Thomas- the skipper
Thomas was born in Björknäs on the island of Värmdö in 1980. As son of Austrian parents, he has been raised up bilingual -german and swedish - from the very beginning. So he has an open mind for different cultures. From the youngest age on he has always been passionate for shipping, sailing and the nature of the archipelago.
At the age of eight he got his first sailing boat from his parents. As teenager he started sailing alone over the Baltic sea to Åland in Finland, just because of the simple reason that no one wanted to join. The love for the sea was even stronger than the need for company.
In the high school he decided to enlist in the seamen's school which made him a mate and for a time to work on big cargo ships on the transatlantic route. Although the life on the high seas deep always seemed fascinating, Thomas felt that it was too much industrial work and took away the closeness to the nature and the feeling of adventure which was so important to him. After trying several different jobs and educations (bus driver, consular assistant at the Swedish embassy in Vienna and a bachelors degree in political science, etc.), he and his austrian wife Helga, started their own company. Nowadays they work with a broad spectrum of fields. Perhaps the most important part has always been the contact to people and to share his passion. No matter if he builds houses, arranges snowmobile tours in the Swedish arctic or shares his fascination for the sea with others.
No matter which jobs Thomas has had; SAILING on yachts has always been THE big interest in his life. He has spent as much time as ever possible on his own or other yachts. To improve his skills he has also obtained a lot of different certificates which enable him to sail every yacht to every destination throughout the world. Long sailing trips on his own boat have been to Belgium, France, southern England and several times across the Baltic sea to the Baltic countries.
Even some canal travels on the European internal waterways have been part of the experience, as well as helping friends to sail their boats across Northern Europe.
Apart from the sailing, Thomas has a very strong interest for history, architecture and nature. This certainly makes him able to show you a lot of interesting places in the archipelago and tell you much about their history in particular, about politics and Swedish history in general.
Fact Box:
Full name: Thomas Seidenglanz
Born: 25.Feb.1980 in Björknäs, Nacka, Sweden
Residence: Björknäs, Nacka, Sweden
He speaks: Swedish, German, English and a little bit of Russian
Nautical education:
Inshore Yachtmaster Diploma
Coastal Yachtmaster Diploma
Offshore Yachtmaster Diploma
Canal Diploma
VHF Certificate
Commercial Skipper's examination certificate
Certificate of proficiency in survival craft
Family: Married to Helga with four kids - two girls and two boys.