The fall boat shows have come and gone, winter is settling in, and sailing may seem like a distant dream as you hold your breath until your warm-weather Christmas charter. All is not lost, though, as this is also a great time to both distract yourself and work on creating some ...read more
Not for nothing are the BVI known as the “nursery slopes” of sailing charters. There simply is no better place to ease yourself into a first-time sailing vacation; for that matter, such is the appeal of these islands that many charterers return year after year. The islands ...read more
If not all who wander are lost, then not all who charter are content with sailing between snorkeling spots and sinking a few Painkillers at beach bars. Some want a dose of hard-sailing action blended in with their sunshine and warmth—the kind of action you can only get from ...read more
In last month’s column, I covered the amazing mix of cultures that have called the Dalmatian Coast home over the centuries. Croatia cruising is like a smorgasbord of intertwined centuries, and the islands are a movie set. A little farther south, though, you’ve also got Greece, ...read more
Owning a yacht in charter sounds exotic and enticing, and it may have crossed your mind to give it a try. Maybe you’ve heard stories of good experiences (or bad ones). Maybe you haven’t heard any stories, but you’ve romanticized the idea into the perfect lifestyle. Before you ...read more
So, you’re going on a charter vacation. There’s so much to plan, pack and ponder, but who has the time when all you can think of is umbrella drinks under a swaying palm tree? The boat, the sun and the sailing should be enough, right? It is for some. For others, though, ...read more
Two separate racing fleets were streaming into the docks and a party was in full swing at the head of Marseille’s inner harbor. A group of bearded musicians cranked out lively jazz tunes while throngs of sailors jostled around the drinks and snack tables. Sipping a rather good ...read more
It would be hard to imagine a more secure spot than the Sunsail base on the outskirts of the beachside community of Placencia, Belize. The entire marina is protected by a robust seawall with a channel scarcely a few boatlengths across. It’s also located far enough up Placencia ...read more
Whether you want to build a sailing resume or just gain practical experience, getting more miles under your keel is key. You can sail a lifetime of summer afternoons and never quite get the hang of cruising—where creativity and offshore savvy result in self-sufficiency and ...read more
The multihull world is a funny one in that it pays lip service to speed under sail to the point where any other kind of sailing is almost considered a sin. It’s like the sailing style that dare not speak its name. If you’re not doing your utmost to throw up a pair of dramatic ...read more
So, you want to find a great deal on your next charter vacation? Sure, you can scour the internet, hope for Black Friday deals or ask friends. But an even better way to find good prices on charter boats is to go to a boat show. Not only do charter companies like The Moorings, ...read more
There’s no doubt last year’s hurricanes caused a major upheaval within the Caribbean charter industry. Nor is there any doubt that it has rebounded well. The biggest and most obvious obstacle—after rebuilding bases and other infrastructure—was boat availability. But a year down ...read more
Specialty Charters A warm breeze across the deck and an azure sea are enough for me, and it’s what I remember most when I’m not on the water. But for many sailors, a long-awaited vacation had better include more than tropical isles and quiet anchorages. That’s why charter ...read more
The Great Lakes have long gotten a bad rap for everything from cleanliness to the quality of the sailing there. But the days of burning rivers are ancient history, and while it’s true the lakes are not dotted with the same abundance of islands and bays as, say, the Eastern ...read more
Time was that mapmakers would append the designation “Here be dragons” to those portions of the globe still unknown to them. But the terrors of the unknown pale in comparison to the fog, tides and rock (and lobster pot!) strewn harbors of coastal Maine—or so I thought until I ...read more
My last day of a recent weeklong charter revealed an expensive lesson: when we gathered up all the leftover provisions, they covered the saloon table. I’m no newbie when it comes to provisioning, but I let this one slip as we were harried on departure day and multiple people ...read more
There’s a reason New England sailors are so dedicated; New England is simply one of the world’s best cruising grounds. The southern side of Cape Cod and its off-lying islands—Nantucket, Martha’s Vineyard, the Elizabeth Islands and Block Island—are a cruiser’s dream. The weather ...read more
It’s not every day you can run aground twice in the space of 10 minutes and extract yourself gracefully each time. Chesapeake neophytes, we were feeling our way into the picturesque harbor of Rock Hall, and as we discussed the approach to the marina the boat slowed ever so ...read more
Contrary to perceived wisdom, the Caribbean can be a delightful place to charter in the summer. It’s true that yearnings for sun-kissed isles and turquoise waters tend to be strongest in the winter, but a mid-year Eastern Caribbean cruise has many benefits and may just become ...read more
Thanks to Google, there’s very little you can’t find online these days. So why, you might ask, would you need an intermediary or agent to book a bareboat charter vacation? The answer is that you don’t need one. However, you may gain value by using one, depending on where, when ...read more
While skippering charters around the world, I’ve learned never to bypass the boat checkout or the chart briefing. While most charter-base managers are thorough with their briefings, be sure to ask about the following so that you’ll be armed with as much information as possible ...read more
I like to pay special attention during my charter checkout because from years of learning the hard way, I’ve come to realize that the time to figure out what will go wrong later is before you leave. Also, while I listen to what the base managers are telling me, I also keep an ...read more
I am not the first, nor will I be the last, to refer to peer-to-peer (P2P) boating as pier-to-pier—it’s irresistible. The proliferation of the sharing economy has birthed P2P boating and with it, more players in the field of direct boater-to-renter vessel chartering. So I wanted ...read more
“The last time I visited Baja, it was 1972. I was 18 years old and on a road trip from Rapid City, South Dakota, to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. There were five of us in a four-seater Jeep with a spare tire on the roof. I was the youngest, so they gave me the ‘fifth seat,’ perched on ...read more
