Holly Klaas

The first time Larry and Holly worked together she was a deckhand on a dolphin tour boat in the Florida Panhandle. Her main job was to serve refreshments to the passengers, but once dolphins were sighted she'd squeal and jump for joy. Her natural enthusiasm soon infected everyone aboard. Before long the rails would be crowded with happy and hollering passengers, cheering on the dolphins as they frolicked nearby.

It's what drew Holly to a life at sea, that joyous experience with the dolphins and cruising with Captain Larry along the "Redneck Riviera," and later through the Florida Keys. In Key West she entertained and served patrons at the island's most popular Tiki Bar while Larry captained local tour boats. It was a departure from her previous life as a chef who owned and operated her own shore-side restaurant in her native Mississippi. But Holly loved the camaraderie of bar-side chats with customers from all over the world.

"It was the first job I ever had where it was perfectly acceptable to go to work in a bathing suit," she says. "When it got too hot and business was slow, I'd just step out from behind the bar and take a
refreshing dip in the nearby pool. Wonderful!" Her culinary skills are matched only by Holly's love of cooking. When she and Larry returned to the Florida Panhandle from Key West, Holly went back to the kitchen, creating sumptuous dishes at one of the area's most popular seafood restaurants. After hurricane Ivan destroyed the restaurant and devastated the coastline in 2004, Holly returned with Larry to their home in Mississippi where she indulged another love...painting. Her art reflects her personality and her life. It's free-style and fun, evocative of the tropics with vibrant colors and lively strokes. Her works have been shown at one of Key West's most eclectic galleries, and is currently on display at a prominent art gallery in Mississippi.

As to life aboard Elektra, Holly says in her soft southern drawl, "Honey, I think I've died and gone to heaven, to live and work in such a beautiful place. It's paradise!"

Aboard, she indulges her passions for entertaining and cooking with the zest and spontaneous joy that her closest friends will tell you is the essence of Holly Klaas.

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