{"id":43952,"date":"2020-10-28T21:29:31","date_gmt":"2020-10-29T01:29:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.cruisingworld.com\/?p=43952"},"modified":"2023-05-06T17:43:22","modified_gmt":"2023-05-06T21:43:22","slug":"charter-sailing-in-north-america","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cruisingworld.com\/story\/charter\/charter-sailing-in-north-america\/","title":{"rendered":"Charter Sailing in North America"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\"Island <\/div>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n
\n An Island Packet 420, available from Anacortes Yacht Charters, plies the waters of Washington\u2019s San Juan Islands.<\/span>\n Courtesy Anacortes Yacht Charters<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\t <\/figcaption>\n <\/section>\n\t\t\n\n\n\n

Remember the good old days, when all you talked about was going out on charter<\/a>, or taking sailing lessons so you were qualified to do so? Now, like just about everything else in a pandemic era, the times have demanded new labels for recreational sailing and instruction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

Staff at Club Nautique on San Francisco Bay, like many others in the industry, immediately heeded the call: Socially Acceptable Independent Leisure (SAIL) became their go-to slogan. \u201cWe offered a basic keelboat and basic cruising package of instruction to families,\u201d says Don Durant, chief executive officer. \u201cWe\u2019d tried it a few years ago with no success, but in 2020 the timing was right. It\u2019s been extremely rewarding, and the families love it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

Slogans aside, Marcus Abbott, general manager of Anacortes Yacht Charters in Washington state, sums up current affairs this way: \u201cPeople want to get out on the water. This pandemic has ended up being good for business.\u201d By any name you call it\u2014staycationing, quaranteaming, family adventuring, safe social bubbling, notching another checkmark on the bucket list\u2014sailing in America is booming again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

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RELATED: <\/b>Buying a Charter Sailboat<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

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After a bleak spring 2020 of lockdown due to COVID-19, sailing schools and chartering outlets across the country are enjoying a silver lining from customers venturing mostly closer to home. Instead of flying to the Greek isles, they\u2019re driving to the Great Lakes. And to coastal towns in established sailing regions, from New England to the Chesapeake and Florida on the East Coast; from the Pacific Northwest down through the Mexican border on the West Coast.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

Record numbers are joining sailing clubs, signing up for coursework offered by US Sailing<\/a> and the American Sailing Association<\/a> teaching affiliates, taking crewed charters if they\u2019re nonsailors, or booking bareboat charters and buying boats if they are. Companies have scurried to hire instructors and skippers, add to new- and used-boat inventories for sales and charter, create standby lists for classes, and lengthen sailing seasons for clients who just want to get away\u2014for a day, overnight, a few days, or a week or two.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

This crop of new participants and old salts has much to look forward to as they fulfill their dreams and discover\u2014or rediscover\u2014remote anchorages, stunning scenery and pleasant weather in their beautiful backyards on the water.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

Two Steps Back, Leaps Forward<\/h2>\n\n\n\n\n

Before the phones rang off the hook and the emails poured in, companies and schools had to adopt cleaning and safety protocols for workers and vacation sailors. It was anything but easy, yet in the end, they report that the efforts paid off, and clients, via their wallets and feedback, support the changes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

What transpired at Great Lakes Sailing Company and ASA school in Traverse City, Michigan, is a vivid example: \u201cIn May, we were frustrated that we couldn\u2019t open our industry even with strict safety standards in place,\u201d says company president Dave Conrad.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

Great Lakes Sailing, which had developed its own guidelines with help from a medical doctor with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention COVID-19 Task Force, wound up getting involved with the Michigan Boating Industries Association and state senators to create industrywide standards. \u201cIt was one of those situations where we realized that the governor\u2019s office was overwhelmed with trying to develop guidelines for every industry to safely reopen,\u201d Conrad says. \u201cIt really shows what good can happen when people stop complaining and get involved.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

The changes ushered in include digital practices that will likely have staying power for clients and \u00adstudents who seek to explore the freshwater paradise of northern Michigan in 2021: \u201cWe changed our charter briefings so clients could better familiarize themselves with the boat before arriving,\u201d Conrad says. “They receive digital information on where every mechanical and safety component is on the boat, and we digitized our chart briefings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe found that the client was arriving already familiar with the boat, and we could do a majority of the mechanical, systems and chart briefings in the open air of the cockpit. We\u2019ll keep these procedures in place because it\u2019s not only a timesaver for us and the client\u2014it doesn\u2019t skimp on the process. The client is actually better-informed.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

Not only are clients better-informed by the time they show up at the base, but their \u201casks\u201d reflect pandemic-inspired trends. Those who shun dockage and restaurants are asking for dinghies and grills. Some clients, especially those coming by car, want the sleep-aboard service the night before the charter starts. \u201cFor the most part, people are driving to our base,\u201d says Susan Restauri, charter manager with Cruise Annapolis and the Waypoints network in Maryland. \u201cI get more inquiries out of Washington, D.C., than I\u2019ve ever gotten before.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

\n\nIf there\u2019s any tip for American \u00advacation sailors, it\u2019s this one: Book your charter now, whether near or far\u20142021 is filling up already.\n\n<\/p>\n<\/cite><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\n\n

Aside from experienced sailors booking charters a week or longer, the newbies are jumping aboard quickly. \u201cMany of the new charter clients don\u2019t even know what a monohull is,\u201d Restauri says. \u201cSo the key is matching them with the size boat that would meet their party size and allow accommodations for a skipper. They would also reduce their group size just to get whatever boat is available.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

Other types of clients are also driving the activity. \u201cWe\u2019ve had birthdays, daysails, bachelorette parties and a wedding,\u201d Restauri says. \u201cIn 2020, family is what it\u2019s all about.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

Families are definitely evident on the instruction side of the equation\u2014similar to what worked for Club Nautique. Here\u2019s what\u2019s in demand at Offshore Sailing School in Florida: \u201cWe are doing more private courses\u2014just for a couple who want to learn together without any other strangers aboard except the instructor, and for families who live together back home,\u201d says Doris Colgate, president. Singles are also welcome, with one cabin going to the instructor and a maximum of three cabins filled by others, whether singles or couples.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\"Sail <\/div>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n
\n Sail Nautique\u2019s learn-to-sail \u00adprogram has been a popular choice for \u00adfamilies looking to get out on the water safely during the\u00a0pandemic.<\/span>\n Courtesy Sail Nautique<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\t <\/figcaption>\n <\/section>\n\t\t\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt turned out to be a family adventure rather than just a sailing course,\u201d Julien Grascoeur says of his family\u2019s experience with Club Nautique. \u201cOnce COVID-19 is under control, we\u2019ll start expanding our horizons and see where the wind brings us. Isn\u2019t that what sailing is all about, after all?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

As crewed charter client Maureen Fox sees it: \u201cWe always wanted to go sailing and have talked about it for decades. The pandemic pushed us to do it. It was time to check this off the bucket list.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

Fox, her husband, and another couple hired a captain and spent the Labor Day holiday sailing Chesapeake Bay with Cruise Annapolis. The weekend trip included an overnight off the town of St. Michaels, Maryland. \u201cThe best part of the trip was being back on the boat,\u201d Fox says. \u201cWe grilled off the stern, and I was surprised at how easy that was. We watched the sunset and the moonrise. It was so beautiful and quiet. We couldn\u2019t get over the silence. This was a very different experience for us\u2014sailing is really relaxing. We\u2019d do it again.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

Book It!<\/h2>\n\n\n\n\n

If there\u2019s any tip for American vacation sailors, it\u2019s this one: Book your charter now, whether near or far. A number of factors contribute to this advice from companies and schools. In the face of the pandemic, companies adjusted policies, usually giving clients a year grace period to rebook, so 2021 is filling up already. Others have offered partial or full refunds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

Read the fine print of your contract and know exactly what you\u2019re paying for, as well as rebooking and reimbursement limits. Stay up to date with quickly changing travel-refund policies offered through credit-card companies and insurance agencies. Cancel for Any Reason policies, or CFAR, which are receiving attention now, carry stiff premiums but eradicate most risk up to 48 hours before scheduled departure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\"Bali <\/div>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n
\n This Bali 5.4 is one of the boats available from Dream Yacht Charter\u2019s base in St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands.<\/span>\n Courtesy Dream Yacht Charter<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\t <\/figcaption>\n <\/section>\n\t\t\n\n\n\n

The Moorings created a Travel with Confidence program, accessible through its website, to educate clients about safety measures, base reopening \u00adschedules, and refund and rebooking policies. \u201cWe\u2019ve been extremely flexible the whole time,\u201d says Josie Tucci, vice president of sales and marketing for Travelopia, owner of the Moorings. \u201cA lot of \u00adcustomers are booking into 2021, and availability is limited due to rebooking. With all the policies in place, go ahead, get your vacation booked. Flexibility is key, so don\u2019t wait too long. You can always postpone and change.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

While its partnership with Sailing Florida in St. Petersburg opened up a domestic tropical option for Moorings clients, US customers are still planning getaways in popular and as-yet-off-limits \u00addestinations such as the British Virgin Islands and other Caribbean locations, as well as in the Bahamas. \u201cThere is so much pent-up demand for chartering and travel in general, it doesn\u2019t even matter which Caribbean destination opens up,\u201d says Ian Pedersen, marketing manager at the Moorings. \u201cPeople gravitate to what is open first. Lack of demand is not a concern for next year; sailors will go, one way or another.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

Funneling some of those bookings are the r\u00ad\u00adecord-breaking numbers of sailing-school students working toward bareboat certification. \u201cWhen you look at what our clients write, as far as their plans go, nearly all intended to bareboat-charter in no more than two years from the time they graduated,\u201d says Colgate, of Offshore. \u201cMost, within the year.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

Destinations 2021<\/h2>\n\n\n\n\n

While Offshore has a full slate of Colgate Sailing Adventures Flotilla Cruises planned into 2021, Dream Yacht Charter is working to keep clients satisfied with expanded domestic and international locations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

In 2019-2020, Dream added to its 60 global \u00addestinations by taking on partners Navtours and Virgin Islands Yacht Charters. The expanded US footprint includes bases in Burlington, Vermont; Newport, Rhode Island; Annapolis, Maryland; Key West, Key Largo, and Miami, Florida; and St. Thomas in the United States Virgin Islands. Navtours and Dream are also partners at a base in Nassau, Bahamas. \u201cThe breadth of our company\u2019s destination portfolio is critical to accommodate rescheduled bookings,\u201d says Dan Lockyer, Dream vice president of global tourism. \u201cFlexibility and clear rescheduling options are going to be key for customers unable to travel as planned due to COVID-19 disruption. We recently surveyed our customers and found continued demand for US-based sailing in 2021, plus much interest in the Caribbean and Bahamas.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\"California\" <\/div>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n
\n Cruise the \u00addramatic coast of California aboard a catamaran. West Coast Multihulls offers lessons, \u00adcharters and flotilla adventures.<\/span>\n Courtesy West Coast Multihulls<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\t <\/figcaption>\n <\/section>\n\t\t\n\n\n\n

Access to the USVI has definitely helped with demand. \u201cWith the BVI being closed, we have definitely had some converts to sailing in the USVI waters,\u201d says Kristi Query of Virgin Islands Yacht Charters. \u201cThe US Virgin Islands have always been used as a jumping-off point for the BVI, and charterers rarely take the time to explore here. So many of our guests have come back to the base so excited about their charters, asking, \u2018Why have we not done this before?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

While some companies hint at additional US base openings, like Dream, West Coast Multihulls is \u00adreaping the benefits of just doing it. \u00adWith its \u00adheadquarters in San Diego, the company recently expanded its Sea of Cortez operations, accessible by car or a two-hour flight from Los Angeles. Options include crewed and bareboat catamaran charters in San Diego and from the Baja California peninsula in Mexico. Bases at Marina Puerto Escondido in Loreto, as well as the new site at Marina Palmira in La Paz, offer Fountaine Pajot and Leopard sailing catamarans. The company also teaches ASA sailing lessons in all locations, specializing in catamaran certifications.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

\n\n\u201cFlexibility and clear rescheduling options are going to be key for customers unable to travel as planned due to COVID-19 disruption.\u201d\n\n<\/p>\n<\/cite><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\n\n

While the three locations have peak seasons, all West Coast Multihulls bases can offer charter and instruction year-round. Custom trips themed around blue whale and gray whale migration \u00adseasons, \u00adswimming with whale sharks, surfing, spring wildflower blooming, diving, yoga, and health and wellness spa treatments are available.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

For those with a hankering to head offshore from the East Coast, Cruise Abaco offers multiple dates for a 160-nautical-mile Gulf Stream crossing with a licensed captain from Port Canaveral, Florida, to Abaco, Bahamas. ASA instruction and certification on the passage are also available. Dates in November and December 2020 as well as June 2021 are available.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

Sorting through the options, it\u2019s important to keep an open mind to the possibilities of SAIL. \u201cWe\u2019ve \u00adexperienced one of the best charter seasons we\u2019ve had in over 15 years,\u201d says Cindy Kalow, owner of Superior Charters in Bayfield, Wisconsin. “Our sailing-certification school has trained twice as many people as the previous year, and we\u2019ve experienced a significant number of new customers as they travel from all over the Midwest to come sailing in the Apostle Islands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s hard to predict what 2021 will bring. Because we are pretty remote\u2014four hours from the nearest major metropolitan area and major airport\u2014we\u2019ve always struggled with getting people to come here. Yet, in summer 2020, a number of new customers returned to sail a second or even third time. Once we get people to experience true wilderness cruising in the Apostle Islands, they want to come back!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

Elaine Lembo is a <\/i>CW editor at large.<\/i><\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

With most international travel postponed for now, American sailors have taken the opportunity to rediscover amazing charter destination closer to home.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":32514,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"BS_author_type":"BS_author_is_guest","BS_guest_author_name":"Elaine Lembo","BS_guest_author_url":"","hydra_display_date":"20201028","hydra_display_updated":false,"_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":"161","_yoast_wpseo_metadesc":"A look at the domestic sailing charter industry during the summer of 2020 and highlights of popular North American sailing destinations.","_yoast_wpseo_title":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","arc_story_id":"OPRHDW3D5RF7RAF7HEN4KIUX3Q","arc_website_url":"story\/charter\/charter-sailing-in-north-america\/","custom_permalink":"story\/charter\/charter-sailing-in-north-america\/","arc_subtype":"right-sidebar","arc_exclude_from_feeds":false,"sponsored":false,"sponsored_label":"Sponsored Content","sponsored_display_label":false,"sponsored_image":0,"post_right_rail":true,"post_right_rail_ad_1":true,"post_right_rail_ad_2":true,"post_right_rail_ad_3":false,"post_right_rail_ad_4":false,"post_right_rail_recirc":true,"fixed_anchor_ad":true,"post_top_ad":true,"post_off_ramp":true,"post_taboola":false,"labels":false,"apple_news_api_created_at":"","apple_news_api_id":"","apple_news_api_modified_at":"","apple_news_api_revision":"","apple_news_api_share_url":"","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":false,"apple_news_is_preview":false,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":"\"\"","apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[161],"tags":[169,1456,1918,478,554,1333],"acf":[],"apple_news_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cruisingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43952"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cruisingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cruisingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cruisingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cruisingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=43952"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.cruisingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43952\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cruisingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/32514"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cruisingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=43952"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cruisingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=43952"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cruisingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=43952"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}