Luxury Motor Yacht 'Te Manu' - Crew Profiles
Luxury yacht Te Manu will be chartering in the Mediterranean this summer and the Caribbean during the winter. She was superbly built in 1998 by Codecasa and is an extremely impressive yacht with an equally impressive crew of 11 who are dedicated to making your cruise a very warm, personal and memorable experience. Here is a run down of their experience and skills.
Mediterranean & Caribbean Charter Location Info >>
Luxury yacht Te Manu Captain: Dave Johnson
Captain Dave Johnson was born in the United States. He was brought up & educated in the North West of England where he completed his academic studies in 1989. Dave graduated from Liverpool University with a degree in Mechanical & Production Engineering. His professional yachting Career began in 1990 when he sailed on the Motor Yacht 'Stefaren' a 54 meter Brooke Yacht built in Southampton, England and Dave served on deck for 2 years before obtaining the necessary qualifications to take over as the yachts First Officer. He held this position he for over seven years, whilst working for two different owners and working with different captains. Dave joined M/Y Te Manu (ex M/Y Andale) as the first officer in April 1999 and during this time he completed four Atlantic crossings and numerous coastal voyages throughout the Mediterranean as Captain.
First Officer: Henry Wedenberg
Henry attended IYT Training facility in Palma, Spain where he successfully completed the training necessary for him to be compliant with the STCW 95 Convention. He has been first officer on Te Manu since December 2001.
Chief Stewardess: Suignette Van Den Berg
In 1997 Suignette begin a new career in the Yachting industry in the United States. During the next four years, Suignette worked successfully as a stewardess on several sailing and also power yachts. During her career she has and traveled extensively throughout the Caribbean waters and also up and around eastern coast of the United States.
Chef: Joanne Dew
Joanne has completed a 4 year long Diploma in Professional Cookery & Food Management at the Cape Town Technical Hotel School. She also has a three-year Diploma in Cordon Bleu cooking. Since 1995 she have been traveling and working throughout the world. Joanne enjoys cooking with robust Mediterranean flavors as well as cuisine with an interesting Asian influence.. She joined been on the yacht since April 2001 where she is a well loved Chef and Crewmember.
Chief Engineer: Val McCourt
Val was born in Scotland and come to work on yachts after a long career in commercial shipping industry. In that industry he has experience working with both the freight and passenger divisions, at sea and on land. During that time Val completed the various college courses required to obtain the licenses requisite to operate a vessel of this size, and any size, any where in the world. Val is happily married and lives in Coconut Grove Miami.
Second Engineer: Bert Kutzer
Bert has been in the yachting industry for the last six years and joined Te Manu in the Mediterranean in beginning October 2004. Bert has built his own 41 foot yacht and sailed it around the African and Caribbean coats covering approximately 50.000 N.M. He has also been a partner in a very successful Treasure Diving Syndicate recovering a number of wrecks - during this time he has recovered thousands of pieces of eight and silver bars.
Second Officer: Phil Baker
Phil was born and raised in Christchurch New Zealand where he qualified as a cabinetmaker and has experience in antique restoration. Phil has now worked in the yachting industry for over 15 years where he has gained his 3000ton Masters license in 2002. Phil is a valuable crew member aboard M/Y Te Manu and has been employed since 2002. He joined the yacht in Tahiti and has cruised the Pacific, Caribbean as well as the Mediterranean with her.
Officer of the watch / Deckhand: Philip Mews
Phil has completed a four year apprenticeship as a shipwright in Perth Australia and served as a craftsman and boat builder for a further two years. He then travelied to the Northern hemisphere to work on yachts.
Phil began his professional yachting career in 1998 where he served as deckhand on the M/Y Queen M before joining M/Y Te Manu (ex M/Y Andale) in November 2000 and in addition to being a very skilled craftsman his good nature, and generous personality, makes him a very popular member of the M/Y Te Manu team.
Stewardess: Michelle Kutzer
Michelle has cruised extensively in the Caribbean, Venezuela, Cuba and the United States, and also circumnavigated Africa on a small sailing yacht - completing approximately 50.000 N.M. Then, in 1998 after completing her Silver service courses in the United States, Michelle began working on Super Yachts both Sail & Motor and joined Te Manu in July 2004.
Stewardess: Susan Chase
Sue has completed a Bachelors of Commerce degree, at the University of South Africa, where she majored in both Accounting and Industrial Psychology. She has also recently completed further postgraduate studies in Industrial Psychology. Having joined the yachting industry four years ago, in pursuit of travel and adventure Sue has worked on various private as well as charter motor yachts. She has cruised the Mediterranean, the Maldives and also Mexico. She looks forward to exploring new places and enjoys interacting and socializing with new people.
