Charter Chatter

EastSail in Rushcutters Bay, Sydney is offering a 25 per cent discount on all bareboat charters in November. A new Beneteau First 40 has joined their fleet and is available for skippered charter for up to 17 guests. Next March it will become EastSail’s primary offshore sail training vessel and will head north on a Seven Sided Sail to compete in Hamilton Island Race Week in August.

Coral Princess has announced a special 2010 Christmas cruise through Melanesia, including a traditional Christmas lunch in the remote Solomon Islands and New Year’s Eve on Champagne Beach in Vanuatu.

The ice-breaker Le Boreal will be launched in May and in contrast to many boats that sail to the Antarctic it is luxury all the way, with an outdoor heated pool, theatre, lounge with dance floor, Turkish steam room, spa and fitness centre. Le Boreal comes with the latest technology relating to water and waste. It also has a positioning system that eliminates the need for dropping anchor in fragile areas.

A new day trip is available from Rosslyn Bay, near Rockhampton, to Great Keppel Island. The day includes tea and coffee on arrival, a tube ride along Fisherman’s Beach and free use of snorkel gear and fins, kayaks, catamarans, sun suits and life jackets. Situated just 30 minutes by boat from the mainland, Great Keppel Island, with 17 beaches, is situated on the southern end of the Great Barrier Reef.

Further south is Lady Elliot Island where the Eco Resort has reduced its diesel consumption and carbon emissions by at least 75 per cent since 2005 through a range of initiatives including a new solar hybrid power station. Daily boat trips for divers and snorkelling tours on glass bottom boats allow visitors to see the manta rays, turtles and tropical fish which call this part of the Great Barrier Reef home.

Oasis of the Seas is the largest cruise ship in the world with 16 decks carrying 5,400 guests at double occupancy. The ship, which is five times bigger than the Titanic, had to lower her smoke stacks to pass under the Great Belt Bridge as she left the Baltic Sea. While crossing the North Atlantic Ocean on its way to Florida, Oasis of the Seas encountered strong winds and high seas, delaying her arrival until November 13.

The 2009 Kalia Cup in Tonga, conducted by Mariner Boating, was won by a Robertson Cane 4000 catamaran chartered for the rally by a crew from Japan. The skipper, Toru Inoue, struggled early in the rally because his prior sailing experience had been exclusively with monohull yachts. By the fifth and last race of the series he and his crew had mastered the art of tacking a ‘small house.’ He won the last race and the rally’s trophy, a hand-carved Hump Back Whale.

Sunsail Sailing Holidays is due to open its newest charter boat base on Procida Island, Italy. Procida is less well known than its glamorous neighbouring islands of Ischia and Capri and is the ideal starting point for a charter to the Pontine Islands or the Amalfi Coast.

Palawan, the Philippine's westernmost province, now offers sailing trips to adventurers aboard three wooden bangka boats, hand crafted by local boat makers and custom designed for guests. Bangkas have a long thin hull with outriggers and were traditionally used for fishing. The Philippines comprises of 7107 islands and from November to June Tao Philippines' three to seven day sailing trips explore the hundreds of remote islands of Northern Palawan between El Nido and Coron.

Sunsail Sailing Holidays on Hamilton Island will soon take delivery of the innovative Sunsail 384, the first yacht in a major charter fleet to feature solar panels, saving about 20 per cent on engine hours and increasing the lifespan of onboard batteries by up to five years. The comfortable and easy to sail catamaran was designed by performance multihull architects Morrelli and Melvin.

True North will conduct two seven night cruises from Broome to the Hunter River in 2010, carrying just 36 guests served by 20 crew. Highlights include witnessing the region’s vast tidal movements and seeing the Montgomery Reef “rising from the ocean” – a phenomenon created when the fast receding tide drains from the 350 square kilometre reef to expose a myriad of turtles, dugong, rays and other sea creatures. 

Photograph: EastSail’s new Beneteau First 40