Dr. Chris Wellins - Chief Medical Officer, Board Chair

Chris grew up in Newton and then Boston, MA and spent a lot of time on the beach in Ogunquit with his family growing up, as well as coming to various summer camps in Maine. He has had a lifetime interest in the sea. At the age of 16 he worked as a lab technician at the Darling Marine Center of the University of Maine.

Chris attended Duke University because of their Marine Science program and his favorite semester was the fall of his junior year which he spent in Beaufort, NC at the Duke University Marine Lab. He worked at the lab for about a year and a half after graduating and studied olfaction in the ghost crab, a nocturnal terrestrial crab. It was during this time that he earned the nickname "The Crabman" or affectionately "Crabby." If you want to hear some amusing stories you should ask him about this time of his life.

Ultimately, Chris decided to pursue a career in Medicine. After completing a residency in Internal Medicine in 1997 he joined what is now Maine Medical Partners Internal Medicine in Cape Elizabeth where he continues to practice.

Chris loves being at sea and the challenge of improving his own sailing skills and the joy of working with the trainees and crew. He served a few stints as deckhand on Schooner Harvey Gamage and is a proud alumni of S-320 Aotearoa (New Zealand) Climate Change and Coastal Resilience aboard the Robert C. Seamans. Chris began serving as the Chief Medical Officer and shoreside medical support for Sailing Ships Maine in 2021 and became the Board Chairman in the summer of 2025.