Here’s a story that I couldn’t be happier to share: Charter broker Ann-Wallis White tells me the 73-foot sailing catamaran Wonderful (which just launched this nifty new website) is taking steps to help Caribbean communities that are suffering economically because of tourism drops during the continuing global recession.
The yacht has been in the Caribbean since last December, setting up a network of organic farmers from which the chef is now buying virtually all of the boat’s fruits, vegetables, and herbs. This puts charter provisioning money directly into the hands of local crop-growers while simultaneously ensuring that charter guests receive the highest-quality ingredients in their meals.
Meanwhile, Wonderful‘s captain is training local islanders in boat maintenance and repair. As the captain puts it: “Younger guys who sit around in their cedar wooden boats waiting for the next yacht to come in and buy fruits or jewelry, made from bone or whale’s teeth or coral, are more than happy to drop what they are not doing and help me with a wash down or hull waxing. I have no problem paying them for their hard work.”
The captain tells me he also is collecting hand-me-down clothing that he plans to distribute to the islanders following the Antigua charter yacht show in December.
What outstanding efforts, and from a captain who could easily just sit back and work comfortably aboard a charter yacht that is arguably one of the finest in its class for charter right now. I was aboard Wonderful to write this review in 2006, and she was a standout then–even before her recent refit that included painting the hull the strikingly modern black shown in the photograph above.
If you would like to book a charter aboard Wonderful, you can call Ann-Wallis White at (410) 263-6366.
Tags: Caribbean, Catamaran, crewed charter, Wonderful