GREETINGS FROM THE CARIBBEAN !We hope that everyone had a great summer. We feel very fortunate that we have had pretty good weather this summer in the Eastern Caribbean.
We are looking forward to sailing up to the Virgin Islands to participate in the November charter yacht shows. It will be nice to see our friends and visit the various yachts. There will be quite a few new boats that will be showing as well. We'll keep you posted!
We won't have as far to sail as we are still in St.Maarten. We had planned to sail south to Venezuela this summer but we were afraid of the reception we might receive as we are Americans in an American-flagged vessel. Thanks a bunch, Pat Robertson.
CHARTER YACHTS AVAILABLE FOR THE HOLIDAYS!Dominique & Michel (Blithe Spirit) feeling a bit of Christmas cheer.
- Blithe Spirit - Sailboat for 4-6 guests. Open through December 26th
- Crystal Clear - Sailboat for 4 guests. Open for Christmas & New Year
- Dramaless - Motor yacht for 6 guests. Open for Christmas & New Year
- Exbury - Sailboat for 2 guests. Open for Christmas & New Years in the GRENADINES
- Fidelity - Sailboat for 4 guests. Open for Christmas & New Year
- Flame - Motor yacht for 6 guests. Open for New Year
- Hanalei Bay - Sailboat for 6 guests. Open for Christmas through December 26th
- Island Skipper - Sailboat for 6 guests. Open for Christmas through December 28th
- Liahona - Catamaran for 8 guests. Open for Christmas through December 28th
- Marolanga - Catamaran for 4-5 guests. Open for Christmas and New Year
- McGregor - Motor yacht for 4 guests. Open for New Year
- Odysseus - Sailboat for 6 guests. Open for Christmas and New Year
- On Seafari - Motor yacht for 6 guests. Open for Christmas and New Year
- Phaedrus - Sailboat for 2 guests. Open for Christmas through December 28th
- Quicksilver - Catamaran for 6 guests. Open for Christmas
- Qwest - Sailboat for 2 guests. Open for New Years beginning after December 27th
- Sea Walker - Sailboat for 4 guests. Open for New Year
- Seascape - Motor yacht for 6 guests. Open for Christmas & New Year
- Ursa Minor - Sailboat for 2 guests. Open for Christmas (Dec.20-26,2005)
OR, SOMETHING A BIT DIFFERENT...
Spend the holidays in merry old Britain ....
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- SCOTTISH HIGHLANDER: 4-night Christmas cruise (December 23-27, 2005) in Inverness (Loch Ness) area of Scotland.
- SCOTTISH HIGHLANDER: 3-night Hogmanay cruise (December 30 - January 2, 2006) - Iverness, Scotland
- MAGNA CARTA: 10-night Christmas/New Year's cruise (December 23 - January 2, 2006) - From St. Katherine's Dock in London, to Chelsea, Chiswick, Runnymede, Hampton's Court, Windsor, Cookham, Marlow, Hurley, Henley-on-Thames.
Stenella is in the boatyard getting all prettied up for the new season... Here's a sneek peek at her new paint job.Looking good!
KC wrote to tell us that they have given the galley a makeover as well with a new stove, microwave, floor, cabinets, wall covering, lighting, corian countertops, etc. They have also been busy revarnishing the interior, and installing new corian counters and taps in the heads. New upholstery, too! Looking forward to visiting Stenella at the boat show in November.
TAZA MAS IS A PET-FRIENDLY BOAT
BUDDY gives his paw print of approval to TAZA MAS.Buddy is a two year old pug whose humans do everything possible to keep him happy. A veteran of many charters, Buddy loved his recent cruise on TAZA MAS, particularly the special meals Amy prepared for him, and the ice cubes Tiffany put in his water dish.
Buddy had such a good time he has booked two weeks in June and one week in August.
Rates: $27,000/4 guests, $28,000/6 guests, $29,000/8 guests - for a 7-night charter, Caribbean terms (all inclusive, except bar, cruising taxes...)
CME COURSES : Catamaran GOOD MEDICINE
Good Medicine is a 46-foot Fountain Pajot catamaran which has just entered the charter yacht fleet. Good Medicine is air conditioned and accommodates up to 6 guests in three cabins, each with Queen-sized berths and ensuite head/shower.A unique feature about this catamaran is that they are offering Physicians' Contiuing Medical Education (CME) courses. This is an audio-visual course which can be viewed aboard in the salon on Good Medicine's 23-inch LCD screen in DVD format. Now physicians can earn 10 AMA Category 1 required CME credits while enjoying sailing the islands with their families.
Courses include:
- Cardiology: An Evidence Based Approach
- CME 10: Topics to Improve Your Practice
- Emergency Medicine for Primary Care and Emergency Physicians
- Family Practice Review and Update
- Neurology Update and Review in Primary Care Medicine
- Cardiology: An Evidence Based Approach
- NEW: Chronic Pain and End of Life Care— 14 credits, fulfills California requirements!
Each session is a recorded lecture, given by excellent speakers with PowerPoint type presentation as well, followed by questions from the audience it was presented to, then the exam. Each physician on the cruise will receive a syllabus and exam, just as if he/she were live at the presentation.The program can be presented any time the participants finds it convenient, in 90 minute to 2 hour sessions per day for 5 days... The rest is leisure time!
FREEDOM ANNOUNCES NEW CHEF
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We just received this announcement from Capt. Gary of the trimaran FREEDOM:
I am very happy to announce that I have Jill Thompson as the chef on Freedom. Jill and I worked together on Mauna Loa for a season and had a great time with all our guests.
Jill Thompson, a Texas native, has worked in the restaurant business for the past 15 years. She has traveled internationally to sharpen her culinary skills and has spent a number of years as a freelance chef on charter yachts in the Caribbean. Jill also worked as a chef at the well known gourmet restaurant, Craig & Sally's, in Frenchtown on St.Thomas, USVI.
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DO YOU SKYPE??? TRY IT, YOU'LL LIKE IT !!!
Click on image when you are ready to download SKYPE!
We have been using Skype for just over a month now. We would have used it earlier but they were having problems accepting credit cards. Well, I tried once again to buy "SkypeOut minutes" and it worked! We can make calls for about $0.02 per minute.
We are using WiFi out here in the Simpson Bay Lagoon, St.Maarten and Skype usually works pretty well. Sometimes we get disconnected but not as often as the satellite phone... I'll spare you and won't start ranting about GlobalStar's "service" for now though...
We also use the free Skype-to-Skype service when the other party is also a Skype user. Works very well and we recommend it. PLUS, toll-free numbers (800 numbers in USA) are free and accessible for many countries!
Great for travellers. If you are chartering and your yacht has internet access, just log into your Skype account and talk to your friends and family for CHEAP! Those credit card calls made from your roaming cellphone can be really expensive. You may want to pack your headphones with your swimsuit (and your iPod, too).