HOLIDAY SPECIAL: M/V ARGYL - FULLY ACCESSIBLE THROUGHOUT
- M/V Argyl - Fully Accessible Motor Yacht
British Virgin Islands only. $150,000 USD per week; two week minimum.
This vessel is fully equipped, luxurious and ready for you to book your holiday cruise to the British Virgin Islands.
Her features include:
- Full individually controlled Air-conditioning
- Stabilizers at Anchor (4 x Zero Speed Stabilizers)
- Internet Connection in all staterooms and throughout vessel
Her five cabins accommodate 10 people. All staterooms and decks are accessible by wheelchair and elevator.
Her crew has private access and companionway to all decks.
Master: Upper Deck, Aft: Walk-around King Bed, state-of-the-art entertainment center with TV/DVD/individual satellite receiver worldwide; desk, and ample closet space. En-suite facilities feature “HIS” to port with single sink, stall shower and head - all wheelchair accessible, and “HERS” to starboard with single sink, stall shower, bidet and head. Private aft deck for al fresco dining with hi-lo table, and full wet bar. Mesh shades maximize privacy on port and starboard sides.
Below Decks:
- VIP 1: Aft to Starboard: Walk-around Queen bed, with en-suite facilities featuring shower. Entertainment center with TV/DVD/individual satellite receiver. Direct access to elevator.
- VIP 2: Aft to port: Walk-around Queen bed, with en-suite facilities featuring bathtub with shower overhead. Entertainment center with TV/DVD/individual satellite receiver.
- Port Twin Stateroom: Twin beds, with en-suite facilities featuring shower. Entertainment center with TV/DVD/individual satellite receiver.
- Starboard Twin Stateroom: Twin beds, with en-suite facilities featuring bathtub with shower overhead. Entertainment center with TV/DVD/individual satellite receiver.
Main Deck:
- Foyer, Galley with bar stool seating, walk-around decks, access to private formal dining room for 10 guests.
- Day Head to starboard.
- Main Salon all in mahogany with bar, games table, entertainment center with TV/DVD/ individual satellite receiver.
- Aft deck: completely covered plus mesh shades to port and starboard maximize shade. Al fresco dining for 10 with full wet bar; walk-around decks with cushioned seating on bow.
- Access to swim platform with rails. Electronic Ramp Access, wheelchair accessible.
Upper Deck:
- Pilothouse with Portuguese deck, cushioned seating outside in front of Pilothouse.
- Library aft of Pilothouse with 62″ Flat screen TV/DVD and individual satellite receiver; decorative fireplace. Sliding mahogany partition gives option of creating privacy in library or opens onto pilothouse.
Sky Deck:
- Sky lounge completely enclosed with panoramic view, full entertainment center with TV/DVD/individual satellite receiver; Treadmill with light weights. Wet Bar.
Sun Deck:
- Sunny and open Jacuzzi Deck with deck chairs and oversized Jacuzzi, outside shower, wet bar with icemaker.
For more information about the M/V Argyl and to reserve her for this year’s holiday season, click here.
2008 Paralympics
More than 200 U.S. athletes from around the world will compete in 18 sports during the 2008 Paralympic Games in Beijing, China, September 6-17, 2008. The Games will involve approximately 4000 athletes, 1800 of whom will be wheelchair users.
The process for athletic qualification for U.S. teams, such as World Championships and the Paralympic Games and other major international competitions, is generally posted 12-18 months before the competition, so now would be the time to start thinking about the 2010 Winter Paralympics in Vancouver, B.C.
Paralympic Sailing
Sailing started to attract sailors with a disability in the 1980s and was first introduced to the Paralympic Games in 1996. It became a medal sport in the year 2000. Two boats have been raced at the Paralympic Games in the past: the 2.4mR, a single-person keelboat, and the Sonar, a three-person keelboat. A third event, the two-person keelboat, will be added to the program for the Beijing Games. Because of it’s design and control, the 2.4mR was selected for single-person races. The boat’s ease of use allows for a level playing field, making tactical knowledge the dominant factor in competition.
Paralympic sailing competition is open to male and female athletes The scoring system assigns points based on ability level, allowing athletes from different disability groups to compete together. There is a maximum point count for crews (3 persons) that cannot exceed 14 aggregate points, so those with more severe disabilities can participate.
You can find more information on Paralympic Sailing by going to www.sailing.org/disabled
You don’t have to be a high level athlete, or aspire to the Paralympics, to charter one of the accessible boats at www.waypointcharter.com. All you need is a love for adventure and a desire to experience the freedom of the sea. We are Certified Accessible Travel Specialists and experienced sailors, so give us a call!
Check out some great Paralympics videos below!
A Few Good Reasons
Here are just a few good reasons to choose a private yacht charter over a commercial cruise ship….
Private Yacht Charter Vacation |
Commercial Cruise Ship Vacation |
| Light environmental footprint | Huge environmental footprint |
| Personalized vacation - you choose where you want to go & what you want to do. | Impersonal - prearranged itinteraries; you go where they go |
| Very private | Privacy only in cabin. |
| 60′ Motor yacht (with 6 friends, captain & chef) - $2700 per person/per week (est.) | Mid-range cruise ship (with 1,080 unknown others), private cabin for 2 - $2800 per person per week (est.) |
| Flexible pricing based on type of yacht and length of trip | Fixed price |
| Personalized menu; eat when you like | Standardized menu & mealtimes |
| Crew tends to you exclusively | Crew taking care of thousands |
| Your choice of entertainment & activities | Entertainment predetermined; activities prearranged. |
And here’s another darn good reason…
Sample studies show that a164′ motor yacht would have to operate 170 years to produce the same amount of environmental waste as the average size cruise ship produces in one week.
It’s a no-brainer really.
Cruise Southeast Alaska - Juneau to Sitka
There’s no better way to experience all of Southeast Alaska than aboard a large motor yacht (M/V Safari Quest, Safari Legacy, and others). Click here for a full list of Alaska motor yachts. For additional charter yachts in Alaskan waters, Click Here.
These boats offer comfort, elegance, and the intimacy of a small number of guests. They are designed for uncommon adventure and exploring the nooks and coves between Juneau and Sitka, offering an ideal vacation for those who want to explore the unbeaten paths in luxury. Most of our boats include hot tubs, observation decks, sea kayaks, a full bar, fine cuisine, and private staterooms with baths. Each one differs somewhat, and so will your cruise, depending on whether your originate your trip in Sitka or in Juneau.
A sample of your itinerary departing from Juneau might include:
Day 1: Sail from Juneau
Transfer to your yacht after an included city and glacier tour. Your crew greets you with champagne and smiles, and you’ll cruise to a secluded wilderness anchorage for the evening.
Day 2: Icy Strait
You’ll search for the telltale blow of the humpback whale as you cruise in Icy Strait, and later, into tiny Elfin Cove, a miniscule village tucked into Chichagof Island. You’ll step ashore to stretch your legs and meet the people who choose to live their lives far removed from modern-day conveniences. Imagine waiting for the mail plane to come in once a week so that you may read the paper! The evening brings anchorage in a remote bay and a kayak paddle before calling it a day.
Days 3-4: Glacier Bay National Park
One of America’s crown jewel national parks will be yours to explore and marvel at for the next two days. The park itself is 3.2 million acres (a little larger than the state of Connecticut), so there is plenty to see. Tidewater glaciers sweep like rivers of ice down massive mountain valleys, terminating before us in the waters of Glacier Bay. You’ll enjoy evenings at anchor in hidden coves, and mornings paddling kayaks in the quiet of this majestic wilderness, where puffins and sea lions, mountain goats and bears, moose, eagles, and scenery more spectacular than any place on earth is all around you.
Days 5-7: Wilderness, Whales & Hotsprings
You’ll cruise into the heart of Alaska’s Inside Passage. On any given morning, you’ll awaken to kayaks, misty coves abounding with sealife clinging to intertidal rocks, the silence broken only by the clear call of a Pacific loon, or a marbled murrelet. You’ll spend days cruising the waters where humpback whales, Steller’s sea lions, orcas and porpoise feed and frolic. You’ll slip into scenic bays, enjoy guided nature hikes or soak in natural hotsprings. Anchorages will vary from remote coves to dramatic, where waterfall-laced fjords with cliffs that rise over 2,500 feet straight up out of the water are commonplace. It simply does not get better than this!
Day 8: Sitka
You’ll arrive in Sitka and where you’ll be transported to the airport for connections home, energized, renewed and filled with memories to last a lifetime.
Contact us for information about the best boats for your Alaska tour.
For a Directory of worldwide tourism information, go to www.towd.com. Select Tourism Offices for the USA, then Alaska for a complete list of tourism resources for all of Alaska, including Southeast.
Winter Holidays on a Private Yacht?
Now is the time to begin planning your winter holiday private yacht cruise.
In this age of too much stuff and stimulation, taking your family on a private yacht cruise in a sunny, exotic place just might be the best gift you could ever give. The gift of an experience lives on in memories. It’s always the right size, never ends up broken and pleases everyone.
We’ve listed here a number of magazines that you might want to subscribe to. They will give you all kinds of ideas about what’s possible when you work with a yacht charter broker to assemble the best elements of a perfect cruise. Or, just give us a call and tell us what your dream holiday vacation on a private yacht looks like to you and we’ll help make it happen. We have some amazing specials going on between now and the end of the year. Why not take advantage of them and make some great memories for everybody!
Yacht Vacations & Charters: The only lifestyle magazine dedicated to Yacht Vacations.
Yachting: The indispensable magazine for today’s yachtsman, providing power and sailing enthusiasts authoritative evaluations of new boats, gear and equipment. Coverage of cruising, traveling and racing destinations.
Cruising World: Devoted to those who enjoy cruising under sail.
Sailing World: The authority on performance sailing.
Caribbean Travel & Life: Discover the alluring Caribbean resorts, nature, romantic getaways, bargains. Plan your dream vacation
Travel + Leisure: Your guide to the best the world has to offer, near and far-the world’s #1 travel magazine.
National Geographic Traveler: Discover a wealth of vacation ideas for the U.S., Canada, and overseas destinations. Each issue features superb photography and lively stories, plus a wide range of practical travel advice. This award-winning magazine has everything you need to plan the perfect trip
Travel 50 & Beyond: Discounts, tips and new vacation ideas for travelers over 50.
Outside: For 25 years OUTSIDE magazine has been the intelligent person’s guide to the always exhilarating world outside. Award winning writers, great stories of adventure, tips on the latest gear, where & when to go for active travelers.
Ocean Navigator: Ocean Navigator is the premier publication offering in-depth technical navigation and seamanship information to the most serious and avid offshore voyagers. It gives you essential, need to know information that will put you in control of your boat and make bluewater sailing saver and more enjoyable.
Phuket King’s Cup Regatta
December is the month for the Phuket King’s Cup Regatta. Begun in 1987 to celebrate their monarch’s 60th birthday, the now-annual event has become extremely popular and world reknown. In fact, it is the most important sailing event in the region. Since December is peak tourist season in Phuket, and the race takes place over the course of two holiday weekends in Thailand. And if you’d like to go, it’s never too early to begin planning.
Phuket is an exceptional place that offers just about everything. The beaches are some of the most beautiful anywhere. The island has a fascinating history and culture, includes a tropical jungle and countless other islands within a day’s sail. And the food…well…superb is the adjective that comes to mind.
With a fleet of more than 100 yachts, the action on the water during the King’s Cup is lively, matched only by the celebratory social activity on land. Throughout the event there are all kinds of terrific activities going on, like sports, yachting classes, and parties…lots of parties.
If you’ve ever dreamed of going to Thailand, to gorgeous tropical beaches, to be on the water, watching a sailboat race from the sea, to island hop in an exotic place…well, why not let us help you charter a private yacht so you can head to Phuket for the King’s Cup Regatta? Oh, come on…
Mark Twain once said, ” Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”
Call us and we’ll help you plan your private yacht charter cruise. You won’t regret it.
Something That Is True
The M/S Verity K is unique in the world. She was purposefully designed and built to be totally wheelchair accessible.
The word ‘verity’ means something that is true, something that is in accordance with reality. The reality here is that 15-20% of every country’s population is disabled. That’s about 650 million people worldwide. Many used to sail, would like to sail, or both; while others have never considered getting out on the water because the option has never been presented.
The thought and considerations that have gone into S/V Verity K are in accordance with this reality. Her builders intended that anyone could sail and enjoy her.
She is a 35 foot vessel with a deep, safe cockpit, full ocean-going capabilities and completely modern equipment, including and extensive range of safety devices and a hidden gangplank in her hull that gives wide and easy access to the cockpit. She was intended as a family cruiser and has all the amenities that one would expect. Her strong, splayed bilge keel assures her remaining upright. She is spacious throughout, but of special note is a clear 50-inch turning area in the cockpit with two fix points for wheelchairs, as well as standard seating on the port side. She is fitted with easy to read audible instruments and tactile surfaces for those with vision problems.
The M/S Verity K is a Universally Designed boat that can be sailed by people of all abilities. For more photos, information and charter schedule, Click Here. For further questions or to book your charter, contact Waypoint Charter.
The Wind In Your Hair and Sea Spray On Your Cheeks…Sail Away, Sail Away
Designed by Tony Castro, the S/V TENACIOUS is the largest wooden tall ship of her kind in the world. She was built in 1996 with a team made up of skilled designers, engineers, shipwrights and fitters and a volunteer force of over 1500 able bodied and disabled people who came from all over the UK and abroad. She was launched in February, 2000 and since September of that year, S/V TENACIOUS has taken 5,764 people to sea. Of these, over 2,200 people were physically disabled and 773 were wheelchair users.
The ship is accessible throughout for disabled crew, including wheelchair users. She is was designed with flat wide decks and offers powered lifts, a speaking compass for use by blind crew members, bright track radar for partially sighted crew, an induction loop and vibrator alarms for hard of hearing crew members. There are special cabins, accessible toilets and shower facilities. She also offers a handicap friendly mess deck, fully equipped galley, workshop and of course, a well stocked bar and saloon area. There are eight members of the permanent crew and two Bosun’s mates on board at any one time. Click here for more pictures.
The S/V Tenacious is one of two in the world that are specifically designed to enable crew members of all physical abilities too sail together as equals. She offers the opportunity for the adventure of a lifetime. Don’t you think it’s about time you felt the wind in your hair and the sea spray on your cheeks? Call for more info.
The Call of the Wild
Little did I know, what I had been missing, having passed up the invitation, or “Call”, to be a guest onboard the MV Sea Wolf, four years ago! The years of wondering just what it was that called the “life-ers” back to fishing in the assumed cold wilderness waterways of Alaska year after year, was answered for me last week. A number of eclectic friends and family who had, at one time or another, lived or worked in Alaska and their incessant passion for this place that induces thoughts of year-round snow, icebergs, rain and vast wilderness; their words and expressions suddenly flooding back to me as I stood in awe of its majestic natural beauty and commanding stance of wildlife dominated terrains. I’ve heard the Call.
In the weeks prior to our departure on May 24, I had traveled to the San Juan Islands for a familiar and comfortable retreat with my mom and sister and then flew south to the debilitating heat of Central America and our beloved sailboat, all the while working at a fevered pitch from my computer on a myriad of private yacht charter inquiries and bookings. I had little available time to consider any possible expectations for the upcoming trip to Glacier Bay. In hindsight, it was, in part, because of this void of expectations, that I was ready. Ready to fully experience the “Aha” moments that were about to enter my life with the speed and impact of “ice bullets” shot out from an ancient calving glacier.
Embraced in the fellowship of new friends, the comfort of the beautiful 96′ accessible MV Sea Wolf and her competent crew, and the Spirit of this protected and pristine Glacier Bay National Park, I heard the Call. A call back to my true self and a place of balance. To that place where guiding voices can be heard with the clarity of an eagle’s cry. That same place where the very silence of the dimly lit Alaskan night sky can speak to my innermost self.
This trip, although intended to be a “documentation of transfers”(we’ll get to that, I promise), business planning and collaborations, was, for me, one of my life’s pivotal change points for which I will forever be grateful.
To Kimber, for her vision, compassion and knowledge. To Captain Mike, Wayne, Sarah & Heidi for their competent skills, extensive knowledge, and sincere compassion. To Doug, Biz, Hill, Patrick & Kacey for their spirit of adventure, fun and camaraderie. And to Dr. Scott Rains (for more photos, video and blogs from this amazing trip go to www.rollingrains.com), for your courage, wisdom and friendship. Thank you!
I have many stories, photos and features to share from this trip with regards to accessible private yacht charter, and I will. But for now, as you consider your next possible vacation on an accessible private charter boat, consider this;
“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” ~ Mark Twain
Yacht Cruising in Style
If you’re planning a private yacht cruise, consider chartering M/V Time For Us. She’s the perfect choice for a corporate event, a gala affair, or a well-earned, well-deserved vacation (someone you love graduating college?) and oh, has she got style!
M/V Time For Us is a steel motoryacht designed by F. deVoogt, International Ship Design and Engineering B.V. and built by DeVries. Her interior was designed by John Munford. She is 170 ft. in length and can easily accommodate 10 guests in 5 cabins. Her captain is Ben Turner and she has a crew of 13, including a master chef with 18 years experience catering to culinary and dietary preferences, and a newly added massage therapist.
M/V Time For Us boasts a spacious master suite on the main deck, with a large dressing room and an insuit sauna. The four guest staterooms are aft, all with queen size beds and large bathrooms. Two aft staterooms have additional single beds and Pullman berths.
For more information about chartering this exquisite yacht, or about yacht cruising in style, call Waypoint Yacht Charter Services and find about cruising Naples, Sicily, Corsica, Sardinia, the Riviera, Spain/Balearics, Croatia or the Caribbean Virgin Islands, Leewards, Windwards, the Bahamas…or just anywhere in the world!
