The Charter Connection Blog

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.

There’s always a last minute flurry of inquiries in December, for Christmas and New Year charters, and normally there’s nothing available. This year has been different, as several excellent crewed yachts had their Christmas and New Year bookings canceled. It’s been a frustrating couple of weeks, because although some boats are open, getting flights to The Caribbean is neither cheap nor easy. As the holidays begin, we also have to also worry about owners’ agents closing their offices and crews making their own holiday arrangements, thinking a charter isn’t likely.

Megayachts traditionally book late for the holidays, but crewed yachts up to around 80 feet are generally booked solidly by late summer, and this year was no exception. Most of the openings were from cancellations in the Fall, where people were willing to lose their full deposit, which shows just how desperate the downturn has been for many people.

On the plus side, because the mid-sized yachts have traditionally booked so far ahead, the Caribbean winter season is not at all bad. Calendars for the very large yachts show much more availability, but many of these yachts do not need, or want, to be fully booked.

Our feeling is that there will always be people who charter regularly, year to year. Popular boats that offer high standards at a fair price and typically book well ahead, will still be busy, even in these slower times. The second tier boats, that tend to fill when availability becomes tight, might not be in as good a position, until confidence in the economy returns. As always, we will be looking for value for money, rather than lowest prices regardless of quality, in these coming months.
So if you are considering a last minute Caribbean Yacht Charter for New Year and can get flights, call us today at 800 621 7855, email us, or contact us through the Ed Hamilton & Co site, and tell us about your plans. Time is certainly running out, but we have the resources to still make this happen.

New Year and Christmas have been heavily booked for months and some of the larger Catamarans have been sold out for a year, but we do have some nice options open, particularly in the $4-5,000 per person, per week range.

One of the more popular 80′ monohulls is still open in The British Virgin Islands for a party of 6.

The 76′, 10 passenger catamaran Zingara is one of the most luxurious charter yachts of her type available anywhere. Her holiday charter, which was booked months ago, had to cancel this week. She is open for Christmas but already has a tentative booking for New Year, which we can challenge if you can move quickly! They don’t get much better than this.

The 67′ Catamaran Marmot has also had a cancellation. She has four cabins but is really more comfortable for just six guests.

Smaller and mid-size sailboats are tougher to find, although there are more monohulls than cats available. The cost of flights over the holidays becomes more of an issue and they are difficult to get. If you missed out this year, you might want to think about booking for next year. You might be surprised by how many savvy charterers already have!

The owners of larger luxury Motor Yachts often announce their holiday charter plans much closer to the season, so availability is currently much better than for crewed sailing charters, but of course prices are considerably higher. Most are based in St. Martin or Antigua.

If you are considering a last minute Holiday Charter, don’t wait. Call us at 800 621 7855, email us, or contact us through the Ed Hamilton & Co site, and tell us about your plans.

A big thanks to everyone who sent us pictures of Hurricane Omar. While this storm was thankfully somewhat of an anticlimax in the US and British Virgin Islands, The Leeward Islands certainly had some damage and we received several pictures of flooded cars and downed trees, both in St. Martin and in Antigua (Jolly Harbour was particularly hard hit).

Rather than showing photographs of flood damage, which is rapidly being cleaned up, the pictures featured here were taken of the entrance to Marigot Bay, St. Lucia, many miles further south. Though Omar was miles away, the storm surge was impressive, particularly considering this is the leeward side of the island. No damage, just great pictures. Thank you Dick and crewed charter yacht ‘Frangines’ (she’s the catamaran in the foreground) for sending them to us.

Hurricanes affect The Eastern Caribbean far less than Florida and islands further west, though we certainly cannot say they don’t happen. So a storm like Omar, even though it had relatively little effect on the Caribbean Yacht Charter Industry, is news. This is the slow season, so we only had a few charters affected.

Most trip cancellation insurance covers weather interruptions, but for full coverage, it is important to select the right company. We can give you lots of advice with this.

If you don’t mind taking a chance of your charter being cut short, there are all kinds of bareboat charter bargains to be had. Email or call Ed Hamilton & Co at 800 621 7855.

Hurricane Omar tracked slightly east of his projected path, passing through The Anegada Passage between The British Virgin Islands and St Martin last night. Thankful residents and crews in The Virgins billed it as a relative ‘non event’ - more rain than wind. If anything, St Martin was more affected, as the storm was not expected to pass this close and less preparation was done. From the people we have heard from this morning, St. Croix had closed roads and trees down, St. Thomas lost power, Tortola is still without power as of this writing and St. Maarten lost some roofs and trees, although we understand there might be more damage in the marinas in Simpson Bay. The storm came from the ‘wrong’ direction, so much of the southwest of the island was less protected. Some small tornadoes were reported in this area.

One reason for the lack of more wide spread damage was that the storm moved very quickly through the area. After stalling for days further south, it raced past the Virgins at 25 knots and is expected to decrease in intensity as it meets cooler water. Judging from the relatively few precautions some private boat owners took in The Virgins, this is a good thing. The Virgins haven’t had a direct hit from a major hurricane for many years and I wonder if this has made people take them less seriously.

The weather is already back to normal, with light winds and lovely sunshine. Email or call Ed Hamilton & Co at 800 621 7855 if you have any questions about Caribbean weather or bareboat charter bargains during these low season months.

A big thank you to our friends in The Caribbean, for letting us know. Glad you’re all OK.

Once again, The Sint Maarten Yacht Club is inviting guests to compete in the 29th annual St. Martin Heineken Regatta. Race dates are from March 5 - 8, 2009, but this event is not only for the racing fanatics. It’s fun to watch from a crewed yacht and spectators have plenty to do even after racing is completed, with on shore venues, parties and feasts! With the generous donations from last year’s participants, the Yacht Club was able to provide sailing lessons for one lucky local youth. This year the yacht club is hoping to triple online donations and add 3 more children to the program.

Whether you are looking to charter a bareboat or crewed yacht to participate in the race, or a spectator vessel to follow the action, give us a call at 800-621-7855, visit the Ed Hamilton & Co Website or email us to see how we can make you a part of this excellent event!

While Hurricane Gustaf, Hanna and Ike create headlines in The US, it seems that for now, The Virgin Islands and The Eastern Caribbean Islands (St. Martin to The Grenadines) have escaped any major storms. This has been the pattern in recent years, but it is imperative for anyone sailing there in September and October to buy a trip cancellation policy that specifically covers named storms. Ed Hamilton & Co offers their clients two choices of suitable packages.

Weather patterns have certainly changed over the years. When Ed started his bareboat charter company in the 70’s, he could honestly say the last hurricane to hit the British Virgin Islands was in 1927! In the late 70’s a hurricane did approach The BVI, but it conveniently downgraded to a tropical depression as it passed over, so the statement was still true! Incidentally, Ed remembers the eye passing right over Tortola. Suddenly the wind and rain ceased and the whole night sky was full of stars. Like a lunar eclipse, the eye wall then slowly covered the sky again and the rain and wind resumed - from the opposite direction.

All this changed in the 80’s, when some vicious storms hit The Virgins and later Grenada, but recent years have been kinder.

For people willing to put up with the possibility of trip interruption, there are certainly some bareboat bargains out there and the islands are delightfully uncrowded. Winds tend to be much lighter, so the seas are calmer and the water clearer - ideal for snorkelers and scuba diving. Most crewed boats haul out by August and the crews take well deserved vacations, but there are some who charter throughout the summer.

While storms are not impossible in November, this can be a great time to charter, before the winter snow birds arrive and the harbors start filling up

If a charter sounds interesting, we can help you find the right boat. 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.

Thank you Dick for the photograph. It was taken from his house in Tortola a few days ago!

This month’s ‘Charter Connection‘ Newsletter, which was emailed to subscribers last week, included an article describing the many different yacht charter destinations around the world. Readers were invited to vote on any cruising grounds they had visited on either a crewed yacht or bareboat charter and for the purpose of this vote, these areas were divided into the following categories:

BVI / US Virgin Islands, Leeward Islands, Grenadines, Western Caribbean, Bahamas / Florida, Western Mediterranean, Croatia, Greek Islands, Turkey, New England, Pacific Islands, New Zealand / Australia and Asia

You can view the initial results as they start to come in. It seems that most people only voted on their favorites, which they naturally rated as a ‘3′, so there are some ‘perfect scores’. We expect this to change as more people vote.

If you haven’t voted yet, feel free to do so, and if you only voted for your top choice, we’d love to hear about those other areas you visited and how you felt they compared.

You can also vote on the past surveys we have run, accessed via the results page. It is always satisfying to see a surge of votes come in after each ‘Charter Connection’ mailing, some for articles over a year old! For this reason we keep all articles open and update the results as they change.

If you would like us to describe any of these beautiful cruising grounds or the fine charter yachts that sail there, call us at 800 621 7855, or email us, or visit The Ed Hamilton & Co website.