CharterWave eNews

August 2006

Motoryacht Kakela Offers Exclusive $2,000 Discount for CharterWave Subscribers
Our newest addition to the CharterWave members-only Deals & Discounts section is a $2,000 discount off weekly charters onboard the 120-foot Christensen motoryacht Kakela.

The exclusive CharterWave offer is good for members whose cruises take place in the Florida/Bahamas area before December 1, 2006. The yacht is part of the fleet at International Yacht Collection.

Kakela takes six or eight guests and has five crew. The weekly base rate, with the CharterWave discount, is $33,000 plus expenses (or about $4,700 per person for eight guests with 25-percent expenses included).

If you're a member of the CharterWave community, you can take advantage of this exclusive offer.


Wherever You Want to Bareboat, First Choice is Ready
CharterWave editor Kim Kavin recently flew halfway around the globe from New York City to the Seychelles islands off the coast of Kenya in the Indian Ocean. She was headed for the luxury crewed motoryacht Teleost (look for her review on CharterWave soon) but discovered along the way that the reach of bareboating companies has grown just as worldwide.

Particularly impressive is the recent corporate consolidation that brought together The Moorings and Sunsail, now both under the parent umbrella of First Choice Marine. Their combined bareboat bases touch virtually every continent on the planet, which means that no matter where you want to book a bareboat or skippered bareboat charter, there’s a destination already organized and ready for your arrival.

Just some of the places where you can now book a sailing or power bareboat through The Moorings or Sunsail include:

• Bahamas
• Virgin Islands
• St. Vincent
• Guadeloupe
• Antigua
• Martinique
• Greece
• Italy
• Spain
• Croatia
• Turkey
• Seychelles
• Australia
• New Zealand
• Mexico
• Tonga
• Tahiti
• Finland
• Northwestern United States
• Chesapeake Bay, United States
• Florida, United States

If you’re a new charter client wondering whether your destination options onboard yachts are more limited than those onboard cruise ships, this list should put your concerns to bed for good!

And Speaking of Great Destinations …
This issue’s crewed yacht of the month is the 115-foot motoryacht Surprise, which we cruised onboard in the storied Fijian islands.

Surprise has been chosen for this special recognition because of the yacht's captain, Carol Dunlop. She’s a British ex-pat who has spent the past 30 years—yes, 30 years—training yacht crew and initiating Fiji’s out-islands into the private yacht charter culture. Today, she brings charter guests to the small local villages where she has become a welcome guest, all of them far from the tourist traps that resort and cruise-ship passengers see.

Perhaps even more important, she’s as protective of the islands she visits as she is of the guests in her care. She wants no part of turning Fiji’s islands into shopping and tourist meccas like St. Thomas and Cozumel a half a world away.

Surprise is part of the fleet at Fraser Yachts Worldwide and takes eight or nine charter guests at a weekly base rate of $52,500, or about $8,200 per person with 25-percent expenses included. You can read our full review of the yacht if you're a member of the CharterWave community.


Broker’s Website Offers Price Breakdowns
Longtime charter broker Ed Hamilton of Ed Hamilton & Co. has a terrific (and unique) feature on his company’s website: the prices of bareboat and crewed charters broken down into per-person rates.

It’s a feature we here at CharterWave haven’t seen on other brokers’ websites, and we like it because it helps you to understand exactly what you’re getting for your vacation dollar, whether you want to spend $1,000 per person or $100,000 overall.

Check out the details for yourself at www.Ed-Hamilton.com.

Landry Re-Joins Merrill-Stevens Yachts
Longtime and well-respected charter broker Ann Landry has re-joined the team at Merrill-Stevens Yachts in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

Ann was a broker with Koch, Newton & Partners when Merrill-Stevens acquired that company in 2005, and after the merger she left to form her own company, Ann Landry Yachting. Following a few personnel shakeouts at the newly combined Koch Newton/Merrill-Stevens outfit, Ann has decided she’d rather remain a player on the bigger team.

You can still reach her to discuss bookings via This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , or you can use This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .


New Members-Only Crewed Yacht Reviews Added to the CharterWave Database This Month
Motoryacht CD Two in Spain's Balearic Isles
Motoryacht Irony on the Chesapeake Bay
Motoryacht Surprise in Fiji


New Members-Only Bareboat Reviews Added to the CharterWave Database This Month
Powerboat on Ireland's Shannon River


New Members-Only First Impressions Added to the CharterWave Database This Month
Motoryacht Va Bene
Sailing Yacht Bahamian Rhapsody