The Charter Connection Blog

In the Mediterranean, Anahita is using the same figures, but instead of Euros, they are now US dollars! $8,500 for 2, $10,000 for 4 and $11,500 for 6, plus expenses. In addition, she is offering 8 days for the price of 7. She can charter in the Western or Eastern Med or Croatia with no delivery fees.

In the Caribbean, the popular 65′ catamaran True North has shaved $5,000 of their price for this summer and next winter. She is now $24,500 for 6 and $26,500 for 8 ($3,313 per person) for 7 nights, and this includes all meals, open ships bar, and scuba diving (scuba courses also available at extra cost). During August and September she moves to the Grenadines, but otherwise she is available anywhere from the British Virgin Islands and Antigua, to Grenada, depending on her booking calendar.

Further north, in New England, the 123′ luxury ketch Galileo G has dropped her rate to $39,000 plus expenses. This glorious yacht was designed for world cruising by Sparkman and Stephens and built by Palmer Johnson. The classic interior was done by John Munford. All are great names in the yachting industry! She accommodates up to 6 guests in three comfortable cabins. The master is however so huge and magnificent (it comes complete with a private study/reading room) that she could also be the ultimate private yacht charter for just two guests! Extravagant? Of course. Worth it? Absolutely!

We can find you the best value in every price range. You can call us at 800 621 7855, email us at info@ed-hamilton.com, read more on the Ed Hamilton & Co website, or tell us about your plans so we can suggest some suitable boats and crews!

SVG Airlines announced new scheduled flights into St. Lucia’s Hewanorra airport, which will connect with many international carriers. There are two airports in St. Lucia and it is not practical to transfer between them. Traditionally many of the commuter airlines flew out of the northern airport, Vigie Fields, so these new flights will make getting to the smaller islands in the Grenadines even easier. SVG now runs flights from Hewanorra to St. Vincent, Bequia and Canouan. They can also arrange charter flights to any island. Their fleet ranges from smaller Cessnas etc to Twin Otters and smaller jets (used mainly for charter flights).

Winair also announced they are resuming service into the British Virgin Islands, from St. Martin and Antigua. Flights are timed to connect with major trans Atlantic air carriers such as British Airways and Virgin Atlantic. The St. Maarten service will also connect with several US cities such as Atlanta, Charlotte, Chicago and New York. There will be 21 flights between Tortola, St. Maarten and Antigua each week, using Jet Stream aircraft which carry 19 passengers. Winair enjoys privileges with several airlines enabling passengers to often check their baggage through to their final destination.

We are full service brokerage and can help you with all aspects of your yacht charter. Email us for more information, check out the Ed Hamilton & Co website, or ask us to suggest some crewed or bareboat options to start planning your holiday.

Congratulations Liara on being selected as a finalist in the “Best Sailing Yacht in 30m to 44m size range” and also for a special “Technology Award” in the prestigious Boat International Media 2010 World Superyacht Awards.

I particularly enjoyed seeing all the revolutionary design features of this unique yacht in Antigua. From the way the bulkheads/wall panels are fitted to the hull, to the construction of the cabinets, everything has a solid feel, yet is incredibly light weight. What a thrill she must be to sail, yet she is no stripped out racing boat. The cockpit is spacious and there’s acres of flat deck space. Below she is sensibly laid out with the comfort and feel of the high end charter yacht that she is.

Captain Ross Appleby is justifiably proud of his new yacht. He ran the previous Liara and was involved in the building of Liara 2. With the talented Rosie Danby as chef, this is a first rate crew and a winning combination. Her high price tag is fully justified and we can think of several clients who would love this boat and crew.

She is available in The Leeward Islands, Grenadines, or British Virgin Islands this winter, but will be heading to the Western Mediterranean in the spring. For more information, call us at 800 621 7855 or email us. For similar yachts visit the Ed Hamilton & Co site or tell us about your plans and we will send you some suggestions of other private yacht charters.

This picture of the Antigua Show at night, taken by Lucy Tulloch (thank you Jim Long, Caribbean Boating) gives a different view of this incredible show. With enough generating power to light a small town, the yachts illuminated the night Antigua sky and were visible for miles around. Of the almost 100 yachts in the show, more than half were over 100 feet and almost 30% over 150. The largest was 270 feet. This show has always attracted magnificent superyachts, but this year was a record. No hint of recession here.

Our brokers had 5 days to inspect these beautiful yachts and it was hard work. As usual, we all took copious notes on each boat, captain and chef, to try to decide which yachts would be most suitable to present to our clients. These shows are so important to us and we take them seriously, though sampling some of the fabulous meals the chefs offer is a nice bonus.

This was one of the best Antigua shows we have attended, which is very encouraging. The winter Caribbean yacht charter season is shaping up nicely and there is every indication that 2010 will be a big improvement over 2009!

We would like to wish everyone a merry Christmas and all the best for the New Year. Perhaps, while the family is all together, this is also a good time to plan that winter getaway to the British Virgin Islands or the Grenadines, or a summer charter in the Mediterranean - fascinating Turkey, Croatia, the coast of Italy, or maybe the Greek Islands. Email us, call us at 800 621 7855, check out the Ed Hamilton & Co web site or tell us about the holiday you have in mind so we can suggest some yachts. We will be standing by!

‘Les Voiles de Saint Barth’ wants to continue the nautical tradition of St. Barts. We remember the early regattas here in the 1970s, organized by the colorful Loulou who ran, amongst other things, the chandlery in the center of town. The organizers hope to combine the traditional and the contemporary - ‘a regatta for beautiful sailboats to navigate in our waters in a festive spirit’.

Dates for the regatta are April 6-11, 2010. If you want to see some beautiful yachts, we can arrange your Caribbean yacht charter in the Leeward Islands for this week, or can help you join in. Just call us at 800 621 7855, email us, or contact us through the Ed Hamilton & Co site and start selecting a suitable yacht. Check out the organizer’s site.

We introduced Dream Yacht Charters nearly a year ago as a new addition to the bareboat charter companies in The Caribbean. At the time, Dream Yacht, a company that started in the Seychelles and quickly grew to several Mediterranean locations, only operated bases in Martinique and Guadeloupe.

In November, Dream Yacht opened operations in the British Virgin Islands. They have taken over the Sunsail base at Hodges Creek Marina, (also sometimes called Maya Cove). Sunsail left this marina when they moved their operations to Wickham’s Cay II, next to The Moorings, in Road Town. Dream Yacht has now also opened a base on the Dutch side of St. Martin.

Many cat sailors noticed that Dream Yacht provides an interesting new option in performance catamarans, as they primarily use Catanas in their multihull fleet. What many sailors on this side of the pond aren’t aware of, is the performance that can be expected from their monohull line of Harmony yachts.

Harmony are built by Groupe Poncin, the same builder responsible for Catana catamarans. A Harmony 52 and Harmony 47, both chartered from Dream Yacht Charters, won their respective classes at the St. Martin Heineken Regatta, beating 19 other competitors to win all three races in the series. The performance Catanas are so well known for, carries over!

For more information on Dream Yacht Charters, or any other bareboat companies, call us at 800 621 7855, email us, or contact us through the Ed Hamilton & Co site, and tell us about your plans. We would be happy to tell you how each company compares and make some suggestions for your group.

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.

To show how last minute some charters can be, at around 11:00 am on Christmas Eve we received confirmation that 5 guests had flights into St. Martin and wanted to charter a nice yacht starting Friday, December 26th.

These dates are always difficult, even when booking months ahead, but we managed to find him Campai, a beautiful 72′ monohull which was ideal for this client and his family. She was unfortunately in Antigua, so the yacht needed to provision quickly and the three crew had to start sailing that night to get to St. Martin in time for the charter.

It was therefore imperative to get each guest’s food preferences to the boat as quickly as possible. The last one was received and on its way by 1:03 pm. Our clients receive a nice printed booklet with separate food preferences for each guest in the party, but though not as pretty, all this information is also in the on-line preference form, which many guests end up using. It is particularly convenient when guests are scattered all over the country, as can submit their preferences individually. It is also useful when time is of the essence!

The contracts were prepared and emailed to the client’s agent by 11:46 am and the signed papers received at 2:28. The fully executed copy was returned by the yacht’s owner at 4:18 pm the same day, Christmas Eve!

The client and his family arrived 48 hours later and the captain was at the airport to meet them. They are currently sailing around the The Leeward Islands and will be in St. Barts for New Year’s Eve, which was one of his requests. We wish him, and all our readers, a happy and fruitful New Year.

A big thanks to Karen at Nicholson and to Matt and Jill on Campai - a true ‘can do’ crew. The picture shows Campai’s lovely master cabin.

We don’t recommend booking any charter this close, as we can do much more for you when we have time to talk about preferences and options. It’s nice to know however, that with all our paperwork, payment and preference services available on-line, we are fully capable of achieving the seemingly impossible.

Call us today at 800 621 7855, email us, or contact us through the Ed Hamilton & Co site, and tell us about your plans.