Two motoryachts up in New England are seeking last-minute charter bookings before they head to southern cruising grounds for the winter.

The photo above is of the 82-foot Horizon Adriana II, which is part of the fleet at Neptune Group Yachting. She’s available in the Newport, Rhode Island, area for the next two to three weeks, taking six guests at a weekly base rate of $28,500. Come October, she’ll be cruising down to Baltimore, Maryland, to offer charters in the Chesapeake Bay.

The photo below is of the 100-foot Hatteras Triple Attraction, which is part of the fleet at Robert J. Cury and Associates. She’s currently based in Mystic, Connecticut, which is a good port for beginning or ending a cruise that includes Long Island Sound and Martha’s Vineyard (not to mention the historic Mystic Seaport itself). She takes eight guests at a weekly base rate of $40,000. Like Adriana II, Triple Attraction will be heading south soon for the winter charter season, and she’s offering a fall cruise south if that’s a charter option you favor.

Any reputable charter broker can help you negotiate a last-minute booking onboard either of these yachts. Think about getting onboard while the getting is still good!

Charter yacht and marina owners in the Florida Keys are breathing a sigh of relief this morning, since Hurricane Ike has taken an unexpected turn that will shift its course away from the popular charter grounds and out into the Gulf of Mexico.

As you can see in the graphic above (the most recent projection from the U.S. National Hurricane Center), the storm will only graze the westernmost section of the Keys and Dry Tortugas, where there will be tropical storm-force winds as opposed to hurricane-force gales. The upshot is that the marina infrastructure should remain undamaged as the winter charter season approaches.

The report from about 45 minutes ago says Ike has weakened to a category 1 storm and should be entering the Gulf waters in the next 12 hours or so. There is a chance of isolated tornadoes and water spouts in the Keys until then, but here’s hoping that it’s an uneventful (if rainy) afternoon in Southern Florida–and that we can all take a break from worrying about these storms for a while in the popular winter charter grounds.

I just got off the phone with the captain of the 110-foot charter motoryacht Island Time, which is hunkered down at the Atlantis marina (a popular pickup and drop-off location for megayacht charters) in Nassau, Bahamas.

He tells me they’re experiencing rain and 35-mile-per-hour winds, but no major weather or damage from Hurricane Ike, which spared the northern and central Bahamas a direct hit. In general, it seems the marina operators and charter yacht captains in those popular cruising areas are breathing a sigh of relief. “We’ve been lucky,” is how this captain put it.

I would say that charter guests who plan to cruise in the area this coming winter might consider themselves lucky, too, as infrastructure appears to remain in great shape.

Let’s hope the same holds true as Ike heads for the Florida Keys. I’ll keep you posted when I’m able to get some on-the-ground reports from the popular marinas there, as well.