Marine Mover: Koester joins Southwest Florida Yacht Sales and Brokerage
NORTH FORT MYERS, Fla. – Capt. Michael Koester has joined the staff of Southwest Florida Yacht Sales and Brokerage Service with offices in Marinatown Marina in North Fort Myers, the company reported in a statement today.
Vic Hansen, who directs brokerage sales, said Koester brings a strong dimension of sailing and power cruising expertise to the company’s skill set. Koester is a Merchant Marine Officer with a Masters 50 Ton – Inland/Great Lakes license with commercial tow and sail endorsements.
Yacht cruising, both sail and power, has been his leisure time passion, according to the company, and his cruising portfolio includes experience on the Great Lakes, inland rivers, Gulf of Mexico, and the Pacific, including the Hawaiian Islands. His personal vessel is a ketch-rigged Nauticat 38 built by Finland’s Siltala Yachts.
Koester’s 30-year business career has included entrepreneurial startups and positions of sales management, most recently as national sales manager for Reser’s Fine Foods, Beaverton, Ore.
Southwest Florida Yacht Sales and Brokerage Service is a division of Southwest Florida Yachts, which also operates a yacht charter service and offers courses of boating instruction through its Florida Sailing and Cruising School.