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.

Getting Coverage for Your Floating Home

In terms of how a yacht becomes an important part of your lifestyle and the cost of a yacht both in terms of purchase and maintenance, in many ways your yacht almost becomes like a floating home.  Unlike a fishing boat or a boat used for commercial purposes, most of us buy a yacht to spend some significant time on and we equip that boat so it can be a home away from home for however long you habitat on that vessel.

When you look around your yacht, it's really an amazing design feat.  It is at the same time a boat with all the pleasantries that make living there a joy and the resources to host guests and even hold parties.  So while you certainly can afford both the purchase and maintenance of a yacht, getting insurance to make sure any damage can be covered is smart. 

Unlike a home, a yacht is by nature in a more hazardous environment.  Because your yacht is also a vehicle and it spends most of its time on the water, there are things that can happen to it that must be considered in your insurance policy.  So make sure your policy covers every possible form of loss so you can get your yacht repaired or replaced if need be and to cover any harm that might be caused by an accident.

Obviously, you are going to include in the base policy the cost of the yacht and the basic equipment that came with it including the engine and other equipment necessary to operate the yacht as a sea going vessel.  Your basic insurance policy is going to cover damage to the vehicle from weather or from on board accidents.  But it should also be worded to cover the other ways that a yacht could be damaged or destroyed.

Explosions are a very real danger in the operation of a yacht.  Unlike your home, that vehicle is always carrying a large quantity of explosive fuels just under the feet of you and your guests.  If the yacht hits another vehicle or is hit by one or through equipment malfunction, that yacht can explode which can destroy that luxurious boat.  So make sure your policy has coverage for this kind of loss and that there are no exclusions because of the cause of the explosion as that may not always be possible to know.

Next take into account any expensive items that may be on the yacht that are not part of the yacht itself.  You may have any number of lifestyle amenities that would be expensive to replace such as the sound system, television or video equipment, furniture and supplies such as a fully stocked wet bar.  While these items are not difficult to replace, they do represent a cost that should be covered by yacht insurance.

Weather related damage should be represented in the yacht insurance if you use the vehicle on a body of water that can bring a catastrophic storm such as a hurricane or even tornados.  Now you might want to have your insurance agent help you calculate the statistical likelihood you would need such insurance.  But you sure will be glad you had it in the event that a destructive force of nature took a toll on this investment you have made in your yacht.

Think through any situation that might result in damage or destruction to your yacht or that could result in financial loss.  An accident with another boat could cause significant damage to the other vessel.  If it turns out the accident was the result of an error on the part of your pilot, you could face a large financial liability.  Similarly, if your yacht had a fire in dock or an explosion that caused damage to the dock or to other boats, you will be held responsible for that damage.  So just as you are covering the damage to your yacht, make sure monies are in the insurance policy to cover collateral damage as well.

You are not inexperienced in knowing the costs of owning a fine luxury such as a yacht.  You no doubt already have gotten insurance to cover theft and the basic threats to that vehicle.  But it's worth your while to go back and review that policy to make sure that it is comprehensive in nature.  You will be glad you did.

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.