Jazz provides 24-hour-a-day customer service, from yacht repair to offshore activities.

If you can imagine spending time on your luxury yacht while cruising the crystalline waters of the Balearics without having to worry about any aspect of the boat, from pick-up point to the minute you drop it back, then quite possibly you are using the experienced and qualified services of Jazz Marine.

With their offices located on the infamous Paseo Maritimo, running parallel to Palma Port, Jazz Marine has grown over the past five years to become a point of reference for many people who come to the island wanting to fulfill their nautical dream. The company’s strategy is to provide “360° support”: taking this customer dream, and turning it into reality by helping select the right choice of yacht with the appropriate options, guiding through the entire purchasing process, and giving full time assistance where necessary. Members of the Jazz team have six languages between them and are proud to be able to communicate with confidence within their European market place. With the number of boats in their care growing year by year, this is testimony to the 24-hour-a-day customer orientated service that they provide from yacht repair to offshore activities.

Charles Guthrie, Jazz Marine’s Founder and CEO, affirms “The only way to operate is train your crew to always be on top of things, and maintain your boats well. We believe in quality with good performance at the most reasonable cost possible. The ship builder may be the one to build the boat, but the owner/operator is the one who will have to live with it, charter it, maintain it and repair it throughout its lifetime, and that is where we come in.”

Charles goes on to talk about his expansion plans within the service department, using his team of multilingual maintenance engineers, and equipping them with a fleet of fully equipped vans which include the availability of a dedicated boat for sea assistance in the event of emergency. He explains that this service is not unique to Ferretti group yachts but is available to all boat owners. Speed is also of the essence and in order to minimise the time the yacht is out of use, a newly acquired building in Portixol provides general storage for spares, for immediate access and availability.

Jazz offices are located on the Paseo Maritimo , running parallel to Palma Port.

Jazz Marine’s commitment to keeping up with demands and ahead of its competition is further strengthened by introducing new and avant-garde equipment in order to expand the infrastructure and services available. This year they will be introducing a revolutionary machine which is able to enhance the performance of the yacht propellers. This is just one of many projects currently running at Jazz Marine.

An equally important part of the company is the dedicated sales division for new and second-hand boats. Alongside its second-hand boat activity, Jazz are the official dealers in Mallorca of Pershing – one of the Italian Yacht group Ferretti’s nine brands. With an extensive network of brokers in the Balearics, and the international environment, clients can be sure to have access to the best possible options available in the market.

In addition to these existing services, Jazz Marine also has a wide range of boats available for charter, and if it is your own boat that you are considering chartering, they can provide full assistance in making sure that all legal documentation is up to date and meets the licensing requirements and local Spanish tax laws.

If you would like more information, please visit the Jazz Marine website.

Our Moorings 372 powercat had room for two couples plus children.

Wherever you are – as you read this – is probably cold, perhaps with snow or at least slush on the ground. When you left your warm home or office today, you bundled up from galoshes to gloves.

As I write this, I am not cold. In fact, it’s in the 80s, the sun is shining at SPF40 level, and I’m wearing shorts and a t-shirt. When I finish this paragraph, my wife and I plan to take the dinghy ashore for a picnic lunch on a pristine crescent of white sand, where we will put the first footprints of the day. When we land on the beach, we’ll step into gin-clear water that is as warm as a baby’s bathwater, and the sugary sand will be soft on our bare feet. With not too much luck, we’ll find another scarlet-rimmed conch shell to add to our growing collection.

The brochure had been intriguing. An announcement that The Moorings, the largest charter boat company in the world, had formed a division devoted not to the sailboats that are the usual Caribbean charter fare, but to powerboats. An opportunity had been created for non-sailors to enjoy the delights of chartering, and it wasn’t long before we were on a Continental Express flight from Fort Lauderdale to Marsh Harbor, the social centre of the Abacos islands that stretch along the north side of the Bahamas.

“Town” can be just a collection of cheerfully painted houses plus a good grocery store.

After cursory customs, we were soon climbing aboard Goodnight Moon, our 37-ft, twin-hulled home for the next week. Our charter started the next morning, but we’d arranged to stay aboard that night to give ourselves a chance to stow our gear and get used to the boat. Sam, an ebulliently cheerful Moorings employee, arrived with her annotated copy of Cruising Guide to the Abacos and gave us a thorough check-out on the Abacos. She provided an invaluable insider’s advice on the best snorkelling, the best anchorages, and the best food.

Our Moorings 372 was built to Moorings spec by French builder Fountaine Pajot, and the thoughtful design provides comfortable accommodation for two couples, plus a couple of kids. Each hull is an identical private cabin with large double berths, private heads and stall showers. The salon joining the hulls has an inside helm, a big convertible dinette, and a galley with everything from microwave to refrigerator/freezer. Best of all, the 372 has a generator that not only keeps the microwave popping popcorn and the blender making slushy drinks, but powers dual air conditioning systems that keep the salon and cabins comfortably cool even on the hottest days. Up a curving flight of stairs is the bridge, with a helm shaded by a bimini top and a bench seat.

Standard equipment is very comprehensive, including a rigid-bottomed inflatable dinghy with outboard, barbecue grill, stereo with CD, snorkelling gear, more than ample linens and towels, and full electronics from chartplotter/GPS to VHF radio. In the Abacos, the depthsounder is essential but a little frightening until you get used to the fact that the water is so shallow that much of your cruising is in 10-12 feet. Don’t worry, though, because the 372 draws just 3’6” of water and the props are protected by twin skegs against occasional groundings.

Unlike Moorings’ sailboat charters where prospective charterers need to document sailing experience that would daunt Horatio Hornblower, the power charters are available to anyone with basic powerboat experience. And, if you aren’t comfortable at first with twin engines and a boat of this size, The Moorings can provide a skipper for a day or two to hone your boat handling and anchoring skills.

The disctinctive red-and-white striped lighthouse of Hope Town.

After stocking up with provisions at a local market (we chose to do our own provisioning rather than use the Moorings plan), we cast off to explore the Sea of Abaco. Our first stop was Fowl Cay, a Sam-recommended snorkelling and shelling spot where we anchored in 9ft of water and dinghied onto the beach that provided the first of many conch shells. Later, after a pleasant lunch in the air conditioned cabin where we enjoyed the rock-solid stability that the nearly 17ft beam provided, we upped anchor and cruised past Scotland Cay and along Great Guana Cay.

We decided to spend our first night at Orchid Bay Marina in Great Guana’s Settlement Harbour, a spotlessly maintained facility where we hooked up to shore power, took hot showers, barbecued steaks and made the first of the rum drinks we later dubbed “No Brainers” for their end result.

The next day, we listened in to the local cruiser’s VHF radio net, where boaters trade information on weather and sea conditions around the Abacos, as well as tips on marina deals, restaurant specials and even local flea markets. We’d planned to head for Green Turtle Cay, but our plans were changed by a local condition called “rage sea”. The wind and swells sometimes create breaking seas in the passages between the Sea of Abaco and the Atlantic, making them impassable. In our case, the remains of a storm far to the north had created huge surf in Whale Cay Passage and we would have to wait for another day to reach Green Turtle. In the Abacos, that’s “No problem, mon”.

Instead, we walked into “town”, which is mostly a collection of cheerfully painted houses plus a good grocery that provided a few items we’d forgotten. A local conch vendor had a table arrayed with his wares, but we were delighted with our own finds and knew we’d discover more.

We used the afternoon to venture up to Baker’s Bay at the end of Great Guana, where we could clearly see massive breakers rolling through the passage in the distance. We anchored in water so clear we worried that our anchor would knock a starfish that we could easily see on the bottom, and again we explored the beach, discovering several additional conchs.

We had heard about nearby Treasure Island, a huge facility that once provided cruise ship passengers with a Disney-like atmosphere in a tropical setting of restaurants, beaches, water activities and bars until it was suddenly abandoned a decade ago. We tied up to the rundown pier and walked up the weedy path into the facility that is overgrown and eerie. Feeling like we’d discovered Jungleland after a nuclear holocaust, we explored the vine-covered amphitheatre and restaurants with palms growing through their floors until multi-engined mosquitos drove us back to the beach.

The rage continued the next day, so we opted to visit Treasure Cay, a resort marina on Great Abaco. En route, I let the autopilot steer while we enjoyed quesadillas and icy beers. Finding the entry was a bit tricky because it’s invisible until you’re close but, once inside, we picked up a transient dock right in front of the swimming pool. Shorepower and water were inexpensive, so I hosed down the boat to get rid of salt and sand, and we tucked in for the evening with the air conditioning keeping us pleasantly cool. The next morning, we explored the Treasure Cay area, which lays claim to one of the best beaches in the world. That night, we dined ashore at the Tipsy Bar (aptly named if you sample their Goombay Smashes) and enjoyed lobster with Caesar salads.

A brilliant sunset over the low-lying islands caps another perfect day.

The next day, we headed for Elbow Cay and the harbour of Hopetown. Even with charts and GPS, the entrance is twisty and we got down to 5ft of water before we slid into the pretty harbour marked by the candy-cane red-and-white striped lighthouse. Opting for shorepower dockside rather than the generator at anchor, we chose the Hope Town Marina, where the friendly dockmaster warped us into a slip with a view of the lighthouse. We shared hors d’oeuvres with a couple honeymooning on a Sea Ray at the next pier and, later, the steady sweep of the 138-year-old kerosene light (seen on everything from postage stamps to Bahamas currency) hypnotised us into a deep sleep.

We explored Hopetown by dinghy and foot the next day, marvelling at the brilliantly painted houses that somehow managed to survive Hurricane Floyd’s 229-mph winds and then topped off our provisions (and rum) before heading for Man O’War Cay nearby.

Over incredibly blue-green water, we cruised through Man O’War’s harbour but decided not to pay to tie up temporarily to explore ashore, knowing that we would also be saving money we would have spent at Albury’s canvas shop to buy bags and gifts. Besides, Man O’War is a dry island (no alcohol sold or, theoretically, consumed), so we couldn’t even enjoy a pub. We anchored in the eastern harbour for lunch, and decided to return to the Moorings base that night, since our charter ended the next morning and we had an early flight home.
It had been a relaxing charter, with none of the muscle needed to handle the lines on sailing charters (even our anchor windlass was electric!), the comfortably protected Sea of Abaco hadn’t challenged our skills, and we could recommend it to novice charterers wholeheartedly.

Moorings offers three powerboats: our 372 catamaran, the 341 which is a charter version of the nifty Luhrs lobsterboat-styled express cruiser that is perfect for a couple, and the 454, a larger catamaran with four staterooms, each with private heads and showers. In addition to the Abacos base at Marsh Harbour, The Moorings has a new base in St Thomas, where charterers can explore the US and British Virgin Islands, which are a bit more demanding of boating skills than the Bahamas.
Whether your interests lie in snorkelling through crystal clear waters among squadrons of brilliant tropical fish, hunting conch shells on beaches where yours are the first footprints, or simply relaxing at anchor with a trashy paperback, The Moorings and the Abacos have just what you want. We’ll be back soon.

Chartering Tips

How To Get There: Several airlines fly from Miami, Ft. Lauderdale and Palm Beach airports direct to Marsh Harbour in the Bahamas.

Cost: The season is the key, with the most expensive season during the Christmas holidays and from late February to July, while the low season is mid-August to mid-October. In the prime season, our 372 is $760 a day, dropping to $610 for the mid season and $540 for the low. A good way to save is to book immediately before or after a more expensive season, when you’ll get the same weather at a discount. Add in provisioning, either at a store or through the Moorings plans that provide several choices ranging from $20 to $45 per day depending on the number of meals. You should probably take insurance at $35 a day, and our fuel cost for the week was less than $75. If you want to tie up to a mooring buoy or in a marina rather than anchoring, expect to pay from $10 to $40 per night plus electricity and water.

How To Save $$: In addition to chartering in the off season, we save by taking a lot of our own food. We stock up on steaks, chicken, fish and shrimp at discount stores, freeze them hard, and ship them in an ice chest to save on the often exorbitant island prices. Enjoy happy hour on your boat, because rum is dirt cheap but prices can be $6 to $10 per drink in a shoreside pub. Besides, you’ve got a better view on your own boat. Shop airfares for discounts, or use frequent flier miles to keep travel costs down.

What To Take: Everyone takes too much, so pare down. In a soft-sided easy-to-store duffel, pack a couple of swimsuits (so one can dry), t-shirts, deck shoes, beach sandals, and a light jacket for cool days in the off season. In the Abacos, you’ll live in a swimsuit, but bring a nice shirt and shorts if you want to dine ashore. You’ll need a good hat, polarized sunglasses to see into the water, and strong sunscreen to prevent burns. Take tons of film and/or batteries for the camera, some CDs for the stereo, and a canvas tote to carry cameras or gear ashore (and conchs back).

Must Read: Let me immodestly suggest Chartering A Boat, written by yours truly, Chris Caswell, and published by Sheridan House, at bookstores everywhere.

Editor’s note: For more information about charters in the Abacos, visit our Bahamas page.

I’m just back from the Miami International Boat Show, where traffic on the docks was a bit light to my eye but reportedly composed of serious shoppers as opposed to tire kickers. I’d like to put what I heard about the charter market into broad context for you first, before diving into details farther below.

Leading mid-range and large-yacht builders such as U.S.-based Sea Ray and British-based Sunseeker told me that they were selling enough new boats to consider the show “good for the current economic climate.” That’s a heck of a lot better than their tune at this time last year, when sales were all but nonexistent.

The brokerage market, too, seemed to have an air of hope in Miami. I spoke with the captain of a 112-foot Westport who told me that his motoryacht was now the least-expensive for sale in its class and getting serious offers from potential buyers. That, to him, indicated that the brokerage market has hit bottom and may be starting to turn around. His sense jived with my conversations with multiple sales brokers, who argued that now is the time to snap up the best remaining deals, as the brokerage market is poised to begin a slow but likely rebound.

With all that said, the sense that I got from the half-dozen charter fleet managers I met in Miami is that the charter industry, too, may be experiencing cautious optimism for the first time in nearly 18 months. The market for crewed charter appears to still be mixed according to many specifics that I heard, but in general, charter brokers’ phones are ringing again.

I was told that a good number of the charter inquiries coming right now are for the Bahamas during next month’s Spring Break and the Easter holiday in April. In years past, those dates would have been booked months ago and current calls would be for “last-minute” charters during the summer in the Mediterranean, but, as the managers put it, at least the calls are coming.

In terms of pricing, every charter fleet manager I spoke with confirmed for me that price negotiations are the order of the day, and that perhaps as many as two-thirds of the charters being booked today are coming at negotiated price reductions, extra days aboard, or some combination of the two. Some yacht owners are refusing to negotiate their prices at all (and some are still finding clients who book boats at full price), but the yacht owners who are willing to negotiate appear to be giving at least 10 percent to 15 percent off published weekly base rates.

Other charter yacht owners are giving more, but as quietly as possible. Charter fleet managers at several companies told me about cases where discounts were given as high as 40 percent to 50 percent off published base rates, but qualified their statements by saying the circumstances were particular to the specific yachts and clients involved. In at least one case, the charter client was required to sign a confidentiality contract in order to receive the sizable discount.

What does all this mean for the upcoming high season in the Western Mediterranean? It’s hard to say. I’m keeping my ear to the ground.

Stay tuned.

On a modern gulet, life is one long list of heavenly pleasures, including a morning dip into the warm turquoise waters.

Lycia in southern Turkey is packed with some of the finest wonders of the world, with a coastline perfect for sailing. Today there is a whole raft of nautical charts and coastal pilots available for people cruising there. Yet only 200 years ago this coast in the Eastern Mediterranean was a complete blank on the earth’s atlases. The man we have to thank for its transformation, for literally putting this part of Turkey on the map, is a celebrated figure in all things maritime. His name is an absolute constant on shipping forecasts and various instruments, for it became the scale on which all winds are rated: Beaufort.

Butterfly valley, a great chasm in the limestone massif on Lycia's western coast.

Of course the coast of Lycia was well known and used long before Francis Beaufort, a British Admiral, began his survey in 1810. It was directly on one of the main shipping routes in antiquity, the way between Greece and Egypt and in Christian times on the pilgrim trail from Constantinople to Jerusalem. Anybody who was anybody in ancient times seems to have sailed along its coast or changed ships there – from Anthony and Cleopatra to St Paul, Brutus to Hadrian.

Yet these sailors are relatively recent compared with those who were travelling on one of the greatest archaeological discoveries ever made. The world’s oldest shipwreck lies off the Lycian shore, revealing the extraordinary length of time that people have been navigating along this coast. When the Ülü Burun wreck was dated to 1,350 bc, it sent shockwaves through maritime history. Here was a 3,350-year-old vessel – a time capsule from the Bronze Age – and no ordinary little boat at that, but one carrying an extraordinary cargo that gives some idea of the sophisticated trade going on here in the dim and distant past. Aboard were tons of copper, ingots of glass and lapis lazuli, pellets of purple dye, swords and tridents, a wax book and even a musical instrument similar to a lyre, probably used by crew members to entertain themselves of an evening. A golden scarab of the Egyptian queen Nefertiti is a clue to the ship’s possible origin.

Today’s travellers can cruise in comfort unimaginable in the Bronze Age or even Beaufort’s time. The very best way to see the Lycian shore is aboard a gulet. The word probably derives from the French goulette, or schooner. For generations these two-masted wooden vessels, sometimes also known as caiques, have been used for transport and fishing along the southern coasts of Turkey. Typically designed with a sharp bow, broad beam and rounded aft, they are now designed and fitted with comfort, not trade in mind. Hand crafted in Turkey they come fully crewed, with a captain, cook, and additional deck hands. All passengers have to do is lie back, gaze at the horizon, and relax.

Much of the Lycian coast remains completely unspoilt. Soaring limestone mountains drop sheer into azure seas, carving the shore into a cavalcade of tiny coves, hidden bays and pristine beaches. Hillsides are swathed in pine and olives trees. The ruins of countless ancient cities, Greek, Roman, and Byzantine, cram the coast, limiting development to a few isolated areas. It’s the incredible combination of historical wonders, sailing, and superb swimming that make this coastline a truly magical destination.

Back in 1952 Freya Stark, one of the greatest women travellers of the twentieth century, sailed along this shore and fell madly in love with it:

“Every bay or headland of these shores, every mountain top round whose classic name the legends and clouds are floating, carries visible and invisible signs of its past … There are not so many places left where magic reigns without interruption … and of all those I know, the coast of Lycia is the most magical.”

From where and when the native Lycians came is shrouded in the mists of time, but the civilisation they developed is utterly unique. Set between the Persian Empire to the east, and the ancient Greeks to the west, they borrowed ideas from both, fusing them into an exceptional architectural style, best seen in the tombs they’ve left behind. There are giant monolithic pillars crowned with grave chambers made of marble and dating back some 2,500 years. Hewn out of cliff faces are gigantic tombs fashioned to look like Greek temples. Other burials were constructed from the living rock to look like houses, complete with roof timbers, exactly like the wooden grain stores used in the surrounding countryside to this very day. Most common are the Gothic-looking sarcophagi; thousands of them still litter the region, some decorated with the head of Medusa or ferocious lions to ward off tomb robbers. The lids of these sarcophagi curve up to a narrow point, which if you look at them upside down, appear like a ship’s hull and keel, a significant motif for such a seafaring people.

Many of the greatest Lycian sites are directly accessible from the coast. Cast off after breakfast from Göçek, one of the main yachting centres in the region, and within a couple of hours you can have travelled back 1,400 years. Moor up at Gemiler island, less than a kilometre in length, and you’ll be able to explore the remains of a small Christian community from Byzantine times which has been surveyed by Japanese archaeologists over the past two decades. Clinging to the island’s slopes are no less than five churches, littered with geometric mosaics and fallen columns carved with crosses. The northern shore is packed with houses and shops equipped with cisterns where rainwater was collected and probably sold on for a tidy sum to passing shipping. Climb up through the trees and you’ll find an ancient processional way used by pilgrims en route to the cathedral church on the island’s peak. Time your visit correctly and you’ll reach the top ready to experience one of the very finest sunsets imaginable: the sea sparkling with gold as ranges of craggy hills turn into shimmering silhouettes.

Just inland from Gemiler lies Kaya Koy, a place brimming with atmosphere and mystery, the setting for Louis de Berniere’s latest novel. This is a genuine ghost town, abandoned by its Greek inhabitants when Turkey and Greece swapped populations in 1923. It’s not very old by the standards of other ruined towns along the coast, but wandering along its empty streets past crumbling houses and chapels is both pleasurable and inspiring, and makes you realise quite how well the truly ancient sites have survived.

Lycia is a perfect area for walking, with a national trail, the Lycian Way, stretching 500km around the coast.

Back on the gulet, life is like one long list of heavenly pleasures: a morning dip into the warm turquoise waters; a spot of snorkeling beside the rocky shore; an adventurous turn on the windsurfer as a breeze comes up; a short expedition in the kayak to scout out a hidden inlet. Needless to say if you want to conserve your energy, there are relaxation opportunities galore, from reading and sunbathing to a full blown snooze. Then there’s the parade of tasty treats sent out from the galley, a real cornucopia of freshly prepared mezes and main dishes: stuffed eggplants, grilled lamb, multicoloured olives, spicy meatballs, feta cheese, and a whole host of salads tossed with local lemons and olive oil. On top of that is the bounty of fresh seasonal fruit: from mulberries to melons, pomegranates to strawberries. Turkey is a gastronome’s paradise and the ship’s cook never fails to conjure up mouthwatering sensations each and every day.

As you set sail from another languid lunch stop and the boat’s captain checks his position on the GPS, spare a thought for Captain Beaufort cruising along this coast at the start of the nineteenth century. He complained in his diary how little he had to go on to find his way: “The only accounts extant were those left by the ancient geographers … there was no nautical description of the coast, nor any charts whatever by which the mariner could steer.”

His task was utterly painstaking. Dragging a 100-yard-long steel chain marked with flags and poles on the shore, they took meticulous sightings and sextant angles, and plotted the resulting position points. Slowly but surely his team of surveyors worked their way along the coast, putting Lycia on the map, despite the heat and overgrown vegetation: “Their shoes cut on the rocks, soaked by the quagmires, or burned in the red hot sands were of but little use.”

One of the prettiest places along the whole coast is Üçağız, which means “three mouths”. This tiny fishing village is connected to the interior by a thin rutted road that twists tortuously through a wild landscape of knife edge rocks. Not surprisingly the village is there because of the sea. It’s beautifully protected by two giant spits of land as well as the long thin mass of Kekova Island which forms a natural breakwater. This has been a vital harbourage for some 2,500 years, and its history lies all about. On one side is an incredible necropolis (literally “city of the dead”) of stone sarcophagi standing up to ten foot tall and dating back to the fifth century bc; on the other are the storage buildings, churches and houses of the Byzantine town 1,000 years later. The modern village of Üçağız is tiny compared to its predecessors. Here you can find a few small places to stay, a couple of shops selling food and carpets, a tiny mosque, some restaurants and a bar. That’s it. It’s a perfect place to moor up and idle away a couple of days.

Sail east and the Taurus Mountains suddenly recede from the shore revealing a large fertile plain at Finike, which is the source of many of Turkey’s oranges. A glorious hour’s drive inland rises up and up to the ancient site of Arykanda. Set high on the side of a mountain this Greek and then Roman town literally has it all. It’s been dubbed the “Turkish Delphi” because of its spectacular location and excellent preservation, but unlike the site in Greece you’re more than likely to be the only visitors there. There are all the usual trappings of a prosperous antique city – agora, stadium, temples, baths – but the setting makes it truly stand out. The view from the top of the theatre down a steep-sided valley to the distant mountains is simply heart-stopping.

There is more to Lycia than sailing and archaeology. One of the great highlights of the region now is the Lycian Way, Turkey’s first long distance footpath. Rated by the UK’s Sunday Times as one of the ten best walks in the world, the trail follows 500 km of ancient tracks and mule roads that linked the region before the arrival of the car. Waymarked with red and white stripes, many sections of it follow the coast, so it’s perfectly possible to drop anchor and venture off for either a gentle stroll or serious hike. Some gulet operators now offer specialist walking cruises, so you can trek along some of the very best stretches of the Lycian Way, with a boat ever present offshore, providing luxurious transport, dining and accommodation. What could be finer than walking along a Roman road or shepherd’s track, discovering remote ancient cities with breathtaking vistas, and then having a swim off the gulet at the end of the day?
In many parts of Lycia you can head a short distance inland and step back in time to a simpler, pre-industrial age – to a countryside worked much as it would have been in America and Europe a few centuries back. Go in the right month and you’ll find women in colourful trousers scything golden wheat grown on slender hill terraces. Walk along dirt roads and you’ll hear the tinkle of goat bells filling the air, a goatherd ushering on his flock of shiny black charges. Very occasionally you might even come across some semi-nomadic charcoal burners arriving into harbour with the fruits of their labours after several months living and working in the forests.

It’s the timeless quality of Lycia that is one of its greatest attractions. Although a lot has changed since Francis Beaufort first mapped the coast and many of its ancient cities, there’s a great deal that he would recognise today. His survey revealed a magnificent coastline and an untapped wealth of archaeological wonders. It wasn’t long before a whole army of European treasure hunters were out looking for the best ruins to ship home. When the first consignment of Lycian “marbles” – statues, temples, and tombs – arrived at the British Museum in London they caused such interest and excitement among the public that there was a Gothic architectural revival. Fortunately there’s a vast amount left to be seen in Lycia, and more and more is being uncovered by archaeologists every year. These ancient sites form a perfect backdrop to a splendid sailing vacation. In many cases it’s possible to sail directly into the ancient harbour of a Lycian city and moor for the night. How much better can cruising get? Sailing the Lycian Shore really is the experience of a lifetime.

Editor’s Note: Peter Sommer runs a specialist travel company, Peter Sommer Travels, offering archaeological tours and gulet charters in Turkey. In 1994 he walked 2,000 miles retracing Alexander the Great’s route across Turkey and fell in love with the country, its ancient civilisations and its people. An archaeologist and documentary producer, he has worked on many acclaimed BBC TV series including “In the footsteps of Alexander the Great” and “Tales from the Green Valley.”

For more information about charters in Lycia, visit the Turkey charter page.

Back in 2003, I wrote an article for Power & Motoryacht magazine about a trend that I was beginning to see in the global crewed charter industry. The article was called “The Next Horizon,”and it talked about owners building go-anywhere yachts that were designed to expand cruising options beyond the traditional charter locations in the Mediterranean and Caribbean.

When the global recession felled the charter industry in late 2008, this off-the-beaten-course concept took a back seat to basic survival, which, for many charter yachts, meant becoming available “back home” in easy-to-reach locations such as the South of France and Sint Maarten.

The recession’s effects are still being felt on the charter industry today, but I am quite happy to see that not every yacht owner has succumbed. Here is a photograph of the 158-foot motoryacht Grace, a modern design that was built in 2004 in the style of a classic gentleman’s yacht. The owner’s specs included separate heating and air conditioning systems as well as the enclosed aft deck that you can clearly see just beneath Grace’s proudly flying flag. These are the kinds of systems and styling that are necessary to keep charter guests comfortable in out-of-the-way places–which is exactly where Grace is going.

Management company Peter Insull’s tells me that Grace is going to be permanently based in Norway, a location that, until now, has been reachable via motoryacht charter only on a catch-as-catch can basis, depending on the whims and travel plans of any given yacht’s owner.

“As far as we are aware, this is the only superyacht offering an opportunity to experience the Norwegian coastline throughout the year,” Insull’s charter manager, Fiona Maureso, told me. “This news is therefore somewhat special.”

Grace has accommodations for 10 guests with nine crew  and will be available at a weekly base rate of €100,000. The yacht’s website is chock-full of interior photographs that look pretty darn nice to me, as well as technical details and deck plans if you want to learn more.

Editor’s Note: Kim Kavin is an award-winning writer, editor and photographer who specializes in marine travel. She is the author of six books including Dream Cruises: The Insider’s Guide to Private Yacht Vacations, is editor of the online yacht vacation magazine www.CharterWave.com, and writes the blog at www.BrokerageBoss.com.

As luck would have it, Landry and I had chatted just a few days before the FYBA announcement. Among the things we discussed is the evolving role of retail charter brokers as the global recession continues to upend long-established yacht-booking practices.

By her estimation, what was once a seller’s market is now a buyer’s market, and charter brokers need to know not only about the best yachts and crew, but also about how to negotiate prices effectively.

“There have always been clients who wanted to negotiate rates, but it was not something you could do on a charter of less than three weeks,” she told me. “Yacht owners would not do it. Now, they’ll negotiate on a weeklong charter or less.

“A good broker has to have different skills now, in terms of being able to effectively negotiate. I need to have a feeling for what a week aboard a boat is actually worth. The clients are determining the boat’s worth, with the broker negotiating on their behalf, as opposed to the owners setting the price.”

Interesting stuff from a longtime charter broker who, as the FYBA award shows, is at the top of her game.

The full text of my interview with Landry is available here. And of course, my warmest congratulations to her on winning the FYBA award.

Editor’s Note: Kim Kavin is an award-winning writer, editor and photographer who specializes in marine travel. She is the author of six books including Dream Cruises: The Insider’s Guide to Private Yacht Vacations, is editor of the online yacht vacation magazine www.CharterWave.com, and writes the blog at www.BrokerageBoss.com.

There was also a new crew member: Tracey Bamforth, who came aboard December 5 to serve as chef. She made quite an entrance at the show, taking first place in the entire field of yachts (including the big megayachts) in the competition for “best use of coffee.”

Bamforth told me that she previously worked as the sole stewardess aboard a 125-foot Perini Navi sailing yacht that was not offered for charter. She has been friends with Dulcinea’s captain for quite some time, and thus was thrilled with the idea of filling the opening he had this winter. “I wanted a more hands-on role on a smaller boat,” she told me.

As to her cooking skills, Bamforth told me that she’s not a trained chef in high cuisine—but that she has long learned from those who are. “I lived with the sous chef of the 269-foot Oceanco motoryacht Alfa Nero for two years,” she said, “and before that, in London, I lived with a chef for two years who was Italian trained. For me, cooking is a passion.”

She calls her style fusion, which she defines as finding the freshest ingredients and combining them creatively. Some of her favorite dishes to serve include fish tartare, fresh scallops, mussel soup, low-fat salads, and fresh fillets.

“We did bacon paella today,” she told me, “and the only fat was from the bacon itself. There’s just no need to add any more.”

Dulcinea is available this winter in the Caribbean through management company Nicholson Yachts (which is one of my sponsors). Any reputable charter broker can tell you more about the crew or help you book a week onboard.

Take a look at these photographs, each of which is of a different guest bathroom floor aboard Trident:

DJ Kiernan, who heads the charter division at Feadship, told me that each of these floors was made from individual glass tiles that were arranged on work tables, hand numbered, and installed in sequence only after Starkey gave his approval for the mosaic layouts. The result, as you can see, is a repeating pattern whose color schemes give each room an entirely different ambience. They range from what felt to me like masculine, in the top photograph, to cozy in the bottom image.

Interestingly, Kiernan told me that Trident was for sale while she was being completed at the Feadship yard. Thus, what you are seeing in these photographs is a leading interior designer’s unbridled vision of how glass tile can be used effectively.

Beautiful, right?

Any reputable charter broker can tell you more about Trident or help you book a week onboard.

A view of Raiatea the earliest Polynesians might have enjoyed. Photo courtesy of TAHITI TWOSOME.

The waves break in a steady rhythm on the barrier reef along the southeast coast of Raiatea, in the Society Islands of French Polynesia. Mt. Tefaatuaiti soars skyward to 3,400 feet, and opposite the Passe Irihu ou Maire, the fjord-like Faaroa Bay creates an anchorage protected from the easterly trade winds. A short distance away is Opoa Bay, the oldest settlement on Raiatea, possibly dating back to 100 A.D.

Charter sailors on crewed and bareboat yachts in these waters enjoy the sun, the scenery, and the spirited passages between Raiatea, Bora-Bora, Tahaa, and Huahine, known as the Tahitian Leeward Islands. Several charter companies have yacht bases there, making it easy to plan a sailing vacation to this tropical paradise. Faaroa Bay is a favored anchorage for charter boats and the archaeological site of Taputapuatea Marae at Opoa is a popular destination. Known as the Sacred Island, Raiatea was once the cultural and religious center of ancient Polynesia. Epic voyages began there.

But these Polynesian explorations from Raiatea were not the first. Sailors from Southeast Asia in dugout canoes equipped with outriggers set out into the Pacific as far back as 6,000 years ago, long before the ages of exploration began in the Middle East and Europe. The migration moved gradually from west to east to Samoa, Fiji, Tonga, the Cook Islands, the Society Islands, the Tuamotus, and the Marquesas. Later voyages from Raiatea possibly included those to Hawaii and New Zealand, in that order.

In 1774, a traveler in the Society Islands named Andia y Varela respected the Polynesian sailors. He wrote: “There are many sailing masters among the people. They are competent to make long voyages.” And of their canoes he wrote that they were as “fine forward as the edge of a knife, so that they travel faster than the swiftest of our vessels; and they are marvelous, not only in this respect, but for their smartness in shifting from one tack to the other.”

The crystal blue water and unspoiled islands make French Polynesia ideal for cruising. Photo courtesy of TAHITI TWOSOME.

When European explorers first ventured into Polynesia during the 1500s, the presence of the people on far-flung islands perplexed them. How did they get there? The question also interested Captain James Cook, who made three voyages to the Polynesian islands. In 1778, he wrote in his journal: “How shall we account for this Nation spreading itself so far over this Vast ocean?”

To be sure, the Polynesian mastery of seamanship and navigation was well known. But Cook wondered how the Polynesians seemed to have explored from west to east, against the trade winds, as the oral histories indicated. The answer, he was told, proved quite simple: During November, December, and January the easterly trade winds often diminished and west winds were more frequent. Sailing upwind or to the east with the help of west winds meant that when supplies ran low, the sailors could always get home again. If they sailed downwind, they might never make it back.

Navigating by the stars, the direction of swells, the flight patterns of birds, the set of currents, the reflections of lagoons against clouds, cloud cover over high islands, and by dead reckoning, the Polynesians explored more than 10 million square miles of the Pacific Ocean. It was one of the greatest feats of sailing in human history.

Editor’s Note: David W. Shaw is the author of seven nonfiction books, including a historical account of Flying Cloud, America’s most famous clipper ship. For charter info in this area, view the South Pacific listings.