“Skipper Chip” Johnson

“Skipper Chip” Johnson

Yacht Broker | S&J Yachts | New Bern, North Carolina

For Skipper Chip Johnson, yacht brokerage is personal.

Chip is more of a boater than a broker, and more of a cruiser than a salesman. His advice comes from decades of owning, maintaining, cruising, delivering, buying, selling and living aboard boats—not simply from studying listings and sales data.

He has owned 29 boats, currently owns four, lived aboard for three years, and has logged approximately 8,000 ocean miles and counting. He is also an experienced delivery skipper who has captained dozens of different boats, up to 72 feet in length.

That breadth of experience gives Chip a perspective few brokers can duplicate. He has operated a wide variety of boats in real-world conditions and understands how design, systems, handling, maintenance and comfort translate from a specification sheet to life underway.

Based at S&J Yachts in New Bern, North Carolina, Chip specializes in cruising sailboats, sailing catamarans, trawlers and cruising powerboats throughout Eastern North Carolina and beyond.

His philosophy is simple:

Know the boat. Know the market. Understand the mission. Communicate clearly. Stay involved until the job is finished.

Cruising and Delivery Experience That Benefits Buyers

Buying a cruising boat is about much more than comparing length, horsepower and equipment lists.

Because Chip has lived aboard, cruised offshore and delivered dozens of boats, he evaluates boats through the eyes of someone who has actually had to operate them, maintain them and live with their design decisions.

How easy is the engine to service?

Can you actually reach the systems that will eventually need repair?

Is the boat comfortable underway?

How does it handle in close quarters?

Can a cruising couple manage it easily?

Does the helm provide good visibility?

Is there enough storage for extended cruising?

Are the systems practical and reliable, or unnecessarily complicated?

How will the boat behave when the weather is no longer perfect?

What will this boat really be like to own two years from now?

Those are the kinds of questions that come from time underway.

Having captained many different makes and models also gives Chip an unusually broad basis for comparison. He has experienced firsthand how boats of different sizes, hull forms, propulsion systems and layouts behave outside the marina. That experience helps buyers distinguish between features that look impressive in a listing and features that genuinely make a boat safer, easier to handle or more enjoyable to cruise.

Chip spends time understanding how a buyer actually intends to use a boat—their cruising plans, experience, budget, maintenance expectations and priorities—before helping narrow the search.

Sometimes that means looking at a lot of boats.

That's perfectly fine.

The goal isn't simply to buy a boat. It's to find the right boat.

Chip helps buyers evaluate design, equipment, condition, market value and ownership considerations, then guides them through offers, surveys, sea trials, negotiations and closing.

The “Easy Button” After the Sale

For many buyers, the transaction is only the beginning.

Chip often provides new-owner training, owner-assisted deliveries and training trips designed to help clients become comfortable with their new boat in real-world conditions.

That can include docking and close-quarters maneuvering, systems operation, anchoring, navigation, route planning, engine checks, basic troubleshooting and practical cruising routines. Rather than simply handing over the keys, Chip helps owners build confidence with the boat they just purchased.

For clients who want an even simpler transition, Chip can also arrange to deliver the boat directly to their home slip, with delivery services available along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts.

The concept is simple:

Find the perfect boat. Buy it. Learn it. Bring it home.

In many ways, Chip tries to make the yacht-buying process feel like an “Easy Button.” His goal is not merely to help a client close on their dream boat, but to make sure they are comfortable, confident and safe operating it once the paperwork is finished.

For some owners, the delivery itself becomes the best training opportunity. An owner-assisted delivery provides hours or days aboard the new boat with an experienced skipper, allowing the owner to learn systems, handling and cruising routines while actually making the trip home.

By the time the boat reaches its new slip, the goal is for the owner to feel that it is truly their boat—not just something they purchased.

An Owner's Perspective for Sellers

Owning 29 boats also means Chip understands the seller's side of the equation.

Selling a boat is rarely just a financial transaction. Boats carry memories, adventures, friendships and sometimes years of personal work.

Chip understands both the emotional connection owners have with their boats and the practical realities of preparing one for market.

For sellers, he combines that boating experience with an aggressive modern marketing approach. Every listing is treated as an individual marketing project rather than simply another boat added to an MLS.

That includes studying the competitive market, developing the right pricing strategy, identifying what makes the boat special, creating compelling photography and video, writing detailed listing content, promoting through the major yacht marketplaces and social media, and continually evaluating listing performance.

His objective is straightforward:

Create maximum exposure, generate qualified interest, and position the boat to achieve the best realistic combination of selling price and time on market.

And because Chip understands boats from an owner's and skipper's perspective, he can often recognize construction details, upgrades, maintenance decisions and cruising features that deserve more attention than they receive in a conventional listing.

Hands-On From Listing to Closing

Chip's involvement doesn't end when an offer arrives.

He routinely helps coordinate showings, negotiations, surveys, haul-outs, sea trials, contractors, documentation, marina logistics and closing details.

His delivery and skippering experience is particularly useful during sea trials and surveys, where understanding vessel systems, handling characteristics and onboard operation can help buyers and sellers navigate the process more effectively.

That hands-on approach is especially valuable for absentee owners or buyers purchasing a boat from outside the area.

Chip has also developed a broad network of surveyors, technicians, boatyards, marinas, captains and other marine professionals throughout Eastern North Carolina—relationships that can be extremely useful before, during and after a transaction.

A Broker Who Still Loves Boating

Despite spending much of his professional life around boats, Chip still owns four of them.

That probably says everything.

He genuinely enjoys boats, marinas, cruising communities and the people who choose to spend their lives around the water.

His clients often describe him as knowledgeable, patient, responsive and willing to go the extra mile. Many former clients eventually become boating friends.

Whether you're preparing to sell a yacht you've loved for years, looking for your first cruising boat, or searching for the boat that will take you on your next adventure, Chip brings something to the conversation that can't be learned entirely from sales reports:

the perspective of an owner, cruiser and skipper who actually lives the boating life.

Why make the water wait?

Go boating now.