After a 45-day recruitment and evaluation period, Peter Berkhout and Dina Kashou have been selected as the next keepers of East Brother Light Station and will take over from Ed and Anne Witts on December 1, 2010.

Currently, both Peter and Dina are part of the crew completing a cruise on the HMS Bounty on the Great Lakes where Peter is 1st mate and engineer and Dina is chef. The HMS Bounty is one of the most famous ships in the world. Known for the storied mutiny that took place in Tahiti in 1789 on board the British transport vessel, the current Bounty, a replica, has survived to tell the tale. Built for the 1962 movie “Mutiny on the Bounty” with Marlon Brando, HMS Bounty sails the country offering dockside tours in which one can learn about the history and details of sailing vessels from a lost and romanticized time in maritime history. Since her debut in “Mutiny on the Bounty”, HMS Bounty has appeared in many documentaries and featured films such as the Edinburgh Trader in Pirates of the Caribbean Dead Mans Chest with Johnny Depp.

Peter has roots in the Bay Area, having graduated from Dominican University of CA, obtaining a  teaching credential and teaching math and science at Tamalpais High School in Mill Valley for five years until 2009. Prior to that, he was1st mate and engineer for Central Coast Charters (S/V Hawaiian Chieftain) on a 03' ketch-rig sailboat.

Dina has a BFA from Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design and has worked in a number of food service positions in addition to the HMS Bounty, including Roots Restaurant & Cellar in Milwaukee, WI, and chef on the West Island College/Class Afloat (S/V Concordia). She has traveled extensively, including a transatlantic sailing voyage from Nova Scotia to West Africa, cooking for 65.  She enjoys making classic, home cooked meals as well as gourmet world cuisine. Dina also successfully built a profitable museum gift shop from ground up at Discovery World at Pier Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI.

Pete and Dina will be the latest in a long line of lighthouse keepers at East Brother that stretches back 136 years to 1874. East Brother Light Station is operated by the non-profit corporation East Brother Light Station, Inc., under license from the U.S. Coast Guard as a public service. It is listed on the National Register of Historic places and is a California Historic landmark.

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