How Dubai's Captain Patricia Caswell built her dream life at sea and transformed the UAE boating scene

Setting out for sea and challenges

Wondering what she would do after high school, she searched around and a couple of weeks later, she got a job on a boat. “I started working as a stewardess and on deck, at the age of 17.  I even got seasick on my first day,” laughs Caswell. But even sea-sickness could never dampen Caswell’s fiery passion for water. She found a way to battle it: “I went for a swim, and that strangely works! And more strangely enough, I have never been seasick since.”

Of course, there were more tedious challenges to expect, as one can from sailing. “Most of the hurdles were, the doubts on whether a person could be strong enough to carry the ropes, especially sailing. But the key is, technique. It’s about how you pull the sails. It’s not just brute force and heavy muscles, and that’s something you keep learning as you go along,” she says.  

After that things didn’t just fall into place, they flowed. “It just evolved. I just knew that I wanted to be out on deck, with the boys,” recalls Caswell. At the age of 21, she got her first captain’s license, and so she knew that she was ready to sail around the world. When you have the entire ocean in front of you, vast and profound with its endless possibilities, why not just…go for it?

And so she did.

The joy of vanishing off the grid

Her first off-shore trip was from Spain. “We sailed from Spain to Panama. It was first taste of ocean sailing,” she says. Caswell treasures the idea of just ‘disappearing’ into blue oblivions, especially in a time where there was no satellite communication. There’s freedom in the waters and the silences, with only the sounds of the wind and birds. Possibly some of her happiest moments would be telling others, “Alright then, let’s meet in six months!”

Did she ever fear this ‘vanishing’? What if she needed help? But Caswell gives a cheery reply. “Oh, no, it’s my happy place. I never feared the water.”  Disappearing  had never sounded more poetic.  

In fact, Caswell would be so used to this disappearing act that her mother would often ask, “I haven’t seen you in months, and I’m going to forget what you look like!”

From sailing to motorboats

Eventually, she transitioned from sailboats to motorboats and spent over three years cruising through Europe. “I travelled for three-and-a half years just on a motorboat,” she says, recalling how she also managed to raise money for her education, including maritime college in England.

The cycles continue: Study, acquire knowledge and sail. You just keep going. And so she studied for the next license, and by 30, she got her Masters 3000. “And that’s how I came to be a captain on the big boats,” she says.

Transitioning from the sea to the land

Nine years ago, she came to Dubai.

Caswell explains the new phase of her life, “I was speaking to an Emirati family and they asked if I was interested in working here, and my husband was already in the business of oil.”

A dream combination, which saw the transition full-time sea service. After practically living on the sea for years, she knew what it was to also come home every night. “This was transition from full-time sea service, living off-shore and living a more stable life. It was a new thing for me and I also wanted a rest from moving so much around the world,” she says.

Gulf Craft service reached out to her, and Caswell seized the opportunity. In this job, she would focus on sea trials. “It’s the fun part of my week,” she says. Explaining what sea trials are, she says that’s when the boats and ships go out to water, and do what they’re designed to do. They are put through trials and testing.”

Woman at the helm

We address the elephant in the room. Sailing has long been a male-dominated field. But times are changing—and she’s proud of the progress. “There are more women in the industry today,” she says. “We work hard to support one another across forums, and the numbers show it. It’s finally starting to become normal.”

Normal, yes—but no less extraordinary.