YachtZoo says the 193-foot expedition yacht Seawolf is open for Christmas and New Year’s yacht charter throughout Southeast Asia and Melanesia, a region that includes popular Pacific archipelagos such as Fiji.

Seawolf is a 1953 build that was converted to a luxury yacht during a four-year refit from 1998 to 2002. She underwent regular refits in 2013 and 2016. She accommodates 12 guests in six staterooms, including a full-beam master suite. Her tenders go beyond the ordinary and include a 27-foot Herreshoff sailing yacht.

The yacht’s expedition features allow her to cruise long distances in remote areas. Seawolf‘s range is 18,000 nautical miles at a 12-knot cruising speed, and she has a top hop of 15 knots.

Weekly base rate to charter Seawolf: $195,000

Where to book a week on board: Contact a charter broker here .

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The manager at the exclusive, 40-room Lizard Island Resort calls The Pavilion building his second-best option. Don’t believe him.

Sure, the $5,990-per-night building for two known as The Villa may command a higher price than The Pavilion, but for anyone spending time on Lizard Island before a Great Barrier Reef charter aboard the 115-foot, wave-piercing powercat Spirit , The Pavilion is absolutely the best. Guests can arrive from Cairns via an hourlong plane flight or helicopter jaunt, relax for a few days in The Pavilion while adjusting to the time-zone change, and then sit up in bed one morning to enjoy the glass-wall view that only The Pavilion offers. For example, you may see Spirit cruising in and dropping her hook in Anchor Bay, ready for a week of snorkeling, diving and fishing the “secret GPS spots” Capt. ­Martin Debanks has spent years mapping.

You may recognize Lizard Island Resort from its Black Marlin Classic, which lures tournament fishermen in October. Spirit plans to be a mothership for that event (­chartering alongside owned or chartered boats that have fighting chairs) and then stay to charter along the reef, offering itineraries with everything from slow and easy paddleboards to ­rip-roaring kiteboards.

“We’re setting up trips where you can do a week on the boat and a week at Lizard Island, or half a week on the boat and half on the island,” Debanks says. “If you want to be on the water, that’s what we do.”

From September until December, he promises, the billfishing along the reef is incredible — and his résumé makes his opinion worth considering. He and his wife, Jo (Spirit‘s chef), previously ran the 120-foot Crescent Valkyrie, the previous vessel of Spirit‘s owner, who lives to hunt game fish.

PEDIGREE: 115-foot New Zealand Yachts built in 2005, refitted in 2016.
ACCOMMODATIONS: 10 guests in five staterooms including an upper-deck master.
CREW: 7.
THIS WINTER: Australia’s Great Barrier Reef, New Guinea and the Solomon Islands.
SUMMER 2018: Whitsunday Islands.
FOR FUN IN THE SUN: game-fishing, scuba diving, snorkeling and more.
MANAGEMENT COMPANY: Northrop & Johnson.

“We were aboard for 12 years and went around the world twice looking for marlin,” Martin says, adding that once, they caught a 1,300-pound marlin close to Port Douglas — where the owner just so happens to keep his new yacht, Spirit.

Prior to Valkyrie, the Debankses worked together on scuba and adventure charters in the Mideast. Along the way, they became serious kiteboarders (Martin calls the sport “the purest form of sailing”), and they still carry the gear on board today, with instructors ready to hop aboard alongside dive instructors, should charter clients have an interest in either sport. Their goal is for all Spirit charters to leave guests feeling inspired, including by land-based activities in such places as Cooktown.

“From there,” Martin says of the town, “you can access all the rainforest, learn the history of Captain Cook, drink with the locals if you like. That’s always fun.”

Spirit being based in Australia is a kind of homecoming, after the New Zealand build was found in disrepair off Montenegro, ignored by her second owner. It took about $3 million of refit work in Europe to return the 2005 build to ABS standards, give her a new interior with help from U.S.-based designer Robin Rose, repaint the hull, rebuild an engine and generator, add VSAT for access to Wi-Fi, and more.

Upgrades continued this past summer in Australia, where Spirit got a hot tub.

Sitting in that tub with a steady view of the water and reef (thanks to Spirit‘s stable, wave-piercing motion) is probably as relaxing as a Lizard Island Resort massage, which Camper & ­Nicholsons International charter broker Pierre Hurel described by saying, “I don’t know if she had four hands or heavy snakes all over the place or what, but never have I had a massage like that.”

Pair it with an onboard “Aussie sampler dinner” of smoked emu, kangaroo and crocodile wontons, and the experience should create indelible memories. As Jo says, “It’s nice for people to be able to say they tried something original.”

The post The Charter File: Australia’s Hidden Best appeared first on Yachting.

Looking for an Australian adventure? The 90-foot Laura J is available for charter off the coastline of Australia.

Originally built in 1989 and refit in 2016, the Norman R. Wright & Sons-built yacht is designed with a spacious interior and offers room aft for water sports like fishing and diving. There’s also a large cockpit area for outdoor lounging space.

Belowdecks, Laura J has three staterooms that accommodates eight guests, each with an en suite head.

Looking for an Australian adventure? The 90-foot Laura J is available for charter off the coastline of Australia.

Originally built in 1989 and refit in 2016, the Norman R. Wright & Sons-built yacht is designed with a spacious interior and offers room aft for water sports like fishing and diving. There’s also a large cockpit area for outdoor lounging space.

Belowdecks, Laura J has three staterooms that accommodates eight guests, each with an en suite head.

The Details

Crew: 3

Water toys: Laura J comes with a 15-foot fiberglass tender, a 14-foot dinghy, an SUP, a cricket set, snorkel gear and fishing rods.

Power: This motoryacht is powered by twin 1,050 hp MTU diesels, which can get her to a 20-knot top speed.

Charter rate: Her current weekly charter rate is $60,000 AUD ($47,298 USD). Interested in taking this 90-foot to the Great Barrier Reef and beyond? She’s available through Northrop & Johnson.

The post Charter the Great Barrier Reef and Beyond on a 90-Footer appeared first on Yachting.

Angermeyer Cruising and Andando Tours are collaborating with WildAid, a nonprofit, wildlife protection organization, to protect the Galapagos Island’s marine environment.

Angermeyer and Andando, sister companies, partnered with WildAid to create the Galapagos Conservation Fund. Angermeyer Cruising refit a 159-foot yacht, renamed her WildAid’s Passion and now charters her in the Galapagos Islands, through Andando Tours. The group says $100 of every charter is donated to the Conservation Fund, plus Andando is donating a one-week charter to the live auction at WildAid’s annual gala, held on November 11 in Los Angeles, California. Additionally, for every booking made through wildaid@andandotours.com, 22.5% of the profit goes to WildAid’s Galapagos programs. For this reason, WildAid refers to WildAid’s Passion as a “Conservation Yacht.”

Charter clients can cruise either the western or eastern Galapagos Islands, each voyage lasting 8 days. Rates begin at $5,980 per person, which includes all meals, snorkel gear and excursions ashore with certified naturalist guides.

Amenities on board WildAid’s Passion include a panoramic sky lounge with wet bar on the bridge deck, a sun deck with Jacuzzi tub, two heads in both the VIP and master suite, kayaks, wetsuits and massages upon request. Her original teak decks and rose-colored marble in the heads were kept during her recent refit. She accommodates 12 guests in 6 staterooms, each with an en suite head (or two), and crew-to-guest ratio is one-to-one.

The post Cruising for a Cause appeared first on Yachting.

Australia-based Ocean Alliance says the 122-foot Kha Shing Masteka 2 has become the first foreign-flagged yacht to get a charter license in New Caledonia.

Masteka 2 is expected to charter in New Caledonia from mid-August through late September, before returning to Australia for the charter season from early November until March 2018. Inquiries for both destinations are being accepted now.

Masteka 2 is expected to arrive in New Caledonia just in time for the annual humpback whale migration.

Weekly base rate to charter Masteka 2: $100,000 for 12 guests

The post Masteka 2 to Charter in New Caledonia appeared first on Yachting.

The migration begins each ­October, and it continues, sometimes, for 6,800 miles across the Pacific Ocean. The warm waters of Mexico’s Sea of Cortez, along the interior of the Baja ­Peninsula, are where the pregnant gray whales are heading; by about Christmastime, the first have arrived. And when the calendar turns to February and March — the height of yacht charter season in the Sea of Cortez — the protected lagoons have become a playpen for the world’s newborn gray whales.

Amazingly, only a handful of charter clients get to experience this scene each year. If even a half-dozen crewed yachts are available in this part of the world every winter, it’s a lot. “There’s not much charter business there, so the boats that do go there, it’s because the owners want to go there, or they’re passing through on their way along the West Coast,” says Amy Wachmann, a charter broker with Northrop and Johnson who has expertise in West Coast itineraries. “Smaller boats may stay there, but the bigger yachts come and go.”

The Puerto Vallarta area is sometimes marketed for ­charter, but the Sea of Cortez is the region’s best spot to book an ­itinerary, Wachmann says. It’s protected, which means you will have less chance of a run-in with weather, and it’s simple for most ­Americans to make travel plans to meet the yachts at the resort area of Cabo San Lucas, on the southern tip of the Baja Peninsula where marinas are located.

“It’s one of the last untouched areas that’s close to the States where you can get there easily, be with the wildlife and not see anybody,” she says. “Outside of Cabo, there’s no nightlife, but if you are looking for a place to get away from it all, this is awesome.”

The scenery, as you can see in the photograph above, is a lot different from what winter charter clients in the ­Caribbean are used to seeing. Forget about lush, green, rainforest-covered islands. This part of Mexico is desert. Red rocks and sand alternate with the aquamarine sea. And there’s a bonus for anyone who has ever been stuck on a yacht in the Caribbean on a muggy afternoon: Humidity is not a factor here.

The real draw, though, is wildlife. You’ll see whale-watching and scuba boats, but not in overwhelming quantities.

“You can still swim with the sea lions, and they’re still coming right up to you,” Wachmann says. “They’re not afraid of you. The fishing is good, you can have big-game fishing — you’ll see big sport-fishing boats there — and the snorkeling is great. It has one of the last shallow-water reefs on the West Coast. It’s in Cabo Pulmo. And there’s a lagoon where the gray whales go in and bring their babies, a little north of Laredo. You can’t swim with them, but you can get pretty darn close. There’s a few protected areas along there for a lot of the wildlife too. The blue whales, the fin whales, the humpback whales, they all come there to have the babies.”

GETTING THERE

Serengeti

Serengeti originally was built for late-night television host Johnny Carson. She has a strong track record for charter all along the West Coast, including Alaska, and plenty of prior-client references available. In Mexico, she offers itineraries all along the Baja Peninsula.

Besame Mucho

Besame Mucho received some upgrades about a year ago, including a 28-foot Scout tender. Guests can walk to the edge of her bowsprit, a great spot for photographing dolphins, whales and seals.

Emrys

Emrys has an on-deck master stateroom as well as a full-beam VIP, in addition to a pair of twin-berth staterooms for kids. Couples who want to split the charter rate each get a sizable space to relax.

The post Go West, and Prepare to Be Amazed appeared first on Yachting.

Y.CO says the 228-foot Sherakhan, long popular for charter in the Caribbean and Mediterranean, will be moving to the Middle East and Southeast Asia later this year. Charter dates are available in both destinations starting this autumn.

Sherakhan was built in 1965 as a commercial ship and underwent a full rebuild in 2005, converting her to a luxury yacht. She remains one of the only crewed charter yachts that can handle groups larger than 12 guests, with a 26-guest capacity and amenities including an 18-person hot tub on her sundeck.

The current plan is for Sherakhan to be in the United Arab Emirates for the 2017 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix in November (where the yacht is open for charter) with additional charter itineraries expected in Myanmar, Thailand and the Andaman Islands.

Did you know? Sherakhan was one of the first charter yachts to have a full-size onboard spa.

The post Yacht Charter in the Middle East appeared first on Yachting.

Yachting Partners International says the 143-foot Heesen Seven Sins is giving 10 days of yacht charter in Tahiti and French Polynesia for the price of seven through mid-October.

Seven Sins underwent a substantial refit in 2015 that included a more-than-8-foot lengthening of her hull. She carries lots of water-friendly toys including a floating trampoline and Seabobs, and she has two dining areas (on the upper and top decks) for changing up the tropical views on the hook each night in the islands.

Her lowest weekly base rate is about $137,000 for 10 guests.

7 Facts About Seven Sins

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Ocean Emerald is a 2009 build by Italian shipyard Rodriquez Yachts and was recently refitted in 2015. Now, Northrop & Johnson is offering the 135-foot megayacht for charter throughout Southeast Asia starting at about $95,000 a week.

Ocean Emerald can accommodate 12 guests in five staterooms and includes a full-beam master on the main deck with port and starboard private decks. On the upper deck, the salon is equipped with a bar, game station and a movie library with over 3,000 films.

The exterior of Ocean Emerald offers a mix of sun and shade, and spacious decks include sunbeds, lounges, a Jacuzzi and a bar. The yacht also features a state of the art lighting system that can change the ambience at the lounge bar in seconds.

Ocean Emerald will be available for travel through Thailand, Vietnam, Singapore and the Philippines this summer.

The post M/Y Ocean Emerald Available for Charter appeared first on Yachting.

Plan B

The 163-foot former Australian Navy vessel Plan B may not look like a traditional superyacht, but the converted explorer yacht has drawn the likes of Hollywood heartthrobs Matt Damon and Chris Hemsworth as charter guests — and is now bound for far-off destinations where even they might be able to escape the paparazzi.

Newly announced management company Ocean Independence says Plan B will charter this summer in Norway, beginning in June.

The owner also will consider inquiries for charter in the Baltic Sea, Iceland and Greenland. Those are destinations where traditionally styled yachts are rarely, if ever, offered.

Plan B accommodates 12 guests in five staterooms. Two of the staterooms can convert from twins to doubles, as needed by the charter party. Lowest weekly base rate: $195,000

Plan B

Plan B

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