Turning Cartwheels
I got onboard a brand-new charter yacht today at the Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show, a motoryacht that a broker described to me as “really nice, all new and shiny.”
I let the crew show me around, and the boat was, indeed, all new and shiny. Then I started asking the crew questions. They quickly revealed that they were all leaving the boat imminently, and that perhaps only the captain would be staying on for the upcoming charter season–the yacht’s first charter season ever. I asked why they were leaving, and they said, “politics.”
The captain walked out onto the deck where we were talking, and I said, “So, captain, I hear you’re staying onboard for the upcoming season. Are you excited about chartering?”
He grunted and replied with disgust, “Sure. I’m turning cartwheels.”
Now, this was the polar opposite of a conversation I had with longtime captain-and-chef team Mac and Betsy McDonald, who run the 150-foot motoryacht Magic as part of the fleet at Merrill-Stevens. She’s an older yacht, but a nice one–and when I saw this longtime charter couple on the dock, they were practically gushing about the season they’d just spent offering charters in Croatia. “I hope we get to go back,” Betsy told me. “It was one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever seen.” Mac felt the same way, adding that all of their charter clients had been terrific.
I’ll tell you, if Mac and Betsy could have been doing cartwheels there on Magic’s aft deck, they would have–which is about as polar opposite an attitude as you can get from that other motoryacht captain who seemed downright upset that he’d have to bother with charter guests at all. Yes, his yacht was brand-new and gorgeous, and yes, Magic is a little bit older (though in good shape), but at the end of the day the older boat in this case is the better one for charter. The crew can’t wait to have guests onboard and show them beautiful parts of the world. That beats a yacht with the newest carpeting in the boat show by a mile.
When you’re trying to decide which charter yacht will be the best for your vacation, look for a boat with a crew that actually does turn cartwheels with excitment at the thought of having you onboard. That’s how it should be, no matter how nice or new the yacht itself is.
Magic, by the way, is availalbe for booking through any reputable charter broker. And no matter how many newer and shinier boats I see, she remains at the top of my personal list thanks to Mac and Betsy McDonald. If a guest asked them to do a cartwheel, I’m pretty sure they would. And with a smile, too!