Meet the Red Boat Tours Crew!
A retired food company sales and marketing executive, Captain Tony Palesotti founded Red Boat Tours as a means to fulfill a lifelong dream of living and working on the coastal waters of Florida.
Captain Tony's passion for customer satisfaction drives him to ensure that each visitor's experience exceeds their expectations. He is a father of four and grandfather of three, and is passionate about airplanes, hotrods, RED BOAT and the US Marine Corps.
Miss Jennifer, a professional photographer, has been married to The Captain since 1992.
She is the owner and founder of Artistic Photography by Jennifer Palesotti, where it is her mission to make life-lasting artwork out of your everyday lives and activities. As co-founder of Red Boat Tours, she and The Captain work together as captain and mate as often as they can. They share a crazy passion for wiener dogs and currently live with three!
To complete the "family affair" for Red Boat Tours, the couple's twin daughters Savanna and Sydney, are involved in their individual ways.
Savanna, also a US Coast Guard Licensed Master Captain, has taken a sabbatical from her full time position as a Captain for Red Boat, to explore opportunities in the Super Yachting industry. Between those opportunities, you'll find her honing her maritime skills running tours with us, advancing her commercial diving certifications, working with her friend in the maritime fire suppression industry, or running fishing charters with her mentor Captain Guy, at MisStress Charters.
Sydney, who is still working on her business degree, has joined the company full time and serves as the keeper of all the things that boat captains want nothing to do with! She has responsibility for our backend things like graphic arts, promotional materials, inventory, social media, our website, the booking system and the phones. Sydney, having spent several years working in an animal hospital, is most passionate about animals and now fosters pets in need. She refers to them as "my roommates."
Captain James, who joined Red Boat in May of 2019, has provided much needed relief for Captain Tony, during some down time and has helped Savanna become competent in her boat handling skills, because parents can't teach kids, ya know.
When Jennifer and I finally admitted that every tour, every day, forever was probably more than we could do, we went in search of another Captain and were lucky enough to run across this character.
When Master Captain James Tulk is not Singing in a Rock & Roll Band (really), creating Amazing Giant Heads and parade characters, or restoring his beautiful 59' Vagabond Ketch (where he lives), he's driving The Red Boat and telling stories like no one else can. Captain James is our most senior captain and has become a very trusted friend. We consider him "family."
