The Charter Connection Blog

Version 4.0 of the Navionics’ iPhone charts is now out. If you own an iPhone and are planning a yacht charter in the Caribbean, Bahamas or New England you should get this app. It’s even a pretty good reason to buy an iPhone! The new version has Google overlays over the land, so you can easily identify landmarks. The iPhone gps, particularly in older models, isn’t accurate enough to replace your chart plotter but this app is incredibly useful as a backup, a dinghy gps, or a tool to plan an itinerary before you even take your charter. See our article describing version 3, which shows some of the many things you can do. Prices now start at $4.99 - the same charts in your chart plotter can cost several times this!

Back home, I use the Maine iPhone charts all the time when planning our trips or checking out the next anchorage. Scrolling and zooming is much easier than using a chart plotter. Charts for the whole US East Coast cost $14.99!

Ed Hamilton & Co’s Steve McCrea recently chartered a Moorings 4300 bareboat in the British Virgin Islands and took these two pictures as he was approaching Cooper Island. The top picture shows the Raymarine chart plotter on the Moorings boat, which used the same Navionics charts as the iPhone. The second picture, taken a couple of minutes earlier, shows his phone giving the same position (the chart is turned so north is upwards). Steve says his iPhone (the latest version) was every bit as accurate as the plotter and the fix on each device was identical!

You can find many Virgin Island crewed charter deals on our website’s ’specials’ page, so we don’t post every one in our blog, but these two caught our eye.

Pas de Deux is offering 7 nights for the price of 6 from now until July 7th! Six guests can therefore have 7 nights on this great 60′ cat for $2786 p.p. instead of $3250, including all meals and open bar. Harvey and Tracy are an excellent young crew. This is a good price for a 60′ cat offering this standard of quality.

For two guests looking for an inexpensive 54′ monohull, the Gulfstar Verna Breeze is offering full board and half board specials up until December 15th, 2010.

Full Board all inclusive special - $5999 for 2 adults. $500 for each additional child.
Half board (7 breakfasts, 5 lunches, 3 dinners) $5499 for 2 adults. $400 for each additional child.

This 1987 Lazzara design had a refit in 2006 and is in nice shape. She has a traditional interior with plenty of varnished wood and lots of charm.

For deals offered by bareboat charter companies check out our bareboat specials on the Ed Hamilton & Co website. Click on your favorite cruising ground for a full list.

It was great to see Charlie and Ginny Cary named one the ‘Top 40 Sailors Who Made A Difference’ in SAIL magazine’s 40th anniversary issue. I knew them well.

Charlie and Ginny first came to the Virgin Islands in the late 60’s to retire. To keep busy, they bought four Pearson 35’s with Tony Reynold and some other friends from the oil industry back home in New Orleans, with the idea of starting a bareboat charter company.

They called their company The Moorings.

I first met them in 1972, when I had just sailed in to Road Town, Tortola from England. I was a young man of 25 and was desperately looking for a job. Charlie had just taken delivery of 15 Morgan Out Island 41s. I eventually convinced him to hire me and I worked for him for just over a year, before running another bareboat charter company and eventually starting my own in 1975. Ed Hamilton & Co came in 1982.

Charlie and Ginny were a wonderful team. Ginny was the one that always seemed to get everything done, but Charlie was the soft spoken boss! Looking at The Moorings empire today, with 32 bases worldwide, in every conceivable cruising ground from New Zealand to The Pacific North West, it is easy to forget how this company began.

In the early 70s they rented an office and dock space in front of the ‘new’ Waterfront Condominiums in Road Town, next to the Francis Drake Pub. This was a smart move, as it looked like they owned the whole complex, as the above picture shows. Charlie always did have big ideas! Having such a small staff, he and Ginny were very much involved in the day to day activities.

In the bareboat business, you learn to expect the unexpected, but I remember them being so disappointed when two of their brand new boats collided – they were the only two boats sailing that afternoon in the whole of the Drakes Channel and they managed to hit each other! If I remember correctly, one was being delivered from the US, with the delivery crew still on board. We could all fill books with stories like these!

On a personal note, I owe an enormous amount to Charlie and Ginny, as do many of their early staff.

Charlie never seemed to mind that his managers moved on to other bareboat charter companies. In the mid ’70s, when the industry was less competitive than today, the heads of all the BVI companies used to meet for lunch at the Treasure Isle Hotel, to share stories and supposedly discuss policy, etc. I remember Charlie looking round the table and realizing that he had employed and trained every single manager except one! It was to his credit that he accepted this as an enormous compliment!

Charlie and Ginny always owned a boat in their fleet, which they named ‘Flying Ginny’. It was always the best kept and had the top crew. Their last boat, ‘Flying Ginny VII’ is indeed still chartering (privately). She’s a very popular Lagoon 55, run by an English couple, Tom and Gemma.

Charlie also enjoyed fast powerboats and it was no accident that The Moorings chase boat (‘Windchaser’) was a nice new Bertram 28. On my weekly trips to St. Thomas to pick up supplies, I was always instructed to cruise at the rated rpm, but when Charlie was aboard he loved to ‘red line’ it. The two of us had some thrilling rides together!

The Moorings was eventually sold to a European travel group – a fact that was not widely broadcast in the US. For most people chartering in the Caribbean, The Moorings was as American as apple pie.

Later a group of American investors bought the company back and Charlie, once again, became a figurehead. While not as involved in the day-to-day business, it was great to see him at boat shows and Moorings events. Ginny’s health failed and he retired (once more) in The Bahamas and Florida. He died June 14th, 2007 at Vero Beach, Florida.

Ed

Our clients have been particularly happy with the “Tahiti Twosome” program. This is an economical way for a couple to experience magical Polynesia and is a real step up from a simple bareboat charter with skipper. The focus is on couples and honeymooners, sailing on a nice one way itinerary from Raiatea to Bora Bora.

The package is based on a Tahiti Yacht Charters Lagoon 380 catamaran, and includes all meals (except 2 evening dinners), table wine with meals, 2 kayaks, floating sun mats, snorkeling gear, a complimentary Tahitian massage at the Deep Ocean Spa of the Intercontinental Bora Bora, plus a Skipper who is not only your host, but who also does the cooking.

Your skipper will either be Polynesian or a French ex-patriot who has been sailing Tahiti for years. Their ages range from 28 to 50, all are passionate sailors and experienced hosts, and of course fluent in English. Your skipper will be chosen based on the personalities and interests in your group; while this isn’t quite the level of crew matching offered by a fully crewed charter, it offers a great advantage over a bareboat with a completely unknown skipper.

The 6 night/7 day itinerary takes you through the 4 major islands that make up the Leeward Islands of the Societies, starting at Raiatea, sailing on to Tahaa, then to Huahine, and ultimately to Bora Bora, where you disembark on your final day. Activities can include visiting a vanilla plantation, dinner while watching Polynesian fire dancers at a pearl farm (dinners ashore extra), coral gardens, glorious snorkeling, with many types of sea life, including manta rays, visiting a black pearl farm (yes you can buy directly), deserted ‘motus’ with miles of incredible sandy beaches and sunsets you will never forget.

With the addition of a cook, this program is also adaptable to larger groups of couples or families, or if you would like all of your meals on board. The pricing starts at $3,450 per person for the standard Tahiti Twosome package.

The Tahitian Government places many restrictions on private charter yachts who wish to use these islands as a base, so unlike the Caribbean, there are very few smaller private crewed yachts available for charter. The rules are different for the bareboat charter companies, which is why TYC is able to do this. We think their program fits the gap nicely, offering a reasonably priced vacation with more personal service than a regular skippered bareboat. While these are not private boats with full time personal skippers, we can discuss your interests and requirements to tailor your cruise.

This program is very adaptable, so email us or tell us what you are looking for using our online form and we will help you plan your vacation. We know the area well. There is also more information on the Ed Hamilton & Co site and of course more luxurious options available. We look forward to helping you arrange a private vacation or a honeymoon yacht charter like none other.

Photo credits for this page: All photographs were taken by David Kirkland who owns the copyright. They were supplied by Tahiti Yacht Charters and are used with permission. They may not be reproduced without permission from the photographer/owner.

Scuba Diving Magazine recently announced the results of its annual reader poll, called the ‘Top 100 Readers’ Choice Survey’. In the Caribbean, the British Virgin Islands took first place in the ‘Top Beginner Diving’ category, second place in ‘Top Underwater Photography’ and third in ‘Top Wreck Diving’.

The British Virgins have always been a popular place to dive and there are many well organized dive companies on several of the main islands. Most offer rendezvous dives for crewed charter yachts, when a dive boat meets a yacht and takes those guests that want to dive off to the dive site, returning them later. The dive company supplies all the gear and the group can be as large or as private as you wish. The advantage is that those not interested in diving don’t have to sit over a dive site or listen to a dive compressor filling tanks.

Many bareboat charter companies have dive shops on site or nearby and of course qualified scuba divers can dive from their bareboat.

Serious divers can also select a private crewed yacht that offers diving, so guests can dive at any time and in any location they choose. There are some wonderful yachts and crews to choose from. We would be happy to make some suggestions. Check the scuba box when telling us about your plans, or email us. There is also more information on the Ed Hamilton & Co site.

Whether you’re bareboating the Caribbean for the first time, or you’re an experienced Caribbean sailor looking to explore somewhere new, a great way to get your feet wet is to sail in a flotilla. When it comes to flotillas, there are few operators who do a better job than the company who pioneered the concept - Sunsail.

Sunsail is a well known and very popular bareboat company, but few people realize that Sunsail started some 35 years ago as a small organization with a few boats offering flotilla sailing vacations in the Greek Islands. When many potential or active bareboaters hear the word “flotilla,” they immediately think of a rather uninspiring and regimented game of follow the leader. With a Sunsail flotilla, nothing could be further from the truth.

The concept behind Sunsail’s flotillas is actually more based in the social aspect than it is in providing a stepping stone, but they can be used either way. Their flotilla format can be as loose or as scheduled as you like. While Sunsail publishes an itinerary for their flotillas, (which is subject to change depending on weather, events not to be missed, or even consensus of the flotilla party), the schedule is more of a guideline. You sail on your own boat, with up to 12 other boats and a lead Sunsail boat with a skipper, flotilla hostess, and engineer. There is a port to meet up in at the end of the sailing day, and the course you take to get there is up to you - if you want to follow the lead boat, you can; if you want to take your own tack and simply meet the group that evening at anchor, that’s fine too.

Some experienced sailors also use flotillas to become comfortable with a new area. If you’ve sailed your own boat in the Northeast for years, for example, but have never sailed the Caribbean, a flotilla is a great confidence builder. Not familiar with Med-mooring? The flotilla skipper can show you the ropes and help make your vacation seamless. Worried about finding a good restaurant or speaking the local language? The flotilla hostess can help ease you into the locale.

While a flotilla can readily be used to become familiar with a new sailing area, don’t overlook the social benefit. At the end of each sailing day, you have the opportunity to get together and relive the day’s great sail with other like-minded sailors. In the summer months, in particular, a flotilla is a great way for families with children to find ready-made playmates.

Sunsail offers 26 different flotilla routes in the British Virgin Islands, Grenadines, Croatia, Greece and Turkey, so there’s plenty of variety for all tastes. In most cases, any of Sunsail’s available bareboats can be added to the flotilla, and the flotilla fee covers not only the knowledge and service of your lead crew, but also fuel, yacht insurance, welcome punch party and breakfast pack. There’s no better time to try the flotilla concept, as Sunsail is offering 25% off Caribbean flotillas this spring and summer, when you confirm by May 30th.

If you would like to know more, call us at 800 621 7855, email us, or contact us through the Ed Hamilton & Co site and tell us about your plans. Not only have we booked many flotilla vacations, we have even run them in Tortola, so are very familiar with all aspects of flotilla chartering.

One of our guests chartering a bareboat with a skipper brought up an interesting point in her post charter comments. The skipper, who she met 5 minutes before their charter, was unsuitable and another had to be found, delaying her departure. The problem had nothing to do with the ability of the captain, who would have worked well in a different situation.

We always stress in our literature and when booking a charter, that in the case of a skippered bareboat, the skipper you get is generally allocated by the bareboat company just before the charter and even if allocated earlier (as was true in this case), the company always has the right to switch crews before the charter. There is virtually no ‘matching of skippers to guests’ and with most bareboat companies, guests know nothing about the skipper they will actually be spending the week with.

This particular situation would have been caught and resolved if the client was booking a captain only crewed boat. These are private boats, run by a permanent skipper, who maintains and operates the yacht. Just like the private fully crewed yachts, we know a lot about these skippers and can make recommendations as to which one would best fit your group. Because this is an individual boat rather than one picked from a fleet, we can accurately describe its condition and the equipment it carries.

So there are some advantages to a private captain only charter, but this type of charter is not the best choice for everyone. In the following situations, taking a skippered bareboat might be the better alternative.

1: While many private ‘captain only’ boats are comparably priced to the larger skippered bareboat charters (and can offer better value), it is certainly possible to charter a smaller bareboat from a company and add a skipper for less money (We would be happy to make a price comparison for your particular situation and show you your total cost in both cases).

2: There are plenty of people that feel they can get along with any skipper and are willing to take their chances. We would stress that most bareboat charter companies are careful about who they hire. Candidates are obviously qualified, but the companies also look for people who are congenial. The bottom line though is that personalities vary and even two nice people don’t always get along! Personality clashes are far less likely when we know who the skipper will be and have had a chance to match him or her with the group.

3: If you are a semi experienced bareboater and just need  a skipper for a few days to gain confidence and brush up on your skills, taking a skippered bareboat makes a lot of sense and is a quick way to get qualified for the next time you charter. If you want a relaxing vacation with a chance to take the helm and learn a bit about sailing, take a private crewed boat, but if the eventual aim is to bareboat, go the skippered bareboat route. Not only will you get the instruction, you will be gaining experience on the type of boat you will be chartering and will become familiar with the check out procedure and operations of the company, so next time things will be much more familiar.

We book every type of charter - bareboat, skippered bareboat, crewed yachts in a bareboat company’s fleet, captain only private crewed yachts, head boats (ie book a cabin on a fully crewed boat) and fully crewed private yacht charters. All have their different advantages, but because we have been booking all these different types of charters for many years, we are in an excellent position to describe them from an independent viewpoint and suggest how suitable each would be for your group.

For any charter involving a skipper, it is important to remember that the crew is generally going to have an enormous influence on the success of the charter. Unless the whole object is to get qualified to bareboat in the future, someone considering a skippered bareboat should also look closely at a fully crewed private boat. You avoid paying for the overhead of the bareboat company, plus meals, wine, bar and even the chef are included!

To get started, call us at 800 621 7855, email us, or contact us through the Ed Hamilton & Co site, and tell us about your plans.

At the end of Lynne’s excellent article on how to access the internet, rent cellphones and connect iPods, we asked for a vote on how important these items are to charter guests. The results are interesting.

Responses are still coming in, but the surprise so far is how many people feel they don’t need an internet connection (currently 44%). True, many cruising grounds have plenty of internet cafes, but we find a wi-fi connection on a boat pretty useful (but then we’re not normally on vacation!).

iPods are of course incredibly popular and make a lot of sense, but we were surprised by how many people said it was a feature they actively looked for when choosing a boat (currently 68%). This is a pretty strong message to the remaining crewed boats that still do not offer iPod docks, particularly as they are so easy to install.

Take a look at the full results, plus the comments many readers have added. You can also see the results from other surveys we have featured in previous newsletters, and by clicking on the titles, you can add your own vote for any past survey that interests you. For more great articles on both bareboat and crewed yacht charters, check out this month’s newsletter.

The photograph shows how easy it is to view Ed Hamilton & Co ’s website on your iPhone, even in The Caribbean!