Who the HECK is Sean Antonioli?

Chances are that most of you weren't wondering who Sean Antonioli was…until you read the title of this post.
I'm guessing that right before you read this text, you said to yourself, "yeah, who the heck IS that guy anyway?"
He’s originally from White Plains, New York, and has relatives in Castelmassa, a small town 55 miles southwest of Venice, on the Po River. He lived in the Veneto for two and a half years, and then moved to England.
My family and I first met Sean in Venice, back in 2006.
I coordinated with Ina Mierig from Hamburg, Germany to have dinner with Mathias Luhmann and Britta Meier (also German), and Sean Antonioli.
While it wasn’t on our list of things to do while in the city, that dinner in Campo Santa Margherita was a highlight of our trip.

Sean first went to Venice in October of 2004 to work at Squero Canaletto with Thom Price and his staff.
Later, he worked part time at the squero while he spent the rest of his time helping set things up on the island of Certosa.
“Vento di Venezia”, a group with a unique vision for the long-deserted island west of Venice, set up a marine center unlike anything I’ve seen before. As things ramped up on Certosa, Sean moved onto the island and worked full time there, painting and varnishing. My family and I visited the facility on Certosa when we were in Venice and saw people from several parts of the world, with various skills, working, eating, learning, and living together.
I saw Sean’s paint shop, got to try my hand at sanding the bottom of one of the boats in the yard, and visited Mathias – watching him work with a master boatbuilder from Holland.

For more information on the island of Certosa, check out:
http://www.venicecertosahotel.com/en/location.html

During the shooting of the James Bond film "Casino Royale", the staff of Spirit Yachts was down from England, staying on Certosa. One of Spirit's beautiful sailing vessels was used in the movie. While on Certosa, the yacht staff worked out a way to lower the mast so the boat could make it under the Accademia Bridge (the scene was shot between the Accademia and the Rialto), and they got to know and work with some of the staff there.

Later on, Sean followed his girlfriend to England, walked into the office of Spirit Yachts in Ipswich, and was able to secure a job there.
During his time at Spirit Yachts, Sean got to work on their exciting “Spirit 100” sailing yacht.
If you visit http://www.spirityachts.com/ and go to the gallery of the “Spirit 100”, you can see some of Sean’s paint and varnishwork.

So to answer the question, "who the heck is Sean Antonioli": he’s a guy who’s literally been “living the dream” … and has taken some great photos along the way.

He’s back home now in White Plains, contemplating his next move. I’m sure that whatever he does next will be exciting.