Our skippers are our greatest pride. They are carefully selected, trained internally and are all very nice people. Oh yes, and they all speak Dutch… also very nice on vacation! Yet the Portokali skippers are not the people you would expect to find as skippers. No rusty pirates with big beards and gray hair. On the contrary. All our skippers are enthusiastic, young people with lots of energy to make your sailing vacation a success. They know the right way to behave with each group, have a great sense of responsibility, but are especially focused on making your vacation as enjoyable as possible.
Of course they know the cruising area like the back of their hand and know virtually everything about sailing yachts, can sail like the best of them and maneuver a yacht with the same ease as parking a bicycle…. but they are much more than that! They make every day a party, just the way you like it. Whether they are out with a large flotilla, skippering a family aboard a luxury catamaran, or joining a company outing: they will make sure you go home with a big smile and endless beautiful memories!
Of course, all our skippers hold boating licenses. But not everyone with a license is immediately a Portokali skipper. There is really more to it. Therefore, several times a year we organize training days for all our skippers in the Netherlands. Sometimes these are theoretical days, in which we analyze 100 different ports: you are out as a flotilla guide with a group of 9 yachts. The wind is blowing 25 knots from the northeast and your destination is port X. Where do you put all the yachts, in what order and what actions and communication are involved? Other days are practical days: someone comes on location with a marine diesel engine and teaches the skippers exactly how it works, what problems you may encounter, how to recognize them and what to do to fix them.
Matters not directly related to boating are also covered. For example, all our skippers get their CPR certificate and take a first aid course. We also organize an annual communication training. Because how do you make sure that everyone in a group stays happy, how do you show that you really make the final decision and how do you find out exactly what a guest wants so that you can give them a top vacation? We organize all these training courses to ensure the quality of our skippers. After all, they are the face of our company on location and therefore indispensable. Fortunately, we currently have a pool of about 100 Dutch-speaking skippers, of whom we are extremely proud and of whom we are 100% sure that they can make your dreams come true!
