Emile Coetzee
Captian, motoryacht High Chaparral

Date interviewed: December 2007

How did you realize you wanted to become a captain?
I grew up on the coast of South Africa, near Cape Town. I surfed and windsurfed, and I went to university to become a city planner, and then I did my two years in the military. I made a friend, and we wanted to go traveling. It was expensive to fly anywhere from South Africa, so we got on a 70-foot schooner as crew. I sailed into Antigua in 1988.
     We wanted to take a break for as long as we could, and I got into motoryachts. Guys were insisting that I go work in Europe, where I’d never been before. I ended up being 30 years old and scrubbing decks in Europe. I worked on charter boats, and I really liked it.
     In 1991, I went back to South Africa, and my girlfriend and I decided to join yachting. It was a career decision. We wanted to do this as professionals. I’d progressed to being a mate. 

What training did you undergo to become a captain?
I went to Western Australia and stayed on a 44-meter water jet catamaran motoryacht called Moecca for seven years, doing 70,000 miles. Three of those years were in the South Pacific and Southeast Asia, where I moved up to captain.
     That boat sold, and my girlfriend and I stayed with the new owner of Moecca. We got married in October 1999. We had gone to the States and through the Great Lakes at that point, so we got off the boat in Newport, Rhode Island, where I worked at the Armchair Sailor bookstore for three years. 
     Around 2002 or 2003, the world was changing in terms of qualifications for yacht captains. So I got my master yacht license in 2003, and in January of that year I became captain of the 164-foot motoryacht Thunder Gulch.

When did you join your current yacht?
The owner of Thunder Gulch is the same man who owns the 164-foot motoryacht High Chaparral, and in June 2004, when High Chaparral launched brand-new from the Feadship yard in Holland, I became the captain.

What do you think makes your yacht’s crew unique or special?
My brief on the boat is to make it excellent all the time. There are no excuses. I have the budget for it. We try to produce excellent service.
     We have an atmosphere on the boat where people get sucked in by the feeling of genuine calm. Everybody in the crew knows what they’re doing. It’s an orchestra. It’s seamless. The charterer sees efficient, discreet service. The deckhands can go running around with the kids all day, and then we can be a five-star restaurant at night. We are adaptable.
    And the fact that High Chaparral is a Feadship means it is of a quality that we need only one engineer, so we can fit two chefs in the crew’s quarters. That means our head chef has more time for guests. He can be more excellent.

How do you determine what itinerary you will set for a given charter?
I do great itineraries with photos and stories and web links before the guests even come onboard. If somebody says, “What can you do for us?” I research for hours and give them an excellent overview.

What are some of your favorite cruising destinations, and why?
We once went with a charter client from Grenada up to Sint Maarten in 14 days. That was pretty awesome.
     And we go to Greece every year with the boat's owner, so we know how to get quite a lot done there.

What features onboard High Chaparral do you enjoy sharing with guests?
We have zero-speed stabilizers, flat-screen TVs, and VSAT communications. The owner is all about watching horse racing on TV, so we have two satellite domes, one forward and one aft, so the satellite signal never gets blocked out. Sports guys love this boat.
     Our bridge-deck lounge and master suite are both full beam [the full width of the boat], so they’re great big spaces with blackout blinds. Our bridge deck has a dining table that can seat 12 guests, and that’s often the heart of the boat. It’s great for dining parties.
     Our sundeck, too, people really love. It’s long, with coffee tables that can convert to a dining area for 22 people. There’s also a bar, Jacuzzi and sunpad. People go up there and stay all day.

What kind of charter guests are your favorites?
We’ve done families, we’ve done couples, we’ve had people being a bit boisterous—and we don’t invite them back. We like families, but more so mature groups that appreciate excellent service and dining.
     We’re low-key privacy and excellent service. I hate to say we’re not fun, because we always have smiling faces, but we’re about service. We get top-name entertainers as charter clients because they appreciate privacy and service.

What else should CharterWave readers know about you and High Chaparral?
For me, it’s that I absolutely love what I do. I want you to feel good when you leave here, whether it’s after a day or a 10-week charter.
    And I should add that I’m thankful for my long-suffering wife, back at home in France with our 3-year-old daughter. When she says it’s enough, I’ll be done. But for now, I never wake up in the morning and not want to do this.

High Chaparral is part of the fleet at Camper & Nicholsons International. She takes 12 guests with 12 crew at a weekly base rate of $242,000, or about $25,000 per person with typical 25-percent expenses factored in. To learn more, contact any reputable charter broker.