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Sounds easy enough. After all, purveyors of the finest vacations afloat pride themselves on offering one-of-a-kind experiences around the globe. Brochures dripping with luscious palm trees and gleaming white megayachts make it seem oh so simple.
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All of which helps explain why requests for charter in exotic ports are coming at a frequency not previously seen in the worldwide marketplace. Bonnie, charter fleet manager is getting them at a rate 35 percent higher than just five years ago. “People are looking for alternative destinations,” she says. “They've done the Med a gazillion times. They've done the Caribbean . They're looking to go someplace different.”
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To the vacationer, a request for Venezuela , Palau , or Tahiti doesn't seem much different than one for Sardinia or Sint Maarten. Yet in reality, such charters can be a difficult proposition. Only a handful of owners take their yachts around the world each year, and they tend to want to be aboard themselves, on itineraries of their own choosing. That, plus the lack of infrastructure and services in many exotic cruising grounds, can make planning charters in unique territories problematic. The world's top brokers say exotic charters are something of a puzzle—one clients need to be prepared for.
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“I never say ‘no,'” says Ann, a longtime broker. “I say ‘later.' You're asking for something that will take time. This is extra-special custom service.”
Most charter yachts tend to ply the same waters. In the summer, it's the Mediterranean or New England; winters, the Caribbean . Anyone wanting to charter in a more exotic location needs luck, timing, and a seasoned broker on his side.
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Some of the complexities can be seen in this tale from Shannon, a Fort Lauderdale-broker, whose clients wanted to visit Thailand : “As luck would have it, the boat was leaving the shipyard in Australia . I knew they were heading that way, so I was able to put it together. But what if we'd only had a three-stateroom boat and they needed five? They'd either have to scale their party back or forfeit that venue.” The trip took several months to coordinate.
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Ann also says brokers need time to research and coax owners to alter their routes. She cites Croatia as an example, which can involve fuel and lost-time charges that come with repositioning a yacht: “Taking a boat from the south of France to Venice for the charter pickup, that's very costly.”
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Your best bet is to work with a broker who has traveled extensively (and knows the realities of getting a boat from point A to point B), who has been in business long enough to know whom to trust in uncharted waters, and who is plugged in to which boats are heading where. Be patient and go for it when she finds—or is able to plant—your needle in the haystack.
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“If they ask me for a boat in the fjords of Chile , there's probably one shot,” Ann says. “Anybody can pick a pretty yacht out of a magazine and say ‘I want that boat,' and they can pick out pretty destinations and say ‘I want to go there,' but getting those things to come together can be difficult. You really have to know the business.”
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Kim Kavin, editor of www.CharterWave.com
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