Crew Profiles:

Captain Bart
Captain Bart was born and raised in South Africa and grew up along the southern coast of the country, the infamous Garden Route. Bart spent times in his childhood sailing small catamarans in the Knysna Bay area with family. This early exposure formed a lifelong love of being on the sea and of sailing.

Having always been around boats when he was younger, he decided to change up his lifestyle after a bout as a quarry manager for 8+ years after high school. He did his sailing YachtMasters license in his homeland back in 2019. Upon completion, he has served on various large yachts in different locations, including the Bahamas and the East Coast of the US. Easy going and always up for a chat, he loves sharing experiences and is always happy to talk sailing and boats. As an ex- Skydiving instructor and keen scuba diver, you are sure to hear some exciting stories. Bart believes that safety is always the primary focus when preforming his captain duties, and that having respect for the environment will always provide for an optimal, fun-filled trip. Bart can’t wait to experience more trips throughout The Bahamas with new faces in sunny, favourite places.

Chef Katie
Penny Jo welcomes Katie, a Canadian chef who comes from a university town an hour west of Toronto, Ontario. Her love for food and cooking hatched from a young age. Her Nan (also Katie) shared her wealth of knowledge and family recipes from the time she could walk and hold a wooden spoon. Many summer days were spent canning jams, jellies and preserves, baking fresh pies and hosting family gatherings where our efforts could be enjoyed by all.

Throughout high school, Katie worked part time in the hospitality industry. Serving in a local banquet hall, as well as several local fine dining kitchens. Once Katie finished high school, there was only one real path which all of her friends and family knew was before her; Chef school. Katie attended a private French culinary institute in Canada, Stratford Chef’s School.

Upon graduation, Katie worked several private chef gigs throughout North America. This gave her off seasons in between her contracts to go and travel, which is a major hobby and love of hers. She took her time to explored Southeast Asia, Eastern Europe and Central America solo and with friends. This broadened her scope in cooking, giving her new flavours and ingredients to unwrap and understand.

Once the travelling itch was satisfied, Katie began to explore new avenues to merge her existing career with other hobbies and passions like travel and scuba diving. This is where interest and recommendations came for the yachting industry. She travelled to South Africa to complete her yachting qualifications in 2021, where she met Captain Bart in Cape Town through the local yachting community. Our first Captain and Chef couple’s job came quickly upon completion of my STCW yachting course. We began our journey together on an 80” Motor Yacht in the jewel of the Caribbean, The Bahamas. We spent a year and a half on sister ships for that same company and explored all down the chain of the Caribbean including Puerto Rico, US Virgin Islands, British Virgin Islands and St. Maarten.


Captain Bart and Chef/First Mate Katie look forward to sharing their personal experience and brand new adventures with all who join aboard PennyJo this 2023/2024 season in The Bahamas.