I was chatting at the St. Maarten boat show with Beverly Parsons, a longtime charter broker whose company, Interpac Yachts, is based in San Diego, California. She was lamenting that the Caribbean and the Mediterranean–while lovely cruising destinations–seem to be the only places clients call for bookings most of the time.

“I’ve been to the charter show in Turkey every year for the past 25 years,” she told me, explaining that most clients want the Western Mediterranean, not the Eastern side, for their summertime vacations. “I book about 30 charters a year in Turkey. I could book a lot more. There are great boats there. It’s beautiful.”

Then she started talking about Mexico, which is to the Caribbean what Turkey is to the Western Med. “I know three great boats down in Mexico. All of them are available for the holidays. I can’t get anyone to go. They’re great last-minute deals.”

Any frequent reader of mine knows I’m a huge fan of chartering off the beaten course in places like Turkey and Mexico, which are emerging destinations on the worldwide charter scene. Heck, I even devoted a whole chapter to emerging destinations in my new book Have the Whole Boat: The Insider’s Guide to Private Yacht Charter Vacations. I think emerging destinations are fabulous because they have fewer crowds, more pristine scenery and, usually, zero cruise ships. And I love brokers like Beverly Parsons who make it their business to personally scout out reputable charter boats in such places, so they will be able to help you book the vacation of your dreams based on firsthand knowledge.

If you’re interested in a cruising vacation but are tired of the same old scene, look to work with a reputable charter broker like Beverly Parsons who gets out there into the world year after year and does her homework about which charter yachts are running the best operations, even in the most far-off locations. There are a good number of brokers like her with different levels of travel expertise all over the planet, just waiting for your call.

And if you’re looking for a last-minute holiday cruise, think about those boats down in Mexico. Feliz Navidad, anyone?

As I type this less than two months after the launch of CharterWave, I’m thrilled to report that our weekly audience has grown to include an average of 200 new visitors every week. News is spreading about our unique, unbiased content, in great part thanks to word of mouth from blog readers like you. Thanks so much for your continued support!

I’m also thrilled to tell you that in the past week alone, I’ve received calls from the magazines Boat International, Cruising World, PowerCruising and Offshore, all saying that they’re going to review my new book Have the Whole Boat: The Insider’s Guide to Private Yacht Charter Vacations in upcoming issues–as well as promote CharterWave to their readers because they think it’s a good idea whose time has come.

As if that weren’t enough, CharterWave is also expected to be mentioned in upcoming issues of Robb Report, Elite Traveler, Stratos and Celebrated Living in conjunction with feature articles I’m writing about yacht charter.

Taken together, all this news is wonderful in terms of growing the CharterWave community. The idea of our site is winning notice and praise, and the additional visitors we get from this upcoming publicity will only enhance the yacht charter community that we’re building here online.

So here’s to you–and to the continued success of CharterWave. We promise to keep producing great content as long as you keep coming back to read it!

Hunter Wray, the first mate onboard the 130-foot motoryacht Arms Reach, was showing me around the decks in St. Maarten and talking about all the fishing gear the yacht carries.

He sounded not like a tour guide, but like a kid at Christmas.

“We have a sweet 31-foot Jupiter tender, plus a 19-foot flats boat, a Hell’s Bay flat’s boat,” he gushed. “We have 68 different kinds of rods onboard: fly rods, deep sea rods, deep-dropping rods that can go 1,200 feet down for big grouper… The owner took out the Jacuzzi and put in a bait freezer, this massive bait freezer. The boat’s been launched for two and a half years, and we’ve never bought a fish. Everybody on the boat fishes. Even the stewardesses.”

Now, I must admit I’m no big fishing fan, but Hunter’s enthusiasm was infectious. After ten minutes with him, I was ready to bait a hook.

And my response reminded me just how much the crew’s attitude affects any charter experience. If they’re excited, you’ll be excited. If they’re into a certain kind of fun, you just might be sucked happily into it, too.

In this case, the favorite crew activity happened to be fishing, but the same logic holds for everything from fine dining to sailing to sightseeing. When booking your next charter, be sure to ask your broker about the crew’s attitude toward the activities you like, or toward activities you’ve always wanted to try but never had the chance.

There’s a boat out there that’s just perfect for you, no matter what you want to do.

Arms Reach, by the way, is part of The Sacks Group fleet. She takes 10 guests at a weekly base rate of $70,000, or about $8,750 per person with 25-percent expenses included. You can book Arms Reach through any reputable charter broker.