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Fair Wind Sailing School, headquartered in Michigan, has added another saltwater base to its array of ocean and lake locations for sailing charters and instruction.
The new base, at Marsh Harbour, on Abaco Island in the Bahamas, joins Fair Wind’s other bases in the Caribbean-in the U.S. Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands-and in North America-on Chesapeake Bay, Lake Erie, and Lake St. Clair.
“Our new school puts the fabulous sailing in Abaco within reach of every sailing class and every charter,” says David Bello, president of Fair Wind Sailing School. “This opens a whole new cruising ground to our charter guests and sailing students.”
From its Bahamas base, Fair Wind Sailing School offers bareboat-sailing lessons. The weeklong classes, originated by Bello for Fair Wind, are American Sailing Association-affiliated courses with a liveaboard format. Fair Wind offers both bareboat and charters with a captain. For details, contact the company (866-380-7245, www.fairwindsailing.com).
In New Caledonia, a New Base for Dream Yacht Charter
Dream Yacht Charter has opened a base in Noumea, on the South Pacific island of New Caledonia, which is just a two-and-a-half-hour flight from Australia. The island and its surrounding archipelagos offer a host of anchorages, superb diving, excellent fishing, and white-sand beaches surrounding uninhabited lagoon islets. The base, with a fleet of one monohull and three catamarans, is 30 miles from the airport.
Dream Yacht’s other bases and fleets are in Caribbean, Pacific, Mediterranean, Asian, and Indian Ocean destinations. For details, visit the company’s website (www.dreamyachtna.com).
Charter Chatter
Crewed charter yachts have returned to Caribbean waters from their off-season locales, and they’re awaiting vacation sailors ready to indulge in a 2010 winter escape. The boats include Oteka, a Lagoon 440 catamaran launched in 2008 that’s owned and operated by Captain Pat Beaufront, who brought her over from France, via the Turks and Caicos Islands. Sail until April 2010 in the Virgin Islands; from May to October 2010, the boat offers charters in the Turks and Caicos. . . . Soul’s Calling is a Lagoon 500 catamaran whose crew, Alex Mulder and Carla Gebahi, offer guests 24/7 custom service and dining. . . . Madiba, a Leopard 45 catamaran sailed by Peter and Colleen Leube, is available for Christmas and New Year’s 2009-2010 and through mid-January 2010. Boat and crew are again available from mid-June 2010 to mid-September 2010. Madiba offers diving to guests. To learn more, consult a yacht-vacation broker via CW’s “2009 Charter Address Book” (August 2009) or via CW’s website (www.cruisingworld.com): click on the Chartering tab; then, under Sailboat Charters and Chartering, select Charter Directory. . . . For details on some attractive rates in the high season of 2010 aboard monohulls from 40 feet to more than 60 feet, consult the article “Quality Crewed Charter Yachts That Won’t Break the Bank” in the e-newsletter put out by charter broker Ed Hamilton & Company, The Charter Connection (www.ed-hamilton.com/charter-connection-Pastfeatures/
articles/2009.09.ed3.html).
Elaine Lembo
