Encore

Captain Heiko Franken & First Mate/Stewardess Rebecca & Chef Ludeke Niehaus

MEET YOUR CREW:
CAPTAIN: Heiko Franken
CHEF: Ludeke Niehaus
FIRST MATE/STEWARDESS/SCUBA DIVE INSTRUCTOR: Rebecca Wu

Returning crew Heiko and Rebecca (3 Sisters, Felix, Tedavi, Big Nauti, Sail Away) are back for their sixth charter season in the Virgin Islands after five successful seasons running 75+ charters. This dynamic couple is excited to be on Encore and look forward to welcoming you aboard, showing you the wonders of the Virgin Islands and creating memories to last a lifetime!

They are passionate about providing a highly professional level of service in a relaxed and friendly atmosphere while creating the most memorable experiences for their guests. They love getting to know you and tailoring each charter to your preferences and desires, allowing you to kick back, relax and enjoy. With a deep love and respect for the natural world, they maintain a strong focus on environmentally aware hospitality and best practices to ensure minimal impact on the environment.

Heiko, born and raised in Germany, holds a RYA Yachtmaster Ocean qualification. He has been working as a professional yacht captain for five years and has crossed the Atlantic Ocean. He left his job in IT management in 2014 to begin his dream to travel. Initially intending to be away for about a year, he soon realized that going back to an office-based job did not feel right for him anymore. Since then he has travelled throughout South and Central America, Europe, Southeast Asia, Africa and Australia. During this time he visited 30+ countries, speed-hiked the Camino de Santiago, hiked up 5000m high mountains, learned to speak Spanish, learned to scuba dive and freedive and had many more beautiful experiences above and below the water. His love for freediving and yoga led him to obtain his instructor qualifications. Afterwards, he worked as a freediving instructor, spearfishing guide and yoga instructor in Indonesia, Australia, Thailand and Tanzania for four years before venturing into yachting. Heiko loves to be out in the blue of the ocean and enjoys sharing his passions as a guide by creating safe and unique experiences.

Rebecca is originally from New York City but considers herself a citizen of the world, having lived a nomadic lifestyle for over two decades. After graduating from NYU, she worked in investment banking, first in New York and then Hong Kong. A trip to Australia in 2005 changed her life - she learned to scuba dive on the Great Barrier Reef and fell completely in love with scuba diving. Two years later, she left the concrete jungle and trading floor for real jungles and sea floors. She spent two months diving her way around the Philippines, three months on a marine conservation expedition in Madagascar and four months completing her Divemaster internship in Malaysia. Then, life took an unexpected turn and she found herself living in Sweden, where she discovered her love for sailing. Still holding on to her dream to teach scuba and share the underwater world with others, she put her plans for sailing on hold and became a PADI Instructor in 2009, working in Thailand, Hawaii and Indonesia for a decade. Afterwards, she embarked on her third career as a yacht chef, enabling her to combine her long-standing passion for gastronomy with her passion for sailing and life at sea. After four years, she decided it was time to step out of the galley in order to fully embrace the role of a dedicated Stewardess/Deckhand/Dive Instructor on larger yachts. She loves life on the ocean, surrounded by water, nature and wildlife and thrives on sharing these passions with her guests.

Heiko and Rebecca met in Utila, Honduras while they were doing their Master Freediver course in 2015. After being in a long-distance relationship for several years, they decided to create a life together. Their mutual love for the ocean, travel and exploration led them to obtain their RYA Yachtmaster Offshore qualifications together in Gibraltar in 2020, sailing thousands of miles along the coasts of Spain, Portugal and Morocco, dodging the infamous orcas along the way. Shortly afterwards, they crewed their first yacht together in the USVI and have been flourishing as a team ever since.

Chef Luka hails from a nature reserve near the coastal city of Gqeberha, South Africa, where his love for the outdoors and ocean was matched only by his passion for cooking. A competitive water polo player and open-water swimmer, he’s also been crafting flavorful, artful dishes since his teen years.

After earning a prestigious Cordon Bleu diploma from the Silwood School of Cookery in Cape Town, Luka trained in some of the most renowned kitchens in the world—including The Test Kitchen and Chef’s Warehouse. He later returned to Silwood to mentor aspiring chefs and launched The Messy Chef Collective, a bespoke private chef venture known for its imaginative, globally inspired menus.

Still, the call of the sea was too strong to ignore. Luka blended his two greatest passions—culinary artistry and ocean adventure—by stepping into the world of yacht cuisine. As both a qualified chef and skilled deckhand, he brings a perfect balance of creativity and capability to life aboard.

This amazing trio is guaranteed to give you the vacation of a lifetime in this beautiful destination - the British Virgin Islands.