forth. He is commercially endorsed to carry passengers 60 miles from a safe haven. A keen marine photographer, Willie never goes to sea without a camera or two, and always advises others to make sure that they have plenty of film/sd cards and batteries are charged because you never know when you will see that picture