Chartering With Tania

Calling all ladies who want to escape their husbands, kids, and lives (or, if you’re Jill, run away from Cleveland) to make new friends and have an unforgettable adventure.

One Week in the British Virgin Islands January 23-30, 2010 $2,250 pp plus airfare

Two weeks on the Turkish Turquoise Coast & Greek Dodecanese Islands May 22 - June 5, 2010 $3,400 pp plus airfare

BRITISH VIRGIN ISLANDS

The location:
Escape to the sun at the end of the North’s dreariest month. I, Tania, did this trip in December ’08, and was totally surprised by how much fun convenience can be. And, fantastic sailing conditions, too. For many good reasons, we decided this would be the perfect, quick Winter getaway. Our tentative route will take us from Roadtown, Tortola, to Salt Island (where we can snorkel the wreck of the Rhone), Cooper Island, Virgin Gorda (and the world-famously stunning Baths), Anegada (time and weather-permitting, this reef-encircled atoll is an off-the-beaten-track highlight), Beef Island, Jost Van Dyke (and the famous Soggy Dollar Bar), Soper’s Hole, and Norman’s Island (with it’s infamous Willie T).

The boats:
Since the winds there are so regularly robust for exhilarating sailing, we will charter mono-hulls, Oceanis 47 sloops from Sunsail, each with a capacity for 8 guests in four double-occupancy double cabins and three heads. We will offer a single-occupancy cabin option for $3600.

What is included:
Those of you who have already sailed with us know that we take care of you from the moment the charter begins until the moment it ends. Those who haven’t, we are also always available to offer advice, suggestions and contacts with the organizing of your trip. On location, we fully provision the boats with locally available foods for three delicious and square, onboard meals a day, sheets and towels are provided, and we take care of all fuel and water charges, port dues, and some surprises. The only things you are responsible for are alcohol, souvenirs, and onshore activities.

How to get there:
Fly in and out of Beef Island, Tortola (EIS), and a taxi to Roadtown—currently about $517 from the east coast on American Airlines, plus about $20 in cab fare— or fly to St. Thomas (STT) and take the high-speed ferry (www.tortolafastferry.com) directly to Roadtown, Tortola (together, currently about $375).

We set sail from Roadtown on Saturday, January 23 at 12:00, but will provide the option to sleep aboard on Friday, January 22, at 6 pm, to give everyone time to settle in and get acquainted at the dock. We will disembark on Saturday, January 30 at 11:00, so plan your flights accordingly.

Susan Sams with Sunsail’s travel department can help you with all travel arrangements and questions: 866.649.2003

TURKEY AND GREECE COMBO

Wait until you read what we’ve planned for this trip. We are so excited about it! Here goes:

The location:
We begin this adventure in the port of Bodrum. From there, our tentative working itinerary will take us west along the coast to Turgutreis, where we will check out of Turkey and sail to either Kalymnos or Kos to check into Greece and the Greek Dodecanese. From there, we will sail down through the sleepy islands of antiquity, mousaka, retsina, and sponges: Nisiros, Tilos, and Simi, to Rhodes. We will check out of Greece in Rhodes, sail across to check back in to Turkey in Marmaris. From there, we will sail down the ancient tomb and sarcophagi-littered Lycian coast to Ekincik, from where we can take a day trip up the Dalyan River to ancient Caunos, and then on down to the gorgeous Gulf of Fethiye with many anchorages the pilot books describe with alluring adjectives such as “spectacular,” “delightful,” “peaceful.”

The boats:
For this trip, we will wait to see what kind of interest is generated before deciding on boat sizes. We will definitely book mono-hulls for our meltemi-wind-driven downwind sail. The boats we have on line range from 43 to 50 feet and sleep between 8-11 guests with multiple double-occupancy, double cabins and heads. Again, we will offer a single-occupancy option for $5100.

What is included:
Because this can’t be repeated too often, those of you who have already sailed with us know that we take care of you from the moment the charter begins until the moment it ends. For those who haven’t, we are always available to offer advice, share suggestions and contacts to ease along the organizing of your trip.

On location, we fully provision the boats with locally available foods for three delicious and square meals a day for the duration, sheets and towels are provided, and we take care of all fuel and water charges, port dues, clearance charges in and out of both countries, and again, some surprises. Again, the only things you are responsible for are alcohol, souvenirs, and onshore activities.

How to get there:
Since this is a one-way trip, we arrive and depart from two different domestic airports in Turkey, via the international airport in Istanbul. We board our boats in Bodrum, Turkey on Saturday, May 22, 2010 at 1700. The airport here is Bodrum (BJV—about 30 min from the charter base). We must officially disembark the boats in Gocek, Turkey, on Saturday, June 5, 2010 at 0900, and we will plan to arrive at the dock late afternoon on Friday, June 4, in case you’d like to catch an early morning flight out. The airport here is Dalaman (DLM—also about 30 min from town). Airfares for over a year from now aren’t available yet, but the cheapest rate we pulled up for March of 2010, round trip from JFK, is about $890.

Both of these trips are ready to go and so are we. The boats will be filled on a first-come, first-served basis. If you have any questions about group discounts, or would like to register with a deposit, please email or call:

Jill:
(440) 247-2440 \
jill_london@hotmail.com

Or, Tania:
(802) 439-6731
Tania@sover.net