Chartering 0711
Cruising courses and learn-to-sail vacations designed to introduce families to bareboat chartering are available at most Offshore Sailing School locations.
The five-day Learn-to-Sail vacation, with instruction on Colgate 26 daysailers, provides confidence and skills to families who are newcomers. For those who know the basics or are Offshore graduates, the next step is a shore-based or liveaboard cruising course taught on 43- to 50-foot cruising yachts. Single-parent families are also encouraged to participate.
Offshore also offers a Family-Cruise-and-Learn Flotilla starting July 11, 2011, in the British Virgin Islands. The program’s designed for those who want to jump into big-boat sailing and share the fun with families with similar goals. Each boat is led by an Offshore Sailing School cruising instructor who remains aboard throughout the week, teaching the family how to handle a Moorings 43-foot monohull or catamaran while sailing in the company of other families in the flotilla fleet.
And the school is providing, for a limited time, the opportunity for friends to learn together at two-for-one tuition pricing. For more details, contact Offshore (www.offshoresailing.com).
Florida Charter Company Adds Base
Yachting Vacations has opened a second charter base at Regatta Pointe Marina, off Tampa Bay in Palmetto, Florida. The fleet at the new base includes an Island Packet 32, an Island Packet 38, and a Beneteau 343, all available for charter and instruction. The company has a fleet of seven monohulls, two cats, and a trawler at its base farther south, at Burnt Store Marina, in Punta Gorda. The opening of the new base also makes one-way charters possible. To learn more, contact the company (www.yachtingvacations.com).
Moorings Announces Partnerships, Fleet Expansion
The Moorings has partnered with Sail Caribbean Divers, a PADI 5 Star Dive Center in the British Virgin Islands, to offer introductory diving, rendezvous diving, scuba educational programs, and snorkeling safaris to charter guests. The diving company’s new office is located at the Moorings flagship base on Tortola, B.V.I.
In other news, a three cabin/two-head catamaran and a 50-foot monohull are models being introduced at Moorings bases in worldwide destinations.
The Moorings 3900 and the Moorings 50.5 are built exclusively for the charter company through partnerships with builders Robertson & Caine and Beneteau. The new yachts are being delivered to 12 of the company’s charter destinations. For additional info, contact the Moorings (www.moorings.com).
Dream Yachts Marks a Decade
Dream Yacht Charter celebrates its 10th anniversary in July 2011. The company, started by Loic and Valerie Bonnet with a fleet of six, today has more than 400 boats in 30 locations around the world, including a range of Catana performance-cruising catamarans. For special 10th-anniversary events and offers, as well as information about the fleet of Catanas and worldwide locations, contact the company (www.DreamYachtCharter.com).
