Jim Northrop and George Johnson founded the brokerage firm in 1949 after World War II. Based in New York, these ‘Gentleman Brokers’ became popular and well know for their honesty, integrity and fair play.
Over the years Northrop and Johnson has moved with the times, opening offices in Ft. Lauderdale, Europe and the British Virgin Islands to be able to better service our expanding clientele. Today Northrop and Johnson is recognized at every major yachting venue throughout the world.
The Northrop and Johnson BVI office is the newest in the group, an expansion undertaken to meet the needs of large yacht owners who position their yachts for a good part of the year in the Caribbean. Based on the operations of the well know Kathleen Mullen of Regency Yacht Vacations, the Northrop & Johnson BVI office has an excellent staff of experienced and knowledgeable brokers who have been working in the Caribbean for the past twenty years.
Northrop & Johnson BVI is proud to continue the tradition of honesty and integrity in servicing our brokerage clients, both buyers and sellers.
Northrop & Johnson Team
Kathleen Mullen
Kathleen Mullen
Discovering the perfect yacht for your vacation, and launching successful new charter yacht businesses have been Kathleen Mullen’s forte for the past thirty years. Her depth of experience in the yachting industry is what has made Regency Yacht Vacations, Ltd. an industry leader and a highly regarded business.
A graduate of the University of Michigan, Kathleen took a job as assistant crew manager on the ten-meter wooden racing boat, CHOICE, and was crew from Boston to St. Thomas. Kathleen has continued racing a variety of sailing yachts ever since. Over the next eight years there followed a series of assignments crewing on boats throughout the Caribbean, Pacific and the US. Kathleen has enjoyed traveling and views her continual worldwide assessments of yachts as a pleasure.
She swallowed the anchor in 1983 when she bought and took over management of a yacht scheduling and crewed boat charter businesses. In 1987, she expanded into charter brokerage and has recently teamed up with Northrop and Johnson as their Caribbean representative for the sale of large yachts.
Never too busy to discuss the rewards of boat ownership or to explain the advantages of a crewed charter, Kathleen draws on her firsthand worldwide yachting experience. She represents yachts from 65 feet to 300 feet worldwide, both sail and power.
Heather Wood
Heather Wood
Heather Wood, a native of upstate New York, came to the BVI in 2000 with friends who had a charter yacht based in the BVI. Life took a turn when she first met Captain Simon, originally from the UK but who has lived and worked in the BVI since 1989. It was upon returning to Boston where she was a Sales Manger that she met up with Simon again when he sailed into Boston Harbor. Summer weekends were spent sailing up and down all of New England’s Coast line and as many winter getaways in the BVI as possible. In 2002 Heather moved permanently to Tortola where she and Simon were married on Sandy Ground Estates with friends and family from the US and England present.
For that summer and few after that, Heather sailed with Simon from Tortola to Bermuda to New England with the return trip in the Fall. Heather has sailed with Simon on numerous deliveries throughout the Caribbean as far as Belize. In all, accumulating over 7000 nautical miles in just a few short years. Deciding to be land based, Simon retired from the Yacht to concentrate on his day sail and rental business. In a very short time, Simon taught Heather how to identify all the reef fish they encountered and what sites were the best for seeing the various species. Heather worked along side him as a snorkel guide spending up to 8 hours a day in the water with guests from all over the world.
This past year Heather decided that she was ready for a change. With the Tortola office expanding and the introduction of Northrop and Johnson Yacht Sales to the Regency Yacht Vacations charter brokerage it was the perfect time to embark on a new challenge. Basic knowledge of chartering along with extensive knowledge of the BVI and New England by sea, made for an easy transition.
In her free time she still works in the “family business” along side Simon and his parents. She spends as much time on the water for pleasure and participating in weekend regattas. Heather is actively involved in the Royal BVI Yacht Club, as a member and as a committee volunteer.
Eunice Johnstone
Eunice Johnstone
Eunice brings 15 years of experience in the Hospitality Industry to our Tortola office. She has been in Hotel Management for the brunt of this, promoting tourism for the Nova Scotia Government and increasing the exposure of the Hotels she worked with. Her success was in her ability to attract and book clients from all over the world.
She built her boat with her husband and departing Canada in 2001, has sailed Scandia over 22,000 nautical miles. They took their time getting into the Caribbean, stopping for extended periods along the way. It took four years to reach the Virgin Islands, a year in the Dominican Republic was just one of the highlights of the trip. She has delivered yachts to Venezuela and sailed in local races. She has worked in sail lofts in both St Thomas and Tortola. Her tenure as a boat briefer in customer service for one of the larger bareboat companies has given her much experience in all aspects of the charter industry, from bareboat chartering to crewed yachts in both power and sail. With a "Down Home" and relaxed attitude she puts people at ease and competently gets the job done. Putting the needs of your clients first with consistent backup, she can organize and work with all clients and brokers.
With approachable staff and an open door policy, Regency is a perfect fit for Eunice and she looks forward to meeting and dealing with all of her client's everyday. Frequent updates on specials and constant communication with all of the brokers make for a satisfying day.
History of Northrop & Johnson Yachts
Shortly after World War II Jim Northrop and George Johnson formed a partnership to provide a quality yacht brokerage service to their close circle of yachting companions on Long Island Sound. The first office opened in 1949 at 366 Madison Avenue in lower Manhattan and served as the foundation for the fledfling brokerage that was soon to expand into one of the largest and most respected yacht brokerages in the world. Northop and Johnson´s Yankee herigate was reflected in the company´s reputation for honesty, integrity and fair play.
Northop and Johnson´s reputation as the " Gentlemen Brokers" spread quickly in the tightly knit New york yachting community and by early 1960s the company expanded with branch offices in Stamford, CT, Miami, FL and Marblehead, MA. In 1971 Kees Van Vliet opened the first US Yacht Brokerage office in Europe in Cannes, France. By the late 70´s there were additional offices in Newport,RI, Puerto Buenos, Spain and St. Petersburg, FL.
During the ´70s and ´80s Northop and Johnson became the premier large yacht brokerage in the United States. Many of the industry´s most recognizable names began their career at Northop and Johnson. Today Northrop and Johnson is recognized at every major yachting venue throughout the world.
Northop and Johnson now has five core offices located in Ft. Lauderdale, FL; Boston, MA; Newport, RI; Cannes, France and Annapolis, MD. They have a strategic alliance with Chuck Hovey Yacht Sales in Newport Beach, CA and Seattle, WA. A strategic alliance has also been formed with Yachting Partners International in London, England and Antibes, France. These alliances provide Northop and Johnson's clients with broad representation of their yachts in every major yachting center and provide Northop and Johnson brokers with vital information and valuable shore side support. Northop and Johnson is the first major yacht brokerages whose business practices are in alignment with Northop and Johnson´s history of service to the yachting community. Northop and Johnson and their affiliate offices continue to do business in the Yankee tradition putting honesty and integrity above the bottom line quest for maximizing profit.
