Charter

Colgate’s Offshore School Adds Fountaine-Pajot 37 Power Cat to Cape Coral Fleet

By Peter Janssen on November 11, 2018 Charter, Cruising Life

Now you can charter a spacious Fountaine Pajot MY 37 power catamaran at the Offshore Sailing and Power Cruising School in Cape Coral, Florida. The school also offers a new six-day US Powerboating certification course, starting Nov. 19. The well-found, French-built Fountaine Pajot 37 power cat will be part of the Offshore fleet at its base at the Westin Cape Coral Resort at Marina Village and Tarpon Point Marina in Cape Coral. Steve Colgate, the Offshore founder and chairman, said, “Due to the increased requests of our students for power catamaran training so they can charter on their own, we…

The Ultimate Ten-Day BVI Charter Itinerary from The Moorings

By Peter Janssen on November 7, 2018 Charter, Cruising Life

The British Virgin Islands are among the world’s best cruising grounds, and have been for generations. They were hit hard by the hurricanes last fall, which decimated some charter fleets, but they have bounced back. Here’s a fun story from The Moorings, the worldwide charter giant, about the ultimate ten-day charter vacation there. Here’s how it starts: “There’s just something about the BVI. We can’t seem to get enough, and neither can our guests. So even if you’ve island-hopped your way through this Caribbean cruising playground once, twice, or ten times before, follow along with our very own Laura Brafford,…

Six Reasons To Take a Crewed Charter Vacation. Reason One: Leave Your Worries Behind

By Peter Janssen on October 29, 2018 Charter, Cruising Life

Every once in a while, we all should have a chance to treat ourselves, to do something simply because it’s fun, or adventuresome or memorable. That’s the way I think about taking a crewed charter vacation. Over the years, I’ve done this both ways – chartered bareboat, and chartered crewed. Bareboat, of course, is where the charter company gives you the boat and you do everything yourself. That’s all great; you get to play captain again but in a new setting in a new boat. A crewed charter, however, is where you just show up, and the charter company does…

European Waterways Starts New “Girls’ Getaway” Charters on Luxury Canal Barges

By Peter Janssen on September 10, 2018 Charter, Cruising Life

Here’s a new idea from European Waterways, the company that runs 17 hotel barges in nine countries, from the Scottish Highlands to the Midi in the South of France: “Girls’ Getaway” charters, aimed at the growing market of women traveling on their own or who want to create their own charters with families and friends. The Girls’ Getaways can be very flexible and organized around such themes as culinary excursions, wine appreciation, wellness or simply walking along scenic towpaths. “Today’s women travelers are more confident and independent than ever before,” says Derek Banks, managing director of European Waterways. “The social…

St. Lucia: A Charter and Cruising Jewel in the Windward Islands with a Rich Life on Shore and on the Water

By Peter Janssen on August 22, 2018 Charter, Cruising Life, Destinations

With The Pitons, iconic twin volcanic peaks towering some 2,000 feet above Soufriere Bay, St. Lucia is easily the most recognizable islands in the Windward chain in the Caribbean. But St. Lucia also is one of the jewels of the Windwards, just south of Martinique and north of St. Vincent, a rich and rewarding charter and cruising destination with protected harbors, golden beaches, inviting diving sites, and lush mountain rainforests beckoning with wild orchids, giant ferns and tropical birds. The 27-mile-long island has two state-of-the-art marinas. IGY Rodney Bay is in the north of St. Lucia, nestled in an inner…

To Totally Relax, Take a Le Boat Charter Through the Canals in the South of France

By Peter Janssen on August 15, 2018 Charter, Cruising Life, Destinations

For a different kind of charter vacation, think about an idyllic, serene and totally relaxing canal cruise in the Petite Camargue area in the south of France. Life on a 49-foot canal boat from Le Boat, with three staterooms, all with en suite heads and showers, is about as easy as it can ever can be, and watching the sun go down from the top deck, eating some local cheese and oysters and sipping some of the local rosé is pretty hard to beat. Here’s a first-person story from The Guardian about four people spending five days along the Canal du…

One Woman’s Story: The Lost Art of Traveling Slowly: What I Learned Cruising Canada’s Rideau Canal

By Peter Janssen on July 29, 2018 Charter, Cruising Life

“‘But…’ my husband hesitated. ‘You don’t have a license.’ My best friend was less diplomatic. Her text message simply read: ‘ARE THEY MAD?’ “None of my nearest and dearest could quite believe someone was going to let me – a ham-fisted, maladroit non-driver, who even managed to fail the cycling proficiency test – pilot a boat. I’ll admit it; I was a little surprised myself. So when I set off down the Rideau Canal on a Canadian boating holiday it was with the sun on my face, my knuckles white on the wheel and a determination to prove everyone wrong.…

What You Need to Take on Your Next Charter Vacation. Tips from The Moorings

By Peter Janssen on June 25, 2018 Charter, Cruising Life

Here’s some great advice from The Moorings, the worldwide charter powerhouse, about what to take on your next charter vacation. If you’ve never gone on a charter before, read this and take heed; if you’re a veteran of many charters before (lucky you) then this could serve as an easy reminder of what to take (or leave home) next time. The basic rule of thumb for a successful charter is that less is more. You really don’t need to take a lot of stuff. After all, charter boats are pretty much their own self-contained universe. But you’ll still need some…

Annual Mother Goose Flotilla Just Cruises through Alaska’s Wrangell Narrows on Way to Juneau

By Peter Janssen on June 21, 2018 Charter, Cruising Life

The annual Mother Goose Flotilla from NW Explorations is cruising way up in Alaska, having left its home base in Bellingham, Washington, on May 19. Seven boats in the flotilla have cruised through the San Juans and up the Inside Passage along the British Columbia coast to Petersburg, Alaska, planning to reach Juneau on June 24. The flotilla just cruised through the Wrangell Narrows, a long, almost straight-line passage separating Mitkof and Kuprenof Islands, that is so narrow that the Coast Guard has placed more than 70 ATONs – cans, nuns, day markers, range markers – to keep mariners off…

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