The Charter Connection Blog

ALOHA MALOLO, the 65 foot custom crewed charter yacht, is joining the Green Movement and offering a low ecological impact charter.  Guests looking for a more planet friendly cruise, without the sound of a generator, will be impressed that Eric and Evelin power their batteries with solar panels and wind. All produce and meats are bought from local sources when possible and they double filter their water so that guests do not feel they have to drink from disposable plastic bottles.

Unlike many US or British Virgin Islands based boats, Aloha Malolo spent the summer chartering in The San Blas Islands, off Panama. Their guests enjoyed plenty of live lobster and crab, deserted palm fringed islands with picture perfect white sandy beaches and lots of smiling faces!
They have made many improvements to the boat, including three additional opening hatches in the staterooms, new upholstery, new canvas, new dinghy, a new tapered queen bed in the forward stateroom (she has four queen beds now), newly painted decks, new over-sized fishing gear, bigger TV, 70 more DVD movies (almost 600 DVD’s total), new sound system, which is ipod compatible, new hammock and sun awning, 8 sets of new gear for scuba diving, new watermaker and a lot more.

Ask us for details of this and other fine charter yachts. We’ll help you find the one that’s right for you. Call us at 800 621 7855, email us, or contact us through the Ed Hamilton & Co site, and tell us about your plans.

The impressive 82 foot Nautor Swan ASTRO DE L’EST is available for a unique charter, taking part in the Rolex Transatlantic Race. Her fee for the race is 90,000 EUROS all inclusive, or about 3,750 pp/pw. She accommodates 8 guests, in two double and two twin cabins. The race begins in Tenerife, in The Canary Islands, on November 24th and the yacht is estimated to arrive in The Caribbean, in Saint Martin, on the 12th of December. ASTRO DE L’EST is an excellent competitor with her PBO composite standing rigging, racing keel, carbon spars, race sails and Genackers.

We get plenty of requests for long distance crewed sailing charters. This would be a sail of a lifetime, and you would even eat well all the way across The Atlantic! Interested? Call us at 800 621 7855, email us, or contact us through the Ed Hamilton & Co site, and tell us about your plans.

When we go to the boat shows, we first look at the new additions to the yacht charter fleet and meet the new crews, but the veterans often have a few surprises up their sleeves!

Yachts are constantly upgrading mechanically and cosmetically and a beautiful example of this is the 1997 Lagoon, ‘Priorities’. This 8 passenger cat has transformed herself this summer from her standard white hull to a beautiful claret. She is sure to stand out among her competitors in The Drake’s Channel this year!

We would be happy to show you this and other fine yachts. We’ll help you find the one that’s right for you. Call us at 800 621 7855, email us, or contact us through the Ed Hamilton & Co site, and tell us about your plans.

Alton Brown, star of the Food Network’s Good Eats, and main commentator on Iron Chef America is taking on a new adventure. He and his producers have chartered two catamarans to dine their way through The Caribbean in the 4 part series ‘Feasting on Waves’.

If you missed the premiere last night, it will be repeated at 8pm Sept 10th, 6pm Sept 13th and 2pm Sept 14th, all on The Food Network.
The second show in the series starts at 10pm Sept 14th.

‘Chef de Mer‘ is one of the yachts featured in this special TV program.

See how Ed Hamilton & Co can help you plan your own gourmet private yacht charter in The Caribbean!

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.

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.

We are particularly pleased to welcome back Geoff and Bambi Alexander, crew of ‘Alexis‘. Catamarans tend to be expensive for just two guests, but this 38′ Admiral is a perfect choice for a couple, though she can actually accommodate up to 4 guests in her two double cabins. ‘Alexis’ charters in the BVI and US Virgin Islands at a very reasonable inclusive charter fee - $6500 for two guests and $7900 for four. This South African crew offers high quality dining, conversation and hospitality. If you are interested in receiving more information about ‘Alexis’ and her crew, or any other private yacht charters, please email Ed Hamilton & Co or go to our website.