As a yacht captain, Mark Drewelow circumvented the globe and saw a world he wanted to help make better. As the founder and CEO of superyacht agent C2C, he built a business based on his knowledge of the industry. And as the founder and executive director of nonprofit YachtAid Global, he guided the industry he loved towards help and service around the world. Captain Mark Drewelow died on March 1. He was 60.
In nearly two decades, the nonprofit he founded has worked with more than 300 yachts on more than 250 projects in 25 countries. Its humanitarian aid, disaster relief and conservation work has taken place from Central America to the South Pacific to the Middle East. One of the group’s most recent projects, Operation Soni, involves evacuating women and children from Ukraine while delivering food, medical supplies and other necessities.
As tributes have poured in from around the yachting world, colleagues and friends have praised a man who not only had a passion for making the world a better place, but a problem-solving mind that could figure out the best ways to do that.
“He had way of looking at complex situations and make them better, all while remaining confident, focused and determined,” captain and Rubicon Marine founder John Crupi says. “He has directly or indirectly changed the lives of thousands of people all over the world, and I can't help but think that the void that we will experience by not having Mark at the helm will be a reality that we will accept but always know that his leadership will never be duplicated or forgotten.”
The son of a United States Marines pilot, Mark grew up on military bases around the coastal U.S.
“I went sailing every weekend and grew up bodysurfing and surfing as a young kid, becoming a lifeguard at 15,” he said in an interview with Superyacht Stories. “I really believe the sea runs through my veins!”
As a young man he worked his way from deckhand to engineer to captain of M/Y Dorothea. It was on a decade-long circumnavigation with Dorothea that Mark began forming the idea that would become YachtAid Global. He would talk later about the kindness and help he would find in every port — and the poverty he saw in so many places.
In 2003, Mark founded California-based superyacht agent C2C, and three years later, he launched YachtAid Global. His entrepreneurial skill and his global philanthropic work earned respect in the industry and beyond. In 2014, the U.S. Superyacht Association gave him and YachtAid International its Beacon Award.
Despite his work with C2C and YachtAid International, Mark also found time to engage with a lifetime passion, bodysurfing, including as head coach of USA BodySurfing.
“Mark Drewelow is now riding an endless tube in heaven,” a post on the USA BodySurfing Facebook page read. “Mark’s passion for bodysurfing was unmatched — his boundless enthusiasm, deep understanding of the ocean, and dedication to the sport inspired everyone around him. He was a student of the sea, an incredible waterman, and an exceptional human who made us all strive to be better, both in and out of the water.”
Mark is survived by his wife and two children.