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.

Today comes news from competing management house Fraser Yachts Worldwide that the largest and most expensive of its fleet motoryachts, the 262-foot Oceanco Amevi shown in the photograph above, has availability the last week of this month and all of next month in the Western Mediterranean at a rate that is described as “negotiable.”

Amevi‘s base rate is still listed at €700,000 for 12 guests, making her one of the most expensive 12-guest charter yachts in the world. By comparison, the 230-foot Lurssen motoryacht Martha Ann takes 12 guests at a weekly base rate of about €610,000, and you can get aboard super-size charter motoryachts such as the 30-guest, 273-foot O’Mega at a weekly base rate of €380,000.

News that Amevi‘s owner is willing to negotiate his base rate because of continued availability during the end of the Western Med’s high season of course piques my curiosity. It will be interesting to see how the data from this summer’s Med season shake out in next year’s Superyachting Index, and whether the claim will still be able to be made that there is more supply than demand for charters at the top of the international market.

Stay tuned.