While there are scores of excellent barboat sailing yachts and catamarans in Southeast Asia, until recently there haven’t been many true luxury charter sailing yachts in the region.  ASIA, a 100 ft sailing yacht built in Phuket in 2008, changes all that.

ASIA offers up to 10 guests in 5 cabins luxurious comfort while exploring some of the most remote sailing destinations of Thailand, Malaysia, Myanmar, Indonesia, the Andaman Islands and Southeast Asia.  She is capable of 10-12 knots with comfort.

ASIA is crewed by her professional dedicated owners as captain and chef. They both have a superb reputation during 12 years of chartering in Southeast Asia. They are experienced sailors, divers and adventurers who will take care of your every need, together with 3 experienced local crew members (2 deckhands and a hostess).

She is extremely spacious and luxurious, finished in Burmese teak with a combination of plush leather sofas in the saloon and waterproof sofas in the pilothouse and cockpit.

Guests can relax in the beautifully crafted teak pilot house with its 360 degree view, or lounge in the saloon with its plush leather seating and large picture windows.

There is a large, comfortable, shaded cockpit area with twin dining tables at the rear of the yacht, that seat 10 guests – the perfect place to relax or for alfresco dining.

The salon below deck has a dining table for 10, a lounge area, an office area with PC and broadband internet, and a wet bar. The 5 luxurious cabins are air-conditioned with en-suite bathrooms and LCD TVs.

Read more about charter sailing yacht ASIA or contact us for a free proposal about how you can have the luxury sailing vacation of a life time in Southeast Asia!

Not all yacht charters are in the well-traveled ports of the Mediterranean and Caribbean. Increasingly, charterers are looking to cruise in remote areas such as Alaska, the Galapagos, Patagonia, Myanmar/Burma and Belize – areas where nature is essentially untouched and yachting is truly an adventure that will never be forgotten.  This type of yachting is growing for many reasons, one of which is man’s increasing understanding of how fragile our planet is.

Expedition Yachts tend to be sturdier and have a longer range than typical charter yachts, and may contain scientific equipment and tenders designed for exploration. But this doesn’t mean that you have to be “roughing it” on this type of charter. Quite the contrary, many expedition yachts have plush interiors with all the amenities including internet, a vast array of entertainment options, water toys, saunas, etc.

Key Expedition charter areas include the Galapagos, where we have both expedition sailing yachts and motor yachts, Belize, the Mergui Archipelago, Patagonia, even the Arctic Circle.  The commonality is untouched nature and a desire to immerse oneself in it.

We have compiled an exclusive listing of some of the world’s most amazing Expedition Charter Yachts. Look at them, dream of the ultimate escape vacation, and then please contact us to discuss some alternatives!

If you’ll be headed to the French Riviera for a conference or charter, be sure to download our free iRiviera iPhone app! Boatbookings has joined forces with several companies who have the “pulse” of the Riviera, and will be providing constantly updated information about happenings in Cannes, St Tropez, Monaco, Antibes and all the other renowned areas of the French Riviera. 

News, hot spots, parties, conference information, restaurant recommendations, videos, special offers, and of course our selection of great yachts for the Riviera are all featured in one iPhone app. It’s interactive, so you can add your comments and communicate with people who are in the Riviera as well.  Check it out in the App Store, and let us know if there are types of information that you’d be looking for, and we’ll try to add them!

As the 2010 Miami Boat Show comes to a close today, it’s difficult to know if  the beautiful yachts on display or the weather is what visitors will most remember!  Being based in Ft. Lauderdale, I was able to get to the show easily and had the pleasure of viewing Lagoons 500 & 420 which are luxurious options if  a bareboat catamaran Caribbean charter is in your future.

In a 14 February 2010 article in the New York Times about chartering with large groups, Boatbookings.com was featured both for its Gulets and experience with large group charters.  You can see the Article here: Is This How Cleopatra Felt? and you can read about Gulet Chartering in our Gulet Charter Guide. Please feel free to contact us if you are interested in arranging a group charter in Turkey (or just about anywhere, for that matter!)

Boatbookings was at the Miami Boat Show yesterday in chilly weather, and saw plenty of excellent charter yachts. We also attended a captivating presentation about Cuba and their plans for building the yacht charter industry in the waters that Hemmingway loved so much.

Top yachts from the Miami Boat Show: We had a tour of ODESSA with the project manager at Christensen, and we think she is one amazing yacht!  She is a brand new (2009) 160′/49m luxury motor yacht, with 6 beautiful cabins.  The fit and finish is superb, and the decoration is contemporary, minimalist, using the finest woods (mainly walnut), silks and leathers. She is the talk of the show, and you can get complete details by contacting us for more information.

We also were impressed by the superb interior of the Trinity Yacht CARPE DIEM (150′/45.7m 5 cabin semi-displacement motor yacht) – with its white carpets accented with dark brown wood accents and trim.  Everything about the yacht works together perfectly, and delivers a feeling of class and relaxation.  Contact us for complete details.

For a complete update on news and hot yachts from the Miami Yacht Show, feel free to contact our Ft Laudersdale office at +1 954 584 0026.

Cuba! Ernest Hemmingway fell in love with Cuba – for its beautiful waters, sport fishing and carefree lifestyle.  There are movements afoot to rebuild Cuba as a major holiday and yachting destination, beginning with the construction of several marinas that will soon be able to better accommodate yachts of all sizes, including mega and super yachts. Cuba offers superb beaches, excellent deep sea fishing, amazing marine life, interesting history and architecture and the famous Cuban food and libations.

For the second time, the first race of the America’s Cup was delayed-this time for too much wind!  They’ll try again on Friday, Feb. 12.

I had a very interesting email exchange with Kim Kavin, editor of Charterwave and one of the most technically savvy people I know in the charter business.  She’s a Kindle lover and didn’t really agree that the iPad would be that revolutionary for yacht charters.  For reading a book on on a yacht, the Kindle, as a single purpose tool, has no peer – especially given that it has an LCD screen that is easy to read outdoors, while backlit screens common to computers and presumably the iPad may be more difficult to read in direct sunlight. She also felt that an iPhone, which has a smaller footprint but plenty of uses, can be used for games, videos, etc.

Everyone will need to make their own decisions about what electronic devices they choose to bring on their charters.  If you want a great tool to read books, a Kindle may be for you. If you want a multipurpose tool that is not too large, bring your iPhone, and if you want a bigger screen that will be excellent for charts, games, videos, pictures and yachting apps, an iPad may be perfect, especially if someone makes a waterproof case!

Photo courtesy of Apple, Inc.

The raging debate in tech land today is whether the iPad has enough features or is revolutionary enough to truly change the world. Looked at from the perspective of yachting, my feeling is a very strong yes.  Its big, beautiful screen, ease of use (no mouse or keyboard to flop around the boat) and ability to process graphics so quickly will make it a fantastic tool to bring along on any charter or yachting holiday.

We see it with multiple uses: reading charts and mixing basic chart data with images, videos and user information about the ports and cruising areas, keeping track of your expenses and other trip records, researching your itinerary, entertaining the kids at night on their personal movie viewers, checking weather, tides and wind forecasts, and showing everyone your gorgeous pictures as you progress through your charter.  I did this on my last charter with my MacBook Pro, but was constantly worried that I’d ruin it.  Not so with an iPad – there aren’t really any moving parts.

Added to the above, there will be amazing apps written for sailors and yachting that we haven’t even thought about but that will become indispensable as soon as we try them. That’s the nature of technology, and why the iPhone is the number one phone in the world right now.  We’ll certainly be following these events with interest, and may even release an app or two of our own

As a disclaimer, I worked for Apple Computer for 10 years (back when it had a colored logo with stripes), so I’ve had a serious dose of Steve Job’s reality distortion field.

Congrats – you’ve made it to the Super Bowl! If you want to really make a “splash” why not charter a luxury yacht for corporate entertainment, accommodation, and just plain enjoyment of the event? We have some beautiful yachts available and can turn it all around on short notice from our Florida office.

For information on chartering a yacht for the Super Bowl in Miami, see our Super Bowl Charter Guide.  See a selection of our Super Bowl Charter Yachts. We’d love to help you have the weekend of a lifetime!