Gina Robertson
Yachtstore

Date interviewed: September 2007


Click here to watch our vidcast interview with Gina, also done in September 2007


How did you get started as a charter broker?
I used to have a cruise agency in Fort Lauderdale, where I arranged the occasional charter. I ended up getting involved  with someone who needed help after starting the world’s first online charter company, Yachstore.com.

What kinds of boats do you typically book?
No bareboats at all, just crewed yachts, primarily motoryachts in the Mediterranean, Caribbean, Bahamas, and some other areas of the world.
     Our average is $40,000 to $60,000 per week, and we specialize in the first-time charterer. I take great pleasure in walking them through the entire process, making it unintimidating and having them come back for more.

What are some of the best charter destinations you’ve personally visited?
The Bahamas are my backyard, and I think they're absolutely spectacular, especially in the summertime. With that collection of islands that are so nice and breezy, the aqua water and the white sand, the scuba diving is phenomenal—it’s still one of the best areas in the world.
     Within the Bahamas, I think the water is totally different in the Exumas, a lot more turquoise, and the sand’s whiter. The Abacos tend to be greener in topography, and the water is even greener. There are so many islands to choose from, there’s a little something for everyone.

What is the first thing you ask a new charter client?
I’m always curious how they heard about us. Usually, it’s a referral or Google. We were the first online charter company in 1995, back when the big companies didn’t believe in the Internet. We still maintain a lot of those clients from over ten years ago.

Describe your ideal charter client.
Be forthcoming in your answers, because it doesn’t serve anyone any purpose to be clandestine or evasive. The more we know, the better, and I try to ask things in the most friendly and uninvasive way possible.

Describe your nightmare charter client.
No preference information. When it’s like pulling teeth to get the information that’s going to make their own charter better, that’s a real challenge.
     Food, wine, liquor, activities, itinerary—a crew that embarks on a charter blindly, they do a good job, but the more people tell us, the better. When they try to be secretive about things, it doesn’t serve them at all.

Describe a previous booking where you worked “above and beyond” for a client.
I had a honeymoon couple who booked a sailboat in the Seychelles. They were en route, changing planes in London, when I received a phone call that the charter had to cancel while the crew took a brief vacation. They’d had the boat treated in an annual fumigation and it shorted out all the electronics.
     There was just one other boat in the area, called High Aspect, and I knew she had owner’s time blocked out. I called the central agent, who said yes, the owner’s onboard, but let’s try to contact him. It was radio relay through Air Seychelles and a hotel worker who had seen the boat a day before from the dock. They tracked the boat down, finally there was an answer, and the owner was happy to curtail his vacation. The crew had the boat ready one day later, so the client had to stay just one day in a hotel.
     Financially, it worked out as well. They ended up getting twice the boat for the same price, and of course that’s a result of my using the proper contracts and that sort of thing.

What are a few of your favorite charter yachts, and why?
I love booking the big motoryachts. Personally, I probably prefer to sail in a remote, quiet destination, but that’s me personally. On the big motoryachts, the service is usually superlative.
     There are some great smaller motoryachts and sailboats with five-star service that have all the amenities of the bigger boats, too. Ironically, the first thing clients focus on is the appearance of the boat itself, but that’s the last thing that ends up being important to them. They are going to remember the crew, the ambience, the food, the fun and the activities long after the make and model, or even the name, of the boat.

Who are a few of your favorite yacht crew, and why?
One of the first can-do captains I came across was John Cichanowicz of Insatiable, a 100-foot Broward motoryacht. It’s a great boat for first-time charterers because it has three double staterooms, and it’s not too big.
     John just leaps to it. He will take care of any request. I can hand him any type of client and know that he’ll have absolutely no problem making them feel at home, filling their every request, as outrageous as they might be.
     That boat, it’s about $30,000 and with the three staterooms, it’s pretty fair to split it three ways.

What makes you different from other charter brokers?
We don’t have the big corporate office. All of our brokers have their own location and their own setup. We’re online only, a clicks-and-mortar operation.

What else should CharterWave readers know about you and your business?
We’ve got clients from over ten years ago that are still referring us, which is the biggest compliment. And I enjoy working with first-timers.

How can CharterWave readers contact you?
You can find us online at www.YachtStore.com