Andy Topham - Boatshed St Lucia

Andy started with Boatshed in 2009 as an agent for North Wales and soon after, becoming the franchise owner.. move on a few years and Andy can now be found managing many of the Caribbean Boatshed offices from his base in St Lucia.

He comes from a varied boating background; working in boatyards, skippering racing yachts, charter captain, chief instructor with the RYA for sail and power boats, before joining the Boatshed family!

During his time on the water, Andy has won a few offshore sailing races that include beating the Admirals cup series and Volvo yachts in the Fastnet Race. It is because of his time at sea that he has many memorable moments as well as some hideous ones! Hurricane Lenny in 1999 holds his worst memory, as Andy spent many days on board a yacht in St Vincent whilst the Hurricane ripped its way through the islands, to eventually find out that his boat was the only one to survive on the West Coast. Surprisingly his trip back to St Lucia was fairly uneventful but on his arrival there, the devastation of the storm was truly unbelievable , with homes having been lost and the beaches dropping by 8ft!

Andy has a love of old vehicles and classic motor racing. He can also be found taking a relaxing sail around the Caribbean islands with friends, on his time off from Boatshed.

Fun Facts about Andy ...

  • Coronation Chicken is his favourite sandwich filling
  • He likes to drink an ice cold green coconut water
  • His favourite colour is red
  • His first pet was called Smokey

Andy would like to arrive on a Desert Island by a Cat Leopard 4500, all the comforts of home and old school strong to get you to most places and easy to sail single handed.

He would take with him his favourite music, albums by Van Morrison , Fleetwood Mac and AC/DC , with the intention of having a wild party on his own if he stumbles on the Rum Runners hut!

After his solo party! Andy will be enjoying a book written by a friend of his, Ben Thompson called "Tanked Up". It's about his crazy life as dive instructor and now sailing school owner.

Whiling away the hours on the desert island , Andy will dream of the courageous efforts of Lord Nelson, along with the more modern sailors Lawrie Smith and Peter Blake.

Finally we have all been restricted with our travel movements over the last year, however once we are able, Andy will be hot footing it back to the UK, to see his parents.