Beverly Parsons
President, Interpac Yachts

How did you get started as a charter broker?
I was born Canadian and went to the University of British Columbia to study sociology. I got my degree and was looking for my place in life, and I wasn’t ready to be sent to the North Pole to do social work. I always loved the water, and I love to travel.
     I went to Mexico on vacation with a girlfriend, and the second day, I was walking into a gift shop in Mazatlan, and I saw this very handsome man stepping out of a taxi. I was 23 years old, and I just stared at him. I’d never had that feeling before in my life. I was so embarrassed, I ran into the gift shop.
     That night, we’re having dinner, and Bob—who is now my husband—sent us a bottle of wine. I fell in love that week. He was the first boat captain I’d ever met.
     He was running an 80-foot Broward, which was a big yacht back in the ’60s. I quit my job, put everything I wanted in three bags, and moved to Mazatlan. The first week, he asked me to marry him.
     Suddenly, I’m plunked on this boat with an IBM Selectric, a top-of-the-line typewriter before the computer age, and we were booking our own charters. I was the only English-speaking female where we ended up, in Baja, in the Sea of Cortez. I did that for five years. It was so desolate, there was no road. We had no phones. We’d call our clients on the single sideband radio and say, “We’ll meet you on the strip of dirt when you get here.”
     Bob eventually became captain of a commercial fishing boat with 12 Mexican crew, and there was no room for a woman onboard. I was asked to be a weekend girl at Fraser Yachts, and at the time, they were just thinking about getting into chartering. This was 1976. I went to my first boat show in the Virgin Islands in 1977. The first two years at Fraser, my average income was $300 a month. The third year, it took, and I started selling charters properly. I was there for 17 years.
     We opened Interpac in 1984, while I was still with Fraser, but our name never went on the door until 1993. That’s when I became officially my own store.

What kinds of boats do you typically book?
I only book bareboats to people I know who request it. I’m a crewed yacht broker, smaller and bigger crewed boats. There are 50-foot boats in the Caribbean and Turkey that I’ll book.

What are some of the best charter destinations you’ve personally visited?
Having lived in Mexico, and coming from the Pacific Northwest, I feel like it’s my duty to be good in those areas. There’s not many boats to offer there, but there are some amazing places to see.
     When you’ve been a broker for 31 years, you’re always looking for something different. Right now I’m working on an Intracoastal Waterway charter for two weeks, and that’s intriguing and fun.
     Turkey is my favorite destination for charter because the people are so friendly, the boats do such good charters, and they’re so much more reasonably priced than other markets. I get a ton of repeat business from clients who go to Turkey. It’s not just me who likes it. My clients love it, too.

What is the first thing you ask a new charter client?
I ask them where they want to go, how many in their party, and what their interests are—and then I ask them how they would describe a yacht.
    The word "yacht" means so many different things to so many different people. Some of them are picturing sails. Some are picturing motoryachts. Some are picturing little runabouts. Then I can understand what their expectations are.

Describe your ideal charter client.
I like to work with clients who tell me what they want.
     I have a big charter in Greece right now where I can’t reach the client, and his assistant won’t even ask him what kind of scotch he drinks. If they don’t help me, I can’t make it a perfect trip. Some people go on and on and on and tell you everything, and I like that better.

Describe your nightmare charter client.
Clients that keep changing what they want.
     I have one going in Alaska right now, and this morning, he flew to see the boat, and then he started telling the captain more of what he wanted, and so we made a new itinerary, and he won’t react to it. He says he’s not going until July, but we need to know now to arrange the ports. I find that sort of thing very frustrating.
     I don’t think of good clients or bad clients. My job is to give them service. Even if I don’t like the way they act, I know that my service and attitude are what makes me a living.

Describe a previous booking where you worked “above and beyond” to help a client.
We’ve had to do normal things like hire a bodyguard or do things for celebrities who don’t want to be seen, but I really don’t think I can say I’ve gone totally out of my way. For me, if a boat breaks down and I have to get another one, I think that’s just part of my job.

What are a few of your favorite charter yachts, and why?
We don’t pick favorite boats. We try to match the right clients with the right boats and crew.
     I have favorite boats, but some of them, I never book. I really have to try and think of who the client will like.

What makes you different from other charter brokers?
Like any small-business owner, it is my life, and I really care about it. I care about every charter. Nothing makes my day more than when a client comes back and tells me it was the vacation of their life.
     I’ve been to Turkey 26 years now. On this side of the world, I know that market better than anybody. I feel confident in saying that I’m the best for Turkey in this part of the world.

What else should CharterWave readers know about you and your business?
Anyone who is new to chartering should talk to a broker who listens to you and guides you.  We’re getting a lot of order-takers in our business, people like travel agents who say “the client wants this, so go get it for them.” It’s my job to say, “well this doesn’t make sense given the weather,” or something like that.
     A lot of times, you don’t know what you want in terms of itineraries and price. Especially for new clients. I never want to send anyone to the wrong place during the wrong season.

How can CharterWave readers contact you?
(888) 999-2248, bev@interpacyachts.com, www.interpacyachts.com