Ah, the stunning charter grounds in Greece. These are the types of harbors where you can vacation all summer long aboard charter yachts of all kinds.

    Gertrud Annevelink, charter manager for New Zealand-based Charter Experience (a CharterWave sponsor), attended this month’s industry-only yacht show in Poros, Greece, to see what boats are still available and what is happening in terms of charter pricing. Following are excerpts from my exclusive interview with her about what she saw and heard on the docks.

This was your first time attending the Greek charter show. What did you learn that other brokers might not know?
I’m very glad that I did go because there are Greek boats out there that don’t use central agents, or internationally recognized management companies. If a broker has not seen these particular Greek boats in person and met their owners, then the broker usually can’t get access to them for charter clients. 

    And some of them are very good charter boats. One gulet [a style of traditional motorsailing yacht] that was just launched was so new that it was still being finished while we were there. It’s a 114-footer called Iraklis, a sistership of Liana. It’s run by a charming family, and it’s absolutely a beautiful yacht, and the owners are willing to do everything right for the charter clients. They’re eager to please. And I wouldn’t have known about it if I hadn’t gone.

I attended the Poros show two years ago and thought the quality of Greek charter yachts was improving from years past. How did the boats look this year?
I was impressed. And, actually, the consensus on the docks was that the boats were really impressive this year.
    There was a good range of boats, too: medium-sized powerboats, a couple of really nice gulets, boats that looked good in different sizes and at different price points. That’s good news for charters of all kinds.

The Turkey charter market is adjacent to Greece, and when I was in Marmaris this month, talk was that August is booked solid but the rest of the summer is still open. Are Greek yachts also showing availability at this late date?
I spent one day asking all the crew on the boats I went aboard what their bookings were, and none of them had bookings for the first week of August. I thought that was quite staggering. That’s the super-prime high season, and it’s always the first week to be booked up, and all of these boats still had availability.
    So those notoriously late bookers who tend to call brokers every June, and they want a boat for August, and we’ve never had anything available in the past, they’re in a good position to get lucky this year—and even with some of the best boats. That’s true of Greece, but also of other summer charter destinations as well. When I look at the availability lists of charter yachts from the international brokerage houses right now, it takes my breath away, there are so many great boats still available.

What about rates? With the market being down internationally, are the Greek yacht owners willing to accept offers, or are they holding firm to listed charter prices?
It’s like everywhere else in the world: Every price is negotiable right now. There are some charter yacht owners who say, “We don’t want to negotiate or bother with all the going back and forth, so we’ve lowered our price to the best that we can offer. We don’t want to haggle.” But other charter yacht owners are willing to have discussions.
    One reason I was at the show in Poros was to determine which owners are which, so that I can help my clients get the best possible rates if they want to charter in Greece this summer.

I understand there was a motoryacht on display with all kinds of features for ultimate personal safety.
That’s Ramina, a brand-new, 108-foot Maiora motoryacht. It was unlike any yacht I’ve ever seen for charter before, and I really liked it a lot.
    The boat has all kinds of equipment that is up to military standard, including systems to fight off piracy and terrorist attacks. For instance, there are motion detectors throughout the entire boat and in the cabins. The crew use these systems not just for safety, but also for charter service. Say the system detects motion for at least four minutes in one of the guest cabins early in the morning. It sends a message to the galley telling the chef that it’s time to get up and begin to prepare breakfast. The captain gets daily printouts of all kinds of information, including what movies people have been watching in their cabins. He was so proud of the way this information helps his crew provide excellent service.
    It may sound a bit spooky to some charter clients, but for somebody who is really afraid of kidnapping, or for high-powered charter clients who have had threats against themselves or their families, this might be an ideal charter boat.
    And the boat comes with a free private jet from anywhere in Europe for all eight guests, so the owners will fly you to meet the boat at their expense if you pay the charter rate, which is €80,500 per week. It’s a beautiful, stunning boat.

What other yachts at the show caught your eye?
The 99-foot gulet Aegean Schatz was stunning. Really, really pretty. And the 131-foot Swan sailing yacht Aristarchos also looked very beautiful. It’s the same crew that was there when the boat was displayed at the Poros show a few years ago, and they’re very proud of how well they are doing with Aristarchos in the Greek charter market.
    I spent one day going only on the smaller boats, say in the 65- to 80-foot range, and there are a couple of really nice ones with owners who have an eye for service and are willing to please. If you don’t have a lot of money and you want to do these littler boats, there are some very good ones out there.
    One of them that I saw had embroidered bathrobes, the kind that you usually only see aboard much larger motoryachts, and I asked, “What if the guests take them?” The owner said to me, “I’d be happy to give them away. That would be a compliment to me, that they wanted to keep them.” I thought that showed that she really understands how to please a client—and you don’t always see that on yachts in this smaller size range. I’d be thrilled to introduce that boat to the right charter client.

I heard there was one other boat that really made an impression on you.
Yes—but only for clients who want something really, really different.

    I’m calling it the Jack Sparrow boat. It’s not the original sailing yacht that was in the Pirates of the Caribbean movie, but it looks just like it. The boat has a very flamboyant owner who has put lots of little trinkets and things aboard. It would be an awesome boat to charter with a family with children who are completely mesmerized by Pirates of the Caribbean. I can just see the kids hunting for treasure all week long. The memories would be amazing.

Do you have any final thoughts on timing for last-minute summer charter bookings in Greece?
My advice would be to call today. As one of the captains said to me, “It will be a good season, but it will just start late. The bookings are starting now.” In my opinion, the availability that we have right now is not going to last very long, especially with the deals being offered. There are too many that are just too good to pass up, and they’re going to go fast now that they have been made public.

You can contact Gertrud Annevelink through the Charter Experience website to learn more about charter vacations in Greece, or anywhere else in the world.

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