fenderkicker

Animoto Videos

My colleague Jonathan Franklin found a cool video creation website Animoto the other day.  In five minutes, he created a cool video promoting the sale and charter of Wally B.

Using Animoto is simple, and one can choose music from their list, or (with permission of course) one can upload a song from their collection.

But why?

Yacht advertising has become increasingly expensive, and even more diluted with the number of brokerage companies, it is time to utilise the web more and more.  YouTube is one of those sites everyone knows, and generally once in, one tends to continue clicking and watching.  Before you know, it's been an hour!  It is a wonderful procrastination tool.

I was impressed with the Wally B video, I had to try it out too.  M/Y Something Cool is for sale for the first time in almost 40 years being owned by the same family.

The gift of a photo book

Attending a boat show is one of the great perks when working ashore.  It is a chance to meet new people, reunite with old friends, and learn how to improve your business.

My colleague Jonathan has returned from the boat shows in Antigua and St. Martin with a number of stories and observations, most notably as he has not been in the Caribbean in over 10 years.

One of the more intriguing and refreshing tidbits he picked up was something one particular yacht crew did for their charter guests.

 

Motor yacht Surya’s crew most certainly know how to look after their guests while onboard during their charter.  They are four professional and experienced crew members who love their job, Captain, Chef, Stewardess and Deckhand.  What makes them different?

iPhoto

When the guests return home, a couple of weeks later, they receive in the post, a package from Apple with a hard cover book with a selection of photographs of their charter and the great times they had onboard.

Without knowing, the crew have just made someone’s day, and practically ensured these guests will be returning next year, to enjoy the offerings of the yacht and crew once more.

Well done Captain Stephan.  Your business model works.

The Maltese Falcon Freight Train

Well, it seems the Maltese Falcon had a little fun in the Bay of San Fransisco the other day.  Finally showing off to the locals, the yacht was blasting around the bay when it was struck by a much smaller yacht, right in the middle.
How anybody could miss that wall of sails is beyond me.
Luckily a professional photographer was around to capture the moment.

Piracy in the Med?

A very disturbing incident occured last Sunday August 24, 2008 in Southern Corsica. 

Four masked gunmen boarded a very well known charter sailing yacht and demanded the captain open the safe and hand over the contents.  The captain complied with the demands, and the armed intruders left without injury to any of the guests or crew.

Piracy… in the west med?  WHAT!  Are we in back in the days of Jack Aubrey?  Have we leap frogged back in time?  What is going on!

I remember walking around M/Y Solemar a few months before she was launched in 2003 at Amels Shipyard in Holland. Oliver Sterling from Andrew Winch Design showed us how the swim platform could be entirely locked down, barring any unwanted guests from boarding the yacht from the stern.  Obviously they felt it necessary if the yacht were to be cruising in/through the danger zones (Red Sea, Malaysia, Amazon).  Certainly nobody involved in the project considered it would be used in the Med.

Perhaps this should just be a reminder to the yachting industry that nasty people are everywhere, and that captains must ensure a watch is kept during the night at all times, regardless of location.

Sunliner X showing!

Last night, we organised a viewing in the port of Antibes on one of our central agencies for charter, Sunliner X!
It was a fantastic success!
Over 35 brokers attended, viewed the perfectly presented yacht, and enjoyed a glass of Champagne with some delicious nibbles prepared by the on board chef Eric.
Some of the comments received today were truly heartwarming and the crew can be extremely proud of themselves for pulling off a great evening!

When bad goes to worse

Fire happens occasionally onboard boats, and when it does, the outcome is generally fairly bad.  Last week was another example of how serious a fire can be.

This started on one yacht early in the morning, and as there was most likely nobody onboard, the fire grew quickly (you hear the cameraman say within ten minutes) which is incredible.  It engulfed three boats (one to starboard, two to port), and all are completely destroyed.

Nobody was hurt which is the best news, however it goes to show how important fire safety is.

Another day at the office, onboard Friday Star

Antoine Larricq from Fraser Yachts invited a bunch of us onboard his sales central, FRIDAY STAR yesterday afternoon for a seatrial / funsail.  She was built at CMN in 1993, and refitted completely in 2005.  With three equal masts and over 400m2 of sailarea, she was built for speed.

It was a great afternoon despite the light winds.  I can imagine the yacht being very quick when fully powered up.

Anyway, turnout was not bad, but certainly it would have been nice to see more brokers show up.  The captain and the crew did a fantastic job in preparing the yacht for our visit (THANKS) , which takes some time.  Even more so in the winter months when yachts generally are shut down for regular maintenance.

The interior design of the yacht was by the owner, which is brilliant.  Modern, artistic, all the makings of a loft appartment on Fifth Ave.

This is the Master Cabin which gives an idea.

More can be found here.

Radical Design...finally something new

After years of traditional shipbuilding, Feadship and Blohm & Voss in conjunction with De Voogt Naval Architects and Philipe Starck (respectively) have come up with the goods.

Sigma (above) has been in the water for a couple of weeks now, and is no doubt turning heads.  She was designed by Philipe Starck and built at Blohm & Voss, and is quite outstanding.

Predator has just been launched by Feadship.  She also has the reverse bow which should allow her to pierce the waves more effeciently than the traditional hull.  Designed by De Voogt Naval Architect she will be a popular yacht for the yachting enthusiasts.

Thanks to Merijn and Maarten at Super Yacht Times for the heads up and photos.

Off to Antigua Boat Show!

6am tomorrow morning, Maud and I will be in the plane, destination Antigua, for the Antigua charter show... let's face it, the destination could be worse !!! :-)
There are roughly 80 yachts registered at the show and we have selected quite a few we need to see, so it should be a busy week. These are all yachts which are offered for charter in the Caribbean but also in the med, so it is important we see them before offering them to our clients. A whole frenzy of sailing yachts of all types and sizes will be there. We will be double checking them all, as there seems to be quite a decrease in quality of the yachts attending since Myba decided to host their St Martin show with overlapping dates. It looks like it will be the last year for us in Antigua, we will go to St Martin next year.
Maud will also be going on her very first day cruise out to the lovely Antiguan beaches!
So far, we have packed, our pens, our pads, our flip flops, our new BCR uniforms, and just in case... a bathing costume !!
xx Louise & Maud

Quantum Marine Engineering

The second last day of FLIBS, we were cordially invited for breakfast at the offices and workshop for Quantum Marine Engineering...full fry-up!!!
We have posted before about these guys so it was great to see where they design and make their systems.  Their capacity is about 300 units per year, which is excellent.  They obviously make the zero speed stabilizer for the mega-yacht, but are also making them for the more humble size (±30m).

Their hydraulic units come as a complete package, ready to install, either for the new build, or for the refit.
Thanks John Allen for the hospitality, and to 'Kiwi' for the invite!