LADY J Yacht Charter

Captain: Jarryd Vermaak

CAPTAIN
JARRYD VERMAAK
Captain Jarryd was born in South Africa. He grew up in Durban spending his days on the beaches with his friends. Jarryd studied Marketing and advertising after school while working for a successful restaurant/cocktail bar opening new franchises around South Africa. Jarryd entered the yachting world in 2009 as deckhand onboard a 188’ Feadship. Since entering the wonderful world of luxury yachting, he has crossed the Atlantic 5 times and cruised many different waters including the Mediterranean, Caribbean, US East coast and the Gulf of Mexico. His hard work, attention to detail and growing knowledge, along with strong communication and entrepreneurship skills allowed him to work his way up to Captain of very busy private and Charter programs. Jarryd first joined LADY J in 2015. His longevity and charter experience have allowed him to hone his skills to provide a five-star yacht program and experience to guests every time. He is very team and guest focused. He has a lively bubbly personality and gets on with all guests, always sharing a joke or two, making for a memorable charter experience that guests won’t ever forget. In his free time, Jarryd enjoys diving, water sports, traveling, and reading.

FIRST OFFICER / DIVE MASTER
JUAN VICENTE
Born in Spain to a diplomat, it was very early in life when Juan started traveling. His parents’ lifestyle allowed him to grow up with a nomadic type of life, which became part of who he is. The ocean is one of his favorite parts of nature and he never misses a chance to explore what is underneath the ocean’s surface. Juan is a certified dive master and whilst enjoying diving himself, he is also very passionate about showing and sharing this mysterious world with everyone. He is a very active and social person. Prior to yachting, Juan worked as a Fitness Instructor in a chain of Gyms that he founded. He enjoys social interaction and is always approachable and happy to help. Juan is fluent in English and Spanish, and now calls Guatemala home. In his spare time he enjoys being in the water, gym and fitness.

CHIEF ENGINEER (Rotation)
MICHAEL BISHOP
“Mikey” was born in Durban, South Africa where he grew up surrounded by water and was an avid surfer. He worked as a mixologist in cocktail bars in Durban before leaving to work as a Mechanical Mate for the London Underground Railway. After five years in London, he missed the ocean and moved to Fort Lauderdale, Florida to begin his career in yachting. He began working as a deck hand, quickly finding his way to the engine room where he excelled. Nine years later he is an extremely talented engineer who plans to continue his education and attend more engineering courses during his free time. He currently resides in Mallorca, Spain with his beautiful wife and baby boy. Mikey considers himself lucky to work on a rotation schedule onboard Lady J so that he can also spend time with his family at home, where they enjoy hiking, swimming, reading, and surfing.

CHIEF ENGINEER (Rotation)
MATTHEW STALLARD
Matt is from Winchester, Virginia in the Blue Ridge Mountains. He grew up sailing in the Chesapeake Bay and sport fishing in the Outer Banks of North Carolina. After earning a degree in economics from the College of Charleston, South Carolina he decided to follow his love for the ocean and pursue a career at sea. He has been onboard yachts for 15 years. When not turning wrenches, Matt enjoys being in the mountains hiking and camping, or on the water paddling and fishing.

CHEF
ANTHONY HORNER
Anthony grew up on the Mississippi river in Driftless region of South West Wisconsin. He attended the University of Wisconsin, Stevens Point, where he obtained his bachelor’s degree in philosophy. During his time in University, he studied abroad in France where he volunteered on an organic farm. One thing led to another and next thing he was training in Gastronomy in France in an intensive culinary program focused on Gastronomic French Cuisine and Pastry, followed by an even more intensive internship. Anthony then travelled through Central America and Thailand. While he was traveling in Thailand he acquired his Thai cuisine certification. After a few years of travel he returned to the United States, and worked in a Spanish Tapas-Style Restaurant in Miami, which ultimately introduced him to find a culinary career in the wonderful world of luxury private yacht charters. While not whipping up culinary delights in the Lady J galley, Anthony enjoys training for Olympic distance triathlons, swimming, cycling, reading fantasy fiction and playing trombone and bass guitar. While Anthony considers himself a Jack of all trades in the galley, his strength lies in Mediterranean, Thai and Central American Cuisine. With his well-rounded culinary expertise, Anthony intends to wow guests with his international flavours.

CHIEF STEWARDESS
MELODY JONETHIS
Melody was born and raised in West Palm Beach, FL in a rather musical environment as both of her parents are musicians. In fact, Melody’s name was inspired from their love and passion for music. Since Melody is also musically inclined, she moved to New York City after High School, where she attended and graduated from the American Musical & Dramatic Academy of Fine Arts. After college, Melody performed as lead vocalist for top music agency Hank Lane, playing throughout the tri-state area. Melody later performed onboard the cruise line Regent Seven Seas as lead vocalist for all production shows. After living in NYC for over 10 years, she moved to Sydney Australia where she was a private nanny for 2 years. In 2016 Melody started her yachting career and over the course of 5 years has worked on yachts based in Europe, Caribbean and the USA working her way up to Chief Stewardess. With Melody’s love of travel and living life to the fullest, making the transition into yachting was natural and easy. Melody loves making guests feel special and giving them the ultimate VIP treatment. With her bubbly and outgoing personality, she makes a great asset to Lady J’s hospitality team.

BOSUN
MOSES JARDINE
Moses grew up in Durban, South Africa, where he went to school in the mountains of Howick and spent his days between farms and beaches. After primary school, Moses moved to Cape Town where he lived for a year while working in the high-end hospitality industry, this experience led him to take the leap into the world of yachting where he has quickly gained vast amounts of boating knowledge. His interests include working out, sports, surfing, and fishing. His happy and outgoing personality are a great asset to the Lady J team. Moses enjoys every aspect of the yachting life and his hard work and dedication have paid off since working his way up the Lady J ladder from Deck Hand to Bosun.

SECOND STEWARDESS
HEATHER LEEK
Heather grew up on Vancouver Island, Canada, in the small town of Shawnigan Lake. Her love of snowboarding led her to Whistler, BC where she worked as a snowboard instructor for five years. Heather went back to school for fashion design which landed her a job as production manager for a menswear company in Bali, Indonesia. Three years later she felt it was time to see the world. Heather joined a yacht in Malta and instantly fell in love with her new career on the ocean. Heather has done three major crossings and visited 34 countries thus far. She loves providing Lady J’s guests with the high level of service and attention that she’s become an expert at during her years of yachting.

THIRD STEWARDESS
GENAY VILJOEN
Born in South Africa in a coastal town named Knysna, Genay’s interest in yachting took place at the pinnacle of her surroundings from golden beaches to spectacular landscapes. When she has free time on her hands, she loves going skiing, searching for the next adventure, and watching Formula 1. She is passionate about seeing the world, learning new cultures and tasting different flavours. Yachting truly gives Genay a positive taste of life as being on the water and giving guests the absolute dream getaway brings her so much happiness and joy.

DECKHAND
TYLER FRANKS
Tyler was born in Memphis, Tennessee. He grew up playing on his high school basketball and golf team. Tyler then moved to Knoxville where he attended the University of Tennessee to study marketing. During his time there, he started up his own valet company which became very successful and is still going strong to this day. Throughout his life, Tyler has been boating on lakes all through Tennessee. Since then, he has been pursuing a boating career which brought him down to Fort Lauderdale, and eventually onboard Lady J. During his spare time Tyler enjoys playing golf, basketball, fishing, and spikeball on the beach.