The Charter Connection Blog

The lovely 80′ ‘Matelot’ is offering 10 days for the price of 7 in September, to round out her successful season in Tahiti. This is a great time to visit the Society Islands. The August heat has gone and the winter rainy season hasn’t arrived!

Matelot is a beautiful, sleek, Nauta 80, designed by Bruce Farr and built by the Southern Wind Shipyard. Her captain, Angus Fuller, knows the area well and has prepared two examples of possible itineraries, one for the Society Islands (Tahiti) and one for the more northern and remote Tuamotu Islands. We hope you enjoy them and they inspire you to visit one of the last truly pristine cruising grounds in the world!

When you’re ready, Ed Hamilton & Co. can help you with all aspects of your charter. Call us at 800 621 7855, email us at info@ed-hamilton.com, or tell us your plans so we can suggest some suitable bareboat charter companies or yachts with crews!

Stu and Fran, the crew on the popular catamaran ‘Two If By Sea’ have reached the Pacific Vava’u Islands and sent us this note.
“As we arrived in Tonga last Thursday we were greeted by 6 whales at the entrance and it seems that they are out here every day, right through until November. The dolphins are here all year. Things start to quieten down then, until late April when the whale season kicks off again, with the mothers coming early to have their young.
The waters are warm, even though it’s winter here and the clarity is great. There are a whole lot of different fish to see and any number of great Pelagics (which is a nice way of saying sharks) and Tuna.  Mahi Mahi, Giant Trevally and Wahoo are all in these waters in abundance, so the fish is really fresh (and fun to catch). Most of the food is brought in from New Zealand and there is a fresh vegetable market every day here in Vava’u.
This is the ideal place for guests who want to do some great scuba diving, see the whales and experience something very different during the hurricane season in the Caribbean. We have a permanent Cyclone mooring in Vava’u which is great as a refuge in case there are any nasties during our cyclone season which runs January through April.
Like many other boats operating in The Pacific we are offering a free Tongan Feast as a special treat one evening during the vacation.
We would appreciate hearing from anyone looking for something a little different. Remember this time of year, the fares from LAX are very reasonable!”

Fran & Stu are presently half-way between Panama and the Galapagos en-route to Tonga on their catamaran, ‘Two If By Sea’. They report fair winds, clear skies and an uneventful passage so far. The Canal transit was great, without dramas or problems.

They have produced a new website to promote their venture, which covers everything from flight information, activities and what to expect from a vacation aboard ‘Two if by Sea’ in Tonga.

We have had many successful charters on this boat.  She made her name in the British Virgin Islands, but Stu and Fran love exploring less known places, so decided to relocate to unspoiled Bocas del Toro, Panama (see our past newsletter article), where they spent last season.

They plan to charter in Vava’u, Tonga for 2 years starting this September, eventually moving on to Fiji and New Caledonia. Tonga is traditionally a bareboat destination and there are few boats based there that have a full-time professional crew. In addition, ‘Two if by Sea’ can offer scuba diving at any level (Stu and Fran are both PADI instructors), plus a wealth of water toys for guests’ use. Based on our past experience with this great boat and crew, we feel they will be very popular and look forward to helping them fill their calendar.

Sounds interesting? Email us for more information on ‘Two if by Sea’ and start planning a holiday of a lifetime in the Pacific Islands. Considering other areas? We can suggest other crewed sailing charters in all kinds of romantic destinations. There’s more information on the Ed Hamilton & Co website.

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.

‘Alexis‘, the 2 or 4 guest cat, that has been so popular in the Caribbean, is accepting charters in the San Blas Islands, off Panama, between December 24th and January 24th. Later she will be available in the South Pacific Islands, on her way to Australia.

This 38′ Admiral charters for just $2225 per person for 4 and $3950 pp for 2, including all meals for 7 nights.

Take a flight to Panama and transfer to Albrook Airport for the short flight to Provenir, where Geoff and Bambi will be waiting for you.

She is indeed currently available for Christmas and New Year. Be adventurous and celebrate the New Year somewhere unusual. Give us a call at 800 621 7855, email us, check out the Ed Hamilton & Co web site or tell us about the type of holiday you have in mind and we will send you some other crewed yacht charter suggestions.

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.

It’s great to hear from old friends. ‘Lady Anne II’ was a popular yacht in The Caribbean, before Patrick and Pascale started living their circumnavigation dream. They spent the summer of 2008 in The Society Islands in the Pacific (Tahiti, Raiatea, Bora Bora) and are presently in Australia for the next six months. They then plan to sail to Thailand for the December 2009 to April 2010 charter season. This is a great chance for adventurous guests to charter a reliable catamaran with a known, well traveled and interesting, French crew, among some beautiful islands, far from the normal beaten track. If the winter works out as planned, they hope to stay in Thailand for the 2010/11 season also. They are in no hurry to rush back!

‘Lady Anne II’ was originally part of The Moorings crewed Caribbean yacht charter fleet with Patrick and Pascale as crew. In 1998 they purchased her and ran crewed sailing charters in the US and British Virgin Islands, but the plan was always to sail her around the world. Their slide show from The San Blas Islands to Tahiti is well worth a look.
Patrick owned an alarm security company and was previously a private investigator. He is a talented musician (blues and jazz) and has a keyboard on the boat, which he can play for guests if they wish.

Pascale has a passion for cooking and particularly enjoys Creole and Mediterranean cuisine accentuated with fresh herbs and oils. She is a “people person”, loves to dance and enjoys a good conversation.

The three guest cabins all have separate air conditioning controls and ensuite heads.  The two aft cabins have slightly larger queen size berths.  She has plenty of deck space and easy access to the water using the aft steps.

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

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.