The travel element...

I've always loved to travel and some of my best memories are of airports and planes. Being a cameraman I have been lucky to be able to travel to exotic places as part of my job but then the future happened...

Travel quit being fun.

Air travel has become such an unhappy exercise these days that if I can't go someplace by boat or bike, of course, I'm not sure that I want to go at all. That said, as the world is 70.8% water, you can (with a little shuck and jive) pretty much get anywhere worth going by sailboat in a civilized manner (albeit not real quickly).  We have noticed it in our charter clients as well. These days too many of our clients simply balk at the hassle of flying and are choosing vacations closer to home that do not involve air travel.

Though having a charter business makes us part of the overall travel industry, we are lucky that as yet most charter boats have resisted the very strong and somewhat relentless forces to treat their clients like so much cattle and cash cows as the airlines/hotels/resorts seem to be doing with the spiral of higher prices and less service norm. We are fortunate that we can pick and choose only the best boats and crews and that the charter industry is still very much old school (spelled excellent service and fair pricing) and has not become the homogenized MacDonald's sort of profit-is-everything-lowest-common-denominator franchise some companies are trying to make it.

Sadly, there is some scary writing on the wall and "big changes come soon" as they say here in the islands... Hopefully the charter industry (or at least parts of it) will continue to survive, evolve and remain a viable alternative for those who want a better experience than what the tourism industry is trying to sell these days...

A lot of Boat Bits readers write (enough that we have actually considered doing a charter workshop) and ask about the possibility of charter as a means of keeping the cruising kitty topped up. While possible, it is a lot more work than most people think and nowhere near as lucrative... Then again, for those willing to do it right and with a positive attitude it can be a VERY rewarding experience in a way that cannot be measured solely in dollars and cents. For those considering this option there is a real need and  shortage of good boats and crews in the charter fleet who have what it takes and are able to look outside the box at the big picture in these "interesting times".

Like I said... Not for everyone!