The Charter Connection Blog

Virgin Traders, the popular crewed and bareboat charter company, is offering free flights from San Juan or Antigua when 6 or 8 guests charter one of their boats in Tortola. As we mentioned in a previous post, they have an arrangement with the charter airline, Del Airways. The charter has to be booked this month (January), for a charter in April and represents a saving of roughly $333 a person. Virgin Traders offers a full range of motoryachts from bareboat power boats to midrange luxury motor yacht charters.

If you think you might be able to take advantage of this great special, call us today at 800 621 7855, email us, or contact us through the Ed Hamilton & Co site, and tell us about your plans.

Following on from our last post, Virgin Traders, which offers luxury motor yacht charters and bareboat power boats in The British Virgin Islands and elsewhere, has announced an alliance with Del Airways. With the cutback of flights this season, several Caribbean yacht charter companies are looking into alternatives. Using a local air charter service, particularly for the short inter-island flights, makes a lot of sense. Virgin Traders has taken this concept one step further. The new service will start in January.

Charter flights are generally slightly more expensive than a scheduled flight but if your party fills the plane, the difference can be minimal. On the plus side, you get personal attention, a slightly more flexible schedule and a direct flight to your destination. Everyone in the party should be made aware that these are small planes, but unless you are very tall or don’t enjoy flying, they are comfortable and are a great way to get to your charter yacht in style.

As always, we are happy to help you with all aspects of your yacht charter, so don’t hesitate to email us, or call Ed Hamilton & Co at 800 621 7855.

The latest Charter Connection Newsletter asked readers to vote if they felt Air Conditioning was a necessity when choosing a Bareboat. The advantages of A/C are obvious, but the article pointed out some of the disadvantages which might not be so evident, particularly as most Bareboat Charter Companies charge for A/C in some form or another. The results are also interesting. Currently only 28% say ‘Yes’, 43% say ‘No’ and 28% are not worried, so an amazing 70% don’t feel it is a requirement. The comments are also informative and cover a wide range of views. If you are surprised that so many people feel this way, read the article! You can also add your vote to this survey, and any previous ones.

TMM was the first Bareboat Company to add A/C to a significant number of their boats. Sunsail and Moorings offer it on their larger cats and monohulls, but the trend is to not install it in the midsize and smaller monohulls due to the reliability of the smaller generators. Horizon, BVI Yacht Charters, Voyage, Footloose, Conch and The Catamaran Company all have boats with A/C, as do most of the bareboat power boats.

The Bareboat Charter Companies would be only too happy to do without the maintenance headaches a generator and A/C cause. Our suggestion would be to have it available on the premier boats, but add a charge for those that wish to use it, in fairness to those who don’t.

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