First Impression: Paladin

Date toured: December 2007

The 120-foot motoryacht Paladin is the first charter yacht to be signed into the fleet at Neptune Group Yachting, a company run by longtime retail charter broker DJ Parker. I have known DJ for nearly 10 years now, and I have come to respect her as one of the most knowledgeable experts in the business. When she told me that her company was now going to manage charter yachts as well as book them, I couldn’t wait to get onboard and see what her first in-house yacht had to offer.
     Built in 2000, Paladin went through a refit in 2004 and then got new owners in March 2007. They made her available for charter for the first time as of October 1. The yacht’s first charter was scheduled for Christmas and New Year’s, and the update I received when I saw DJ in mid-January 2008 was that all had gone well.
     The boat itself has a couple of nifty features that I haven’t seen onboard other charter yachts. In addition to WiFi throughout, iPod docks, and a new satellite television system that was scheduled to be added a week after my visit, Paladin has the mother of all on-deck movie- and sports-watching areas: a 62-inch flat-screen television that drops out of the sundeck overhead at the push of a button. 
     Paladin also has perhaps the grooviest swim platform I’ve ever seen (as I first reported in December with this Editor's Blog post). It’s a true onboard beach, if you will, with a section that folds down not just to the water's edge, but down into it behind the boat (in between the Wave Runners in the photo at right). You can sit on lounge chairs overlooking this area, perhaps walking down the steps to cool off once in a while, or you can sit on the submerged part of the platform, which is about 2 feet underwater, to stay constantly cool. This platform literally makes the water around the yacht feel like your personal swimming pool. Neptune Group Yachting’s charter marketing director, Jeff Shaffer,  told me the swim platform was a $900,000 add-on to the original yacht. Very cool, indeed.
     There are four guest cabins onboard. The VIP is on the main deck with a queen-size bed. It’s all the way forward, with other guest and crew cabins in other areas, so is the most private cabin on the boat.
     On the bottom deck are the master cabin, with a king-size bed, and two additional guest cabins with queen-size beds. The master is the biggest cabin aboard, but not by too much. Four couples could split the weekly rate on this yacht and each feel as though they got a good cabin in the deal.
     Some websites are listing Paladin’s weekly rate at $50,000, but Shaffer told me that the owner planned to add a 28-foot center-console tender for fishing enthusiasts. The new tender will increase the yacht’s weekly base rate to $55,000, or about $8,600 per person for eight guests with typical 25-percent expenses factored in.
     Also worth noting is that the yacht is listed as carrying five crew, but the chef is typically hired on a freelance basis. The chef I met in December was no longer the chef being used onboard as of mid-January, so talk with any reputable charter broker to learn more about the crew before booking.
     In addition, check with a broker about Paladin’s location and availability. Her owner is considering offering charters in Alaska during the summer of 2008, and if not, then the yacht likely will be in the Mediterranean in a few months' time.—Kim Kavin