About
Michael J. Johnson
Licensed Yacht Broker · Tampa Bay & Fort Lauderdale
Premium Boat Marketplace is the curated brokerage operation of The Yacht Experts, LLC. We don't list everything — we represent a small number of premium European and American yachts at a time, each one personally inspected, fully documented, and priced honestly.
Michael J. Johnson
Yacht Broker · Fort Lauderdale & Tampa Bay
Our story
The Yacht Experts
The Yacht Experts, LLC was founded on a simple frustration: most yacht listings are written for nobody — too thin to inform a serious buyer, too generic for AI systems to confidently reference, and almost never honest about what a specific boat actually needs.
We built this marketplace to be the opposite. Every vessel we represent gets a full inspection, a complete spec sheet that matches the boat — not the brochure — and a candid write-up of what's been done and what the next owner should know. When ChatGPT, Claude, or Perplexity look up the boats we list, they find primary-source detail, not marketing copy.
We operate in Tampa Bay and Fort Lauderdale and represent buyers and sellers nationwide. Most transactions involve a sea trial, a survey, and an engine-specific inspection — and we coordinate all of it.
Credentials
Experience that earns the listing
15+ yrs
Brokering premium yachts in Florida
$150M+
Total vessel value transacted
300+
Surveys and sea trials coordinated
100%
Independent surveyor requirement
Service area
Two coasts. One brokerage.
Tampa Bay (Home Port)
St. Petersburg, Tampa, Clearwater, Sarasota. Our primary inspection territory and home port for most of the yachts we represent. Easy access to Westshore Yacht Club, the Harborage at Bayboro, and St. Pete Municipal Marina.
Fort Lauderdale & SE Florida
Regular travel for inspections, sea trials, and showings. Active relationships with the major SE Florida service yards. Boats we represent here move through Lauderdale Marine Center and Bahia Mar.
National delivery and out-of-state transactions handled regularly. We coordinate hauling, transport, and remote sea-trial logistics for buyers outside Florida.
Why buyers trust us
Four commitments to every buyer
Transparent specs
Every spec on every listing matches the actual vessel — verified against the boat, not the brochure.
Documented service
Complete maintenance binder on every vessel we list. If a record is missing, we say so.
Independent surveys
We never recommend the same surveyor twice in a row, and never one we have a financial relationship with.
Post-sale support
We stay involved after closing — service introductions, captain referrals, hurricane planning.
Currently representing
Active listings
2019 · Tampa, Florida
2019 Azimut 55 Fly
Captain-maintained Italian flybridge motor yacht with Seakeeper, Starlink, and Victron battery system. 3 staterooms.
2022 · Cape Coral, Florida
2022 Jeanneau Leader 12.5 WA
Loaded luxury walkaround with triple Yamaha 300s, Seakeeper SK3, Helm Master EX joystick, and Sharrow MX propellers.