Landing a Big Deal on a Yacht

We normally think of a yacht as a personal extravagance.  It is something you buy to celebrate your success and to give yourself the kind of luxury that success affords.  And it gives you the chance to have some very private holidays and vacations in high style with an attentive crew on board and still to have the privacy and complete liberty that is not possible in a hotel or resort.  This combination of freedom, privacy and luxury is what makes yachting such an attractive pastime for so many including perhaps many of your friends.

But there are some very solid businesses reasons for maintaining a yacht as well.  And whether you make that yacht a private possession or a corporate asset, you may find enough business reasons to maintain the craft to make it entirely a business expense.  And it will be one that will pay off well for the cost of the yacht along with maintenance and storage.

A corporate yacht gives you options for business entertaining that really cannot be matched at even the finest restaurant in town.  By outfitting the yacht properly when you buy it, you can make sure here is a luxurious dinning room and all of the accessories to put on a fine business dinner.  If you will be entertaining business clients from out of town for a day or so, you can use the comfortable bedroom suites of your yacht to provide them with the finest in comfort and luxury with a crew who knows that these are VIP guests and to treat them as such.  Nothing will put your guests in a better mood for negotiation than spending the night on the gentle waves of the sea on the yacht you provided entirely for their comfort.

When it comes time to close that big deal, that same dining table is an outstanding setting to lay out the paperwork and step through the complex process of business deal making.  Because you are essentially "on your turf", the yacht seems to send the message that coming to an agreement is the right thing to do.  And you have total privacy aboard your yacht so the parties can take breaks and go out on deck and look at the stars and the moonlight on the waters to have their spirits refreshed to come back and put ink to paper and strike a deal that could bring your company millions in business.  One deal alone might pay for that yacht for decades and you still have it available for the next company Christmas party.

The yacht has other valid business purposes along with romancing clients or striking deals with business partners.   The yacht setting is a delightful way to reward loyal employees with an evening of celebration of the completion of a great project.  By gathering select managers and spouses to the seclusion and luxury of a yacht, you communicate to them the value of their work and can instill company loyalty and a desire to succeed that is a huge asset to any business.

The reason a yacht is so often a great way to do business entertaining or to host a business meeting or conference is that it communicates success.  On board a yacht, your guests or employees get the message that this is a company that is doing very well, that is willing to invest in the finest for its clients, partners and leaders and that this company is going to be successful for a long time to come.  This is a powerful message to send and the yacht speaks it elegantly while providing an ideal setting for relaxation, forming of business friendships and resolution of conflict as well.

Give Yourself the World for Vacation

The great thing about using the services of charter yacht companies to plan your vacation during the spring and summer is that you really are never limited to one part of the world for where you on your vacation.  Chartering a yacht that is like your own private floating resort so you can enjoy all the luxury you want and deserve and the freedom to take that yacht wherever your heart desires.

There are a lot of levels of yachting but for maximum luxury, engage a company to give you a full crewed yachting experience.  That means you have a crew on board to pamper you and your family and guests and you have no more to do than to sit back and enjoy your destinations in comfort.  And that is really what vacation is all about after all.

For many of us, to own a luxurious boat that you can take out when and where you want is a great way to exemplify success and.  But there are some drawbacks to ownership compared to simply chartering a yacht to fit your travel plans.  For one thing ownership also brings the overhead of storage and maintenance.  You may enjoy your yacht many weeks during the months when going out on the waters is perfect but for the winter months or when the weather forbids it, that yacht has to be secured and protected.  And every year there is ongoing care and maintenance so the yacht both looks good and is safe for your next seafaring adventure.

The other drawback is that owning a yacht almost dictates that your vacation time will be spent in a specific area of the world.  So if you keep your yacht off the coast nearby, you always have it there to go out but it cannot take you around the world without a lot of trouble of transportation of the yacht.  In that way a yacht you own is like a timeshare because buying it is like saying, we will want to spend our time in this body of water and yachting these shores pretty much forever.

By going the chartered yacht route, you can enjoy all the pleasures and luxuries of yachting but the world is your oyster in terms of where your adventures will occur.  You can be in Cancun one month and yachting off the coast of Greece the next.  And because you are only chartering for the time you enjoy the yacht, you have no concerns for caring for the boat once your vacation is over.  You let the charter company worry about that and you can just go out on that yacht again when you have another vacation to plan in that part of the world.

Chartering a yacht has a lot of advantages over a cruise ship or staying at a luxury resort because where you go is entirely yours to chart.  You can explore remote parts of the shoreline or go deep for some serious fishing if the mood suits you.   That crew and that ships captain are there only to serve your needs, respond to your requests and keep you happy and safe throughout your cruise.  You don’t have the agenda of the crew or of the other passengers to concern yourself with and none of the inconveniences that being on a large cruise ship can cause.

In many ways charter yachts in different exotic locations is the ideal vacation plan.  If you have not tried it yet, it's easy to find a charter company for a short time at sea.  But once you enjoy yachting at this level of luxury and having the fun and excitement of being the master of that domain, you may want to come back again and again for the great vacation possibilities charter yachting can provide.

Girls on a Yacht

For some reason when we think of luxury yachting, the image of Mr. and Mrs. Howell from Gilligan's Island living an extravagant lifestyle comes to mind.  But yacht charter companies can tell you that more and more the conventional stereotype of people who are enjoying even a very luxurious yacht is changing dramatically.  The popularity of taking a yacht out in some exotic location like Greece, the Mediterranean or the Gulf Coast is growing so fast that groups are taking them out and sharing both the costs and the fun of the adventure.

One innovative approach is to book an all girls yacht excursion to one of these exotic locations and tailor it around a boat for you, your sisters or cousins and friends.  You would be able to put together an ample budget with everybody being involved and by chartering a luxury yacht, you can cruise in style and enjoy all the freedom and excitement of a wonderful vacation and some safety in that you can secure the ship. 

Many modern charters are starting to offer all girls yacht charters and you can find packages that will also offer a female skipper and crew to provide for all your needs, including security.  While someone in the group might balk not keeping a sexy deck boy on board, you will have plenty of chances to flirt when you get to the beautiful destination ports such as the French Riviera or Greece.  And you can go on shore and have the kind of romantic adventures they make movies about and then go out to sea with the girls to have a slumber party to tell each other all about them.

If you decide to use the resources of an all girls yacht to discover a new part of the world, your ability to get to and explore new locations every day may change the way you view traveling forever.  A trip to Southern Europe can have an entirely different feel when a Yacht is your hotel, your restaurants and your means of transpiration as well.  And because you may wish to see many of the ancient cities that are a short distance from the shore, you can plan many sightseeing trips from port, enjoy the history of some of the oldest cities in the world and be onboard the yacht by dinner time ready to cruise to the next destination.

The great thing about yachting that all of the girls will love is the mobility.  Unlike booking rooms in a luxury resort, you can be off the shore of a different country virtually every morning when you wake up.  And if there is any situation where every gal on board can be pampered in a way that makes you feel like a "princess", a luxury yacht can do the trick.  Because you can customize your crew when you plan a fully staffed charter yachting adventure, if you want you can include a masseuse or any other specialized luxury you and the girls want to enjoy and share.

As in any all girls situation, when you get out to sea, the dress code can be just as relaxed as you want it to be.  So if you get far enough from civilization and the deck is for sunbathing, you can really get a good tan without concern about prying eyes.  And there can be no better description of luxury than to go from an afternoon of drinking wine and sunning to a gourmet feast prepared so all the girls can give in to their pleasures which is what vacation and true enjoyment is all about.

There is such a huge variety of things that can be done on a week long yacht trip that you will want to use the anticipation time before the outing for the girls to pool their requests and come up with an agenda.  From swimming in the Ocean to cruising for whale watching to finding a remote beach only for you to enjoy to dancing all night in one of the great European or South American hot spots, you can mix high adventure with natural beauty with a sophisticated night life.  There will literally be something for everyone and everyone will experience new thrills when you get a group of best friends together to discover the world aboard a charter luxury yacht.

Chasing the Good Life Instead of Pirates

A little piece of trivia about yachting that is fun to bring out if you are enjoying an afternoon on a friend's yacht is that the word "yacht" is actually Dutch and it original spelling is "Jacht".  The translation of the original word is "hunt" because the yacht was created to give the Dutch navel vessels a tool to hunt down pirates in shallow water.  But these days we are far more interested in chasing the good life on board a luxury yacht than going after pirates.

It didn’t take long for yachting to become a lifestyle choice for those that could afford such luxury.  It is fascinating that yachting was enjoyed as far back as the early 1800s where there are references in history that King Charles II was a huge yachting enthusiast.  So we are in good company if we have come to love yachting too and its small wonder that it makes us feel like kings and queens when we are on board a luxury yacht cruising entirely for our pleasure.

Today when you think of the word "yacht", you almost always associate it with private boats kept for the pleasure of those who can afford a large seafaring ship dedicated to relaxation, romance and pleasure.  That image is wonderfully displayed in the delightful movie Some like it Hot with Marilyn Monroe and Tony Curtis in which Tony yells the sexy "Sugar" played by Marilyn that he is waiting for a signal from his wine steward on board his yacht for the time to return from the beach for cocktails.  Who of us doesn’t get a kick out of that kind of lifestyle and we jump at the chance to enjoy it even if it's just for a few weeks each year on holiday or vacation?

When you start to think about the kind of yacht you wish to buy or charter, you have a few decisions to make.  For one thing, you can buy a sailing or motorized yacht.  Sailing seems so natural and you don’t have to carry as much fuel (although a good sailing yacht will still have some ability to get to shore using a motor so you are never in danger of being stranded).   Also what a wonderful way to pass the morning watching the crew of your yacht put up and maneuver the sails to get you surfing the winds at sea and letting them take you along.

A yacht is almost always a large boat except perhaps if it is devoted to racing.  But for luxury and relaxation, having plenty of space on the yacht is important.  If you are going to buy a new yacht, you should walk the boat over many times and picture different ways you will entertain family and friends and be sure you have plenty of accommodations not only for the largest party you might take with you to sea but also for a good sized crew you will have along to care for the yacht itself as well as for you and your guests.  Your chef should have an ample kitchen with room for plenty of provisions if you want to stock the yacht for several days or weeks at sea.  And there should be the proper facilities to store fine wines and other beverages for your wine steward to work with during your voyage.

By making sure your yacht is well designed for the lifestyle you want during your outings, you will get lots of good use from it each year.  And if you are going to charter, you can look forward to bringing your same high standards to picking just the right yacht, captain and crew each time as well so your adventure at sea is just as enjoyable and luxurious as you always wanted it to be.

A Wonderful Greek Yachting Vacation

Yachting in Greece is as much the best of an exotic and luxurious vacation as there is.  The islands are beautiful and the waters a delight to sail or yacht whether you put to shore or just enjoy the magnificent setting and atmosphere of the Greek islands.  Whether you are yachting on your own boat or you charter to allow local experts to guide you to the wonders of this delightful part of the world, you will discover a world that is such a delight to take your time and enjoy.

The best time to plan for a yachting trip to Greece is between March and November of the year.  This is the time of year when the temperature is virtually perfect for yachting.  If you wait until mid May to start your vacation, that is when the sea is great for swimming and a lot of other water activities that are a great ways to pass the day.  While it can get a bit warm in the summer months, the breezes along the coast keep you relaxed and comfortable if you dress for it.

They say that the anticipation of a trip is as good as the vacation itself.  So along with planning your wardrobe and what time of year you want to vacation in Greece, you should also think through what you will require onboard your yacht.  This is a perfect charter situation because by bringing an experienced captain and crew from Greece onboard with you, they can guide you to the best of the country.

The length of your stay, the size of your party and the amount of time you will actually be staying onboard will all affect the size of yacht you may wish to charter while in Greece.  If you have chartered a yacht before and spent time on one, you have a good feel for not only how much comfort to prepare for but to what extent you want to be physically involved with the operation of the yacht during the time you are enjoying your vacation.    If you want to do all of the work of operation the yacht, you can take a stab at a bareboat charter.  But at the other end of the scale is a full crew charter where you will enjoy complete luxury and the only decision you might have to make is whether to nap on deck or in your luxury cabin.

If you are going to be enjoying the area for a good amount of time, you might consider a flotilla where your yacht becomes part of a community of yachts all following the same leisurely path through a designated route.  In this kind of situation you may have bareboat yachts, yachts with just skippers or full crew yachts and you can pool the common expertise so everybody enjoys their time in a community setting.  This is also an excellent way to meet people from all over Europe and turn a single yacht vacation into a party.

Be sure you allow plenty of time to really explore Greece.  By working with a local charter company, they can guide you not only on the places you absolutely do not want to miss but on customs and festivals that are going on at the time of year you are there that will make your vacation especially memorable.  One way to get the best of Greece is to schedule a few days before or after your yachting adventure to just take some time in Athens or one of the other wonderful local areas and really soak up a lot of Greek culture, not to mention some fabulous food.  By doing that you will come home relaxed, tanned and with one of the best vacations you ever had behind you in the wonderful Greek islands.

A Holiday on the 7 Seas

The problem with a lot of holiday trips is that resorts or theme parks are so predictable.  While we all go that route at first when the kids are little, it doesn’t take long even for the kids to see that these manufactured adventures are just that, pretend adventures and that it's far more exciting to get out there and have a real adventure and come home from holiday or vacation with a memory that will last a lifetime.

This is why yachting has become such a popular approach to enjoying some time off with the family and having an exotic vacation where the variety of things to do is virtually endless.  The yachting industry has come a long way to make the experience available to the wealthy and to people who are not looking for the most luxurious vacation ever as well.  Because you can pick the level of service you want or need, you can opt to have an entire crew on board of your yacht catering to your every need or scale down the size of your service personnel to just a captain or even to skipper the yacht yourself with a bareboat tour that is as close to "us against the world" as you are likely to get. 

The great thing about yachting in one of the exciting vacation spots around the world is you have a lot of freedom to move about easily.  Virtually while you nap, your captain can take you from a remote forest just off shore to gaze through binoculars at exotic beasts in their natural setting to a remote beach you would pay big money to enjoy in a luxury resort.  There is no experience as breath taking as sitting with your sweetheart and seeing the sun go down over the horizon at sea with no land in sight north, south, east or west.  This is the kind of change of pace that can take you out of the humdrum of life and really make you reflect on your life and on the world.  And that is always a healthy outcome of any get away.

The choice of destinations for a yachting holiday are vast and diverse because anywhere you might go to vacation in a land bound resort offers charter yachts so you can take in the entire experience from the deck of a boat that is yours to captain.  Feel free to stand with your hands on your hips and leg up like a pirate king or to stand on the point and shout "I'm the king of the world" to the open seas.  It's your yacht to get out there and enjoy it. 

The biggest problem you might have when planning your yachting vacation is picking what area of the world to enjoy in this very unique way.  Whether your yachting takes you to Greece, Turkey, the south of France, Bulgaria or the gulf coast of America, each location offers exotic cultures to explore, new food sensations to savor each night and shorelines that will all compete for you to crown them "best beaches in the world".  Then next year the competition will be even more intense for where to go or where to go back to.

Of course one option to try at least once is simply to "disappear at sea".  While you would not literally vanish, with a yacht at your disposal, you can get away from humanity to where it is just you and the sea and stay there for a day or a week if it suits you.  The gentle movement of the saves will create an entirely new balance in you and sooth you like nothing on hard ground can do.  It might seem like you would get bored but if you have ample provisions, simple acts like fishing, taking a swim in the deep with the creatures of the sea or just watching the birds dive for their suppers can be wonderfully entertaining and give you hours of time to reflect and recuperate from a busy life at home.

That kind of relaxation may be only possible with a complete retreat environment such as a yacht can provide.  And once you enjoy the deep refreshing that being at sea with complete isolation, complete freedom but also the luxury your yacht affords, you will get hooked and be planning a new yacht holiday next year and for many years to come.