The Charter Connection Blog

Here’s a way of having an inexpensive romantic Valentine charter and renew your vows at the same time! Tim and Angela are offering a special for charters over Valentine’s Day on their lovely 46′ yacht ‘Spirit’.

In addition to all meals and open bar, they are including free champagne throughout the week (let it flow), engraved gifts, a DVD of your happy adventures above and below the water, and champagne beach picnics! On Valentines Day itself, you can join the traditional group wedding vow renewal ceremony, held just before sunset at beautiful Trunk Bay, St. John. A tropical fruit platter and (of course) champagne, will be served after the ceremony, on the beach. Also included is a tandem ride rendezvous parasail with a bird’s eye view of St. John, St Thomas and the western British Virgin Islands.
All this for a total of $5900 for two, for the week, plus gratuity. Preferred pick up is the US Virgin Islands for this special.

Feeling romantic? Ed Hamilton & Co can provide the perfect setting for any honeymoon yacht charter or celebration, so tell us your plans and call us at 800 621 7855 or send us an email at info@ed-hamilton.com.

P.S. See if you can guess the name of the beach in the photograph (hint it was taken a few years ago)! The answer is on our company FaceBook page.

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.

For the full list you should go to our Crewed Yacht Specials pages, but here are a few examples. All prices and specials are for 7 nights, 8 days:

‘Spirit’, 46′ Hunter. A good example of how a crew can make the difference! One of the stand outs among the bargain priced boats. $5,500 for two, including all meals and reasonable bar. Current Special: $500 ‘Give Us A Reason’ discount.

‘Hypnautic’, 44′ Lagoon 440 cat. Popular boat with the new flybridge design and a nice master cabin. $9,900 for 2, $12,500 for 6, including all meals and reasonable bar. Current Special: Honeymoon Special - $9500 for 2, includes any romantic getaways!

‘Crystal Clear’ 54′ CT. Full of old world charm. Romantic ‘great cabin’ aft, with transom windows. Charly is a showman - prepare to be pampered. $8,250 for 2, $9,950 for 4, including meals and reasonable bar. Current Specials: Valentine’s Special - all inclusive for 2 people, open bar including champagne, chocolates, flowers & gifts $5950 for 7 nights. Good for all of February 2010! Book for 2010 before March 15, 2010 and save 10% on the listed rate!

‘Tonina’, 51′ Lagoon. One of the best of the 500s, particularly well run and nicely decorated. $15,990 for 6, including meals and reasonable bar. Current Specials: $1000 discount from regular price for charters 7 nights or more, for early 2010 (excluding holidays).

All the above are based in the Virgin Islands. For a charter in the Grenadines, try:

‘Sudiki’, 62′ Gulfstar. Roomy, comfortable monohull with a large master aft. Duff and Christine have lived in the Grenadines for many years and can provide a truly ‘local’ experience. $6,500 for 2, $8,500 for 4 including all meals, ex bar. Current Special: Honeymoon Special! $4950 for two, inclusive except 3 dinners ashore and bar.

‘Akasha’, 76′ Matrix cat. Top of the line in her class. $48,000 for 10, including meals and reasonable bar. British Virgin Islands to Grenada. Current Special: Two 40-minute complimentary massages per charter and 5 complimentary dives per week. This boat doesn’t need to offer specials to keep a full calendar. If you can afford her, book her - you won’t be disappointed.

You can find more specials on the Ed Hamilton & Co website. These are great examples but relatively few boats are offering specials and your best choice might not be on this list. They might already be priced right or perhaps offer more (remember, a good crew is more important than the yacht). With or without specials, the boats that have full calendars generally have them for a reason.

We have been personally selecting the best boats for our clients for 28 years and not only do we know these boats and crews particularly well, we have the experience to successfully match crews and guests, and to determine what really does represent good value. Email us or ask us to suggest some suitable yachts. All our advice and services are free, yet helping you choose the right boat and crew could make all the difference to your vacation.

Islands Magazine named the ‘best’ beaches in the world in their current issue (October). They used 10 categories and no less than 3 of the best picks were in The Caribbean/Bahamas. One was in New England. Most of the others were in the Pacific Islands or Indian Ocean.

The best ‘all-to-yourself’ beach was Sandy Spit, British Virgin Islands, not to be confused with Sandy Cay - both are off Little Jost Van Dyke. They do admit that to have the island to yourself you should go early, but yes, both Sandy Spit and the Rockefeller protected Sandy Cay are beautiful spots.

The best ‘all-day-long’ beach was Pigeon Point, Tobago, because of its amenities, and the best ‘hard-to-find’ beach was Lighthouse Point, Eleuthera. In New England, Block Island’s Crescent Beach was voted ‘best-beach-for-families’.

For the truly exotic, Matira Beach, Bora Bora and Dhigufinolhu, Maldives were both considered the best beach for ‘luxury’ and Champagne Beach, Vanuatu was the ‘best-swimming-beach’.

Whether you are looking for the ultimate honeymoon or a family vacation, we would be happy to arrange a private yacht charter to any one of them. Call us at 800 621 7855, email us, or contact us through the Ed Hamilton & Co site and tell us about the type of holiday you have in mind.

You don’t have to be a celebrity to get married like one! MTV contacted us a short while ago, looking for couples between 18 and 28 who are getting married on a yacht or in an exotic location during August. We can email you the details and contact information. The new show is called ‘True Life’ and provides a window into the lives of young Americans. Subjects for the series include living with a disorder, living in poverty, returning from Iraq, etc. MTV is currently casting ‘True Life: I’m Having a Destination Wedding’ and are looking for couples with interesting stories to tell about their wedding/relationship. They are particularly interested in why you wanted an unusual wedding and why you chose the destination you did. If you’re interested, email or call Ed Hamilton & Co at 800 621 7855. You could make your wedding even more extraordinary by having MTV document your journey!

We can show you how a private yacht charter can be the ultimate honeymoon, or romantic setting for exchanging vows. You can choose to be pampered by a private crew (some crews specialize in honeymoons and know how to spoil you while still giving you plenty of privacy), or qualified sailors can enjoy the freedom of a bareboat charter. Either way, there is no timetable - the itinerary and each day’s activities are up to you. Even the menu on a crewed yacht is planned around both your preferences!

If a Honeymoon Yacht Charter sounds romantic, we can help you find the right boat, and more importantly, the right crew. We know them well and have over 25 years experience matching personalities and interests. Call us at 800 621 7855, email us, or contact us through the Ed Hamilton & Co site, where you can tell us about your plans. Check out our Honeymoon guideline pages and wedding requirements for the more popular Caribbean Islands. To get the feel of a typical charter, take a look at our Bareboat Slide Show in The British Virgin Islands or our Crewed Yacht Charter Slide Show in The Grenadines.

If you’re looking for a getaway that’s not too far away and offers some spectacular scuba diving, why not consider Bermuda? Only 2 hours from most East Coast hubs, Bermuda features beautiful beaches and healthy reefs. The 96 foot luxury motor yacht Bermuda IV charters for less than many of the hotels on the island and is the perfect place to stay. Let native Captain Mike Davis show you the sites and take advantage of scuba dive instructor Christine East’s Underwater photography courses. This luxury yacht offers several different ways to charter, be it 5 day SCUBA charters, weekend getaways, honeymoon yacht charters, day cruises or week long private charters.

For more information and pricing, email or call us (800 621 7855), or use our request literature format (please mention ‘Bermuda IV’ when requesting literature).

Welcome to The Charter Connection. This Blog will address every aspect of Bareboat Charters and Crewed Yacht charters. It will include news of the various Bareboat Charter Companies such as The Moorings, Sunsail, Footloose, TMM and Horizon. If you don’t have sufficient sailing experience, we will discuss Private Yacht Charters with a crew, including a honeymoon yacht charter, crewed sailing charters or luxury motor yacht charters. We will also compare the many possible yacht charter destinations all over the world - Tortola, in the popular British Virgin Islands, The beautiful Tobago Cays in The Grenadines, The Pacific Islands, the many cruising grounds in The Mediterranean, from The Bay of Naples to Bodrum, Turkey, and many more.

Use the links in this post as a source of information on everything to do with yacht charter!