Meet Team Epic
Experience Counts—these industry experts are well educated and will guide you on a journey leading to the trip of a lifetime!
Michelle Heyns
With over 300 charter weeks and 16+ years of experience as a hostess and charter chef, Michelle has a unique perspective on the industry. She spent 8 years chartering specifically in The British Virgin Islands with her husband Leon and knows every anchorage, every activity spot, every secret sunset viewing beach, and every yacht/crew in the area. Together they have also chartered in other Caribbean destinations and in the Abacos and the Exuma Cays in the Bahamas.
She founded Epic Yacht Charters in 2016 and is now one of the top crewed charter yacht brokers in The Virgin Islands. She understands firsthand the importance of creating a perfect match between her clients and their ideal yacht & crew for an unforgettable sailing vacation. Michelle was inducted in the fall of 2020 as an active member of the prestigious Charter Yacht Broker Association (CYBA).
Hannah Angel
Hannah is from the UK and joined EPIC in February 2023. She now uses her wealth of experience in the yachting industry for her current role as a charter broker.
During her successful yachting career, Hannah completed over 250 charters as a chef/hostess, running a yacht with her partner Stuart. During these 9 years she built up an intimate education of the cruising grounds of the Virgin Islands, Bahamas and the rest of the Caribbean. She has extensive knowledge of the chartering industry and has always maintained strong contacts within the sector.
With a true passion for travel and hospitality, Hannah has a high attention to detail and strives to create the best experience for her clients; Combining her knowledge of the best yachts, crews and yachting destinations.
Kerry Hucul
Kerry is Team Epic’s Greece and European yacht expert. Kerry has comprehensive knowledge of the yachting industry. She started as a charter yacht owner operator in the 1990’s, working in the Caribbean, up until 2014. Since then she has grown her own yacht charter brokerage and yacht management company. Kerry’s expansive knowledge of every aspect of the yachting industry will enable her to execute your perfect getaway.
Like Epic Yacht Charters, Kerry concentrates on select, large sailing catamarans and motor yachts, that offer first class amenities and service.
Michelle and Kerry have known each other for many years and have worked together through many changes within the industry. Michelle and Hannah, here at Epic Yacht Charters, look forward to working with Kerry to bring you the Epic’s first new location in Greece.
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Deep Dive
Prior to her successful yachting career, Michelle obtained a Bachelor’s Degree in Nursing and a Master’s in Nurse-Midwifery. After a destiny-driven decision in 2004, Michelle came to the British Virgin Islands for her own first chartered yacht vacation. She fell in love with her captain – Leon Heyns, whom she later married, and the rest shall we say… is history. For Michelle & Leon, it was love at first sight. They started chartering together as captain and chef soon after.
She willingly gave up her career delivering babies in favor of the adventure lifestyle of yachting. Over the years they built a successful charter career and she has never looked back. After they survived Hurricane Irma in Tortola, BVI in 2017, they were fortunate to move and keep working from home. Currently, they live in the beautiful Outer Banks of North Carolina and are happy to be near the ocean.
With experience in managing a yacht and a few villas in the BVI, she is very confident with asset management. Her top priority is creating well-executed crewed yacht vacations. She has experienced every angle of the industry and personally attends annual boat shows each year to meet yachts/crews new to the scene and to see what is new with her long-standing favorites. Frequent trips to the BVI keep her updated with current information.
Together with Leon, she has been all over the world and has sailed over 10,000 nautical miles. Michelle has worked in charter areas from the East Coast of the United States to the Leeward and Windward Islands of St Maarten, Saba, Anguilla & St. Barts, and on to the Bahamas in the Exumas Cays and the Abaco Islands.
Michelle is also well versed in the stunning sailing vessels themselves. On several occasions, she has been responsible for creating layouts and well-appointed designs inside and out to outfit each yacht for its journey to becoming your vacation home. She has seen a yacht from the factory in France all the way to successful charter employment in the Caribbean – coordinating every fine detail from luxury fittings to the crew while Leon was sailing the yacht across the Atlantic ocean.
Michelle also happens to be an exceptional chef – she attended the famed Ashburton School for charter chefs in the United Kingdom and continues to pull out her chef’s knives when asked. She has also completed many dives with her divemaster husband after completing her PADI open water certification.
Leon started his yachting career after 15 years in the South African Navy. He sailed on a survey vessel to Antarctica twice. He then sailed across the Atlantic from Cape Town, South Africa to Rio De Janeiro in a 30’ sailboat. In 1999, fate brought him to the BVI where he started chartering with The Moorings. Shortly after he started in the charter industry he obtained his Yacht Master license. In 2004 he was the first captain of the first Lagoon 440 in the BVI – no other catamarans offered a flybridge before that.
Leon and Michelle moved onto a Lagoon 500 in the BVI right after getting married on the beach on Peter Island in 2008. This catamaran also sailed through the Bahamas on a 3-week charter and up to the East coast of the USA to NYC. Leon then sailed it back to the BVI via Bermuda. In 2012 he was given the chance to sail a brand new Lagoon 560 catamaran from Bordeaux, France to the Caribbean and onward to Miami for the boat show. This month-long journey was forever life-changing and just cemented his love for the sea. He is also a keen photographer and Scuba Divemaster.
After their successful yacht charter career, Michelle and Leon decided to add more skills to their resume and moved to work on a private island in the Exuma Cays of the Bahamas. Working for a lovely family and all their friends, they learned everything about chartering on land. From provisioning the entire island with food, beverages, and parts needed for maintenance, they worked as a team to satisfy everyone’s needs.
During the 2 years that they spent there, they explored many beautiful beaches, dived at some amazing sites, and learned a lot about the local culture and customs of the Bahamas. A few favorites are snorkeling at Jeep Reef, exploring the Exuma Land and Sea Park, and sailing across clear blue waters.
They are so good at helping their clients plan their yacht vacations because Leon & Michelle love to travel. It is their passion and they enjoy seeing the wonderful places the world has to offer.
During the last 17 years together, they have explored many countries. One of their many favorites is a 10-day self-drive tour around Iceland. They have taken a cruise ship to Alaska via the inside passage and have hiked and biked all around Europe.
Seeing the Aurora Borealis for Leon was a first and snowmobiling onto a frozen lake to snap that special shot comes naturally to him as he is a very talented photographer. Michelle loves to plan their next trip and she is very good at getting it right. Dog sledding with huskies in the Lapland of Sweden is hard to beat, but they are just as content walking through soft snow falling in Central Park, New York City. They rented cars and drove along the fjords of Norway and explored the beautiful Canadian Rocky Mountains and the splendor of Whistler, Banff, and Jasper. Another favorite is an African safari with 2 game drives per day at a game reserve in Sabi-Sands.
They are adventurous eaters and enjoy meals from all cultures and exotic lands. Exercising in the outdoors is an addiction and they are attracted to all kinds of water sports and finding new trails in the mountains. Zip-lining through the rainforest in Costa Rica and learning about the flora and fauna on a guided hike along hanging bridges and waterfalls was an experience both are still talking about and will no doubt be revisiting such beauty. Scuba Diving is one of Leon’s favorite water sports and Michelle often joins in to see the beauty of the underwater world.
South Africa is still close to Leon’s heart as he was born in Cape Town. Michelle enjoys the family reunions held often in Northern Wisconsin, where she hails from.
Michelle has been active in the Charter Yacht Communities and Organizations and is proud to belong to a group of prestigious associations. She is so excited to help you book your EPIC vacation of a lifetime! A video about Epic.
Reviews
See what others are saying about their experience with Epic Yacht Charters…
- Wander155331221583/17/2024Trip of a Lifetime! - Hands down--trip of a lifetime! From the minute I reached out to Epic for the first time, to last day of our trip, every detail was taken care of--it was an amazing vacation with family and friends.
Working with Hannah on all the pre-trip planning was such a pleasure; she's knowledgeable about the ins-and-outs of getting to and from the BVI, where to stay before/after the charter and what to expect on the charter itself.
We spent 5 nights on Flotation Therapy (45' catamaran) and were well taken care of by Captain Bill and Chef Ashley. We swam, snorkeled, hiked, SUP, learned to scuba dive, explored, relaxed and ate incredibly well at every meal, all while sailing through the BVI. Bill and Ashley are so personable, they made us feel so welcome and went out of their way to make sure we had exactly what we needed. They even helped us celebrate two birthdays along the way--and we always looked forward to Ashley's creative tablescapes every time we sat down to eat.
Can't say enough good things about this experience--we're already thinking about next year's trip!read moreread lessJessicaKB783/12/2024We highly recommend Epic Yacht Charters Our family went to the BVI's for Spring Break. We charted a boat through Epic Yacht Charters for our trip. Hannah and her team came highly recommended and we had a great experience with them! They were knowledgeable, friendly and very helpful. We were beyond pleased.read moreread less - timothye8423/01/2024Thanks to Epic! We just completed an 8 day charter in the BVI arranged by Michelle and the trip went flawlessly. From my first call to Michelle at Epic Charters I have been impressed. I left a message and within a few minutes she called back. (She actually returns phone calls). We discussed my budget and what I was looking for on the trip, and she forwarded some suggested boats and crews. ETHER, one of the boats she recommended was well equipped, new, and crewed by Ivan and Marissia, two very attentive and professional crew. Ivan is very laid back and calm, Marissia very energetic. Together the combination was magic. The trip was everything we had hoped for, and we hope to return to the islands in the future.read moreread lessMatt Schonwalder2/02/2024Best vacation experience - Unquestionably the best vacation experience ever. Michelle at Epic was easy to work with and responsive to any and all questions. Our yacht was beautiful. Our captain and first mate/chef were an absolute delight, and the itinerary they build to our interests was pure perfection.read moreread lessP3305VKkaylad1/23/2024Endless beautiful views! - My family and I had an amazing experience with Captain David and Chef Emily on Lady Catron! We enjoyed endless beautiful views, visited a ton of fun snorkeling spots and had amazing food all week! Michelle at Epic Yacht Charters was a key component in planning this amazing vacation. It was our first time charting a catamaran and she walked us through each step and provided a bunch of great information. I could not recommend it enough!read moreread less
- ericbC3483VH1/05/2024Wonderful Sailing Trip We had such an amazing trip on the DeLana Mae with Captain RJ and Jenna. Michelle at Epic Yacht Charters connected us with the boat and we couldn’t be happier with her service, the boat, crew and overall experience. We can’t wait to book our next trip!read moreread lessRobert Sutton12/01/2023Expressing our appreciation - There are no words to adequately express our appreciation to Hannah at Epic Yachts for all she did to help us with our first family catamaran charter over the Thanksgiving week in the BVIs. What might have been a great multi-generational trip turned out to be an exceptional trip aboard the S/V Wanderlust with Francois and Katie. Hannah was always available to promptly answer questions. I very much appreciated that she even checked in will we were sailing to make sure that everything was going well. Francois and Katie were wonderful and kind and made the Wanderlust a perfect home for the week. The Wanderlust was beautifully decorated, well maintained, and equipped with a wide array of water toys, including underwater scooters. Francois created and revised the itinerary to meet the particular interests of our family, finding excellent snorkeling spots, beautiful beaches, and great shore experiences. The grandchildren thoroughly enjoyed the almost daily knee board time with Francois and they and my son enjoyed the Hobie Cat sailing lessons at Virgin Gorda. We all enjoyed a “movie night” under the stars with a large screen rigged outside on the bow. Katie isn’t just a good chef. She is phenomenal!! Even breakfast was a gourmet meal. She accommodated all the special dietary requests made in our preference sheet and made every meal and appetizer a delicious culinary adventure. Francois curated a lovely selection of South African wines and proved to be an outstanding mixologist at cocktail time. Each day was an adventure, a once in a lifetime trip, enjoyed by everyone in the family. Thank you Hannah, Francois, and Katie.read moreread lessMichael Mostardi11/22/2023Fantastic service - Michelle and the Epic team were fantastic. She assisted our group to ensure that the trip we've been dreaming about for 30 years, exceeded our dreams. Additionally, it was clear the selection process Epic uses for boats, crews, etc. as we constantly commented how our boat and crew stood out amongst the rest.read moreread less
WHY A CREWED YACHT?
1st class service is the goal of your yacht crew, allowing you the time to enjoy all that a luxury vacation on a yacht has to offer.
WHAT TO EXPECT ON CHARTER
Having a hard time visualizing your crewed yacht vacation? Watch our video for a glimpse of life on your crewed yacht charter.