The Charter Connection Blog

If you can go this month (March) and are considering a luxury motor yacht, NSS Pattam has the deal you have been looking for! Six guests can cruise for 7 nights on this beautiful 84′ classic DeFever for $2250 per person, including meals and bar. If you’re looking for a super private getaway, she can be chartered for $5,250 per person for just the two of you - that’s a saving of $2,125 a person! This offer is only good for March. Check with us for available dates. She’s based in St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands so getting there is easy, but like all private crewed yacht charters, she can also cruise in The British Virgin Islands which are only an hour or two away. Email us, fill out a booking form or call us now - the clock is ticking!

The USVI tourist board reminded us that Sports Illustrated Magazine recently chose St. John, in The US Virgin Islands, as the setting for the cover of the famous Swimsuit Issue - claimed to be the most widely read single issue of any magazine worldwide. We’re not sure what that says about our reading habits but it says a lot about the beauty of The Virgin Islands. Many fashion magazines and clothing stores choose The Caribbean for their photo-shoots and quite a few use charter yachts as props. We have arranged several charters for film crews and fashion catalogs - it’s interesting to watch how it is done. Perhaps this could be material for a future article in ‘The Charter Connection’?

Speaking of summer destinations, Sunsail announced quite an incredible special offer for Tahiti today: Charters that are booked by March 31, 2008 and sail by July 31, 2008 are 30% off. Returning Sunsailors save 5% on top of this offer.

What makes this such a notable offer, aside from simply the rather large discount itself, is that July is the high season for Tahiti. April through July is a wonderful time to sail there, with the driest and windiest period peaking in July and August. If you’re familiar with Caribbean seasons, simply think of them as reversed.

For the very best deals, plan your charter to end before June 21st, as you’ll qualify for the discount as well as catch the rates before the increase to the July/August high season period.

The cruising ground itself is actually not Tahiti, but the Leeward Islands of Raiatea, Tahaa, Huahine and of course, Bora Bora. Sunsail operates a fleet of monohulls and catamarans from Marina Apooiti on the island of Raiatea. Please contact us for more information on the sailing in Tahiti and the yachts available there.

If my previous post on the Caribbean sailing seasons didn’t sufficiently allay your fears of tropical storm systems interrupting your sailing vacation; or if you can only get away from August to October when the statistical risk of storms in the Eastern Caribbean is higher, then you may want to consider sailing the Grenadines.

The Grenadines is a magical cruising destination, and when compared with the ever popular British Virgin Islands, a relatively undiscovered one. The beauty of considering it for spring and summer sailing is that it lies south of the route that tropical storms or hurricanes generally take. While it is known to have more aggressive sailing conditions than the Virgins, (which could be said of almost anywhere!), the summer affords far more benign conditions with its more gentle winds and lack of groundswell, making it the perfect time to sail this area for the first time.

Several bareboat yacht charter companies now operate from the heart of this cruising ground: TMM, Sunsail and Barefoot Yacht Charters operate from St. Vincent; The Moorings is located in Canouan; and The Catamaran Company has recently opened a base at Union Island. If you’d prefer to start further south, Horizon Yacht Charters operates from Grenada, and also offers complimentary one way charters to Grenada, embarking at Union Island.

If crewed yacht charters are more your style, there are usually more yachts to choose from in the Grenadines during the summer months.