charter boat web site

For forty years I've had the dream to own a boat. Some will question my sanity and sometimes I do too. Nonetheless... dreams are not always rational and I have pulled the trigger. After months of waiting the boat has finally arrived at the charter base and is being worked on to make it "charter ready".

My wife and I have chartered for several years. One of the things we were always disappointed with was the amount of information available about the boat we were chartering. Hard to take that long wait between when you send in the deposit and when you make the trip without something to look at and look forward to. And difficult to plan what to bring when you have so little information. So I thought it would be a good idea to put together a web site for the boat. Not trying to replace what the charter company has available but rather supplement so a prospective charter guest knows exactly what he/she is signing up for.

I have put the site together with my own experiences in mind. I would greatly appreciate if y'all (I live in NC)took a look at the site and gave me some feedback. What information would you like to see, i.e., what am I missing? I'm at first release right now - I'd like to have a zillion pictures/videos available on the site but I simply don't yet have them. I'll add them as soon as I have stuff available.

One person that reviewed my site told me I should make a facebook page for the boat. I looked at a sample for this and I like the idea despite my personal feelings of revolt for all things related to social media. The two have differing purposes in MHO so I'll press ahead with the web site first and get to the facebook page at a later date.

Thanks in advance for any constructive feedback.

The URL is:
www.sv-dreammachine.com

Beautiful boat. Best of luck

Congratulations! I looked at the site - looks nice!

Only suggestion I can give off hand is to have the pictures link to larger versions.

And I understand your hesitation to get involved in social media - but the beauty of it is that you can create a page and not ever add any friends to your account and keep it just for business and it is a great way to promote a business these days. It also is really a good way to keep in touch with others - I don't share a lot myself, but its fun to keep in touch with relatives. Anything I do share is only shared with family typically.

Wow, nice. The Beneteau 45s are wonderful livable boats. I love the Engel cooler and B&G instrument package.

Some comments, I'm used to seeing fridge/freezer specified as cubic feet. I'd like to know the engine manufacture and HP, genoa size.

I look forward to seeing her in October. Good luck!

Cheers, RickG

Congrats on the new boat! Website is great. Please add some comments about storage, especially in the cabins. I can tell that there is good closet space, but are there drawers or shelves available for stowing foldable items, shoes, Ect. We have chartered with CYOA on several occasions and have been very pleased with the condition and maintenance the boats. We will be there again in Oct. Hope to get a chance to check her out!

Lisa

We once chartered a PC in the PNW from Anacortes Yacht Charters. One nice things they provided was the yacht owners comments. The owner had spent some time going over all of the little details of the yacht systems. I spent some time before our charter studying the information provided and felt very comfortable with the boat once we were aboard. Since the owner had taken the time to explain all of the systems aboard I felt obligated to read and learn the information. Any quirks and boat specific pieces were explained in detail. I think I was a more informed charterer and knew how to take better care of the boat because of this. I've never been so well informed about a boat before we boarded with any other charter outfit and I've wished all would provide owner specific knowledge; it helps!

The CYOA briefing is thorough. Hitting those points in a check list: how to change water tanks, generator/shore power startup/shutdown, location of throughhulls, don't use the bow thruster when approaching the Bahamian style moorings in Frenchtown...

Cheers, RickG

I can confirm the boat is here at the dock and we are working away at the open items for commissioning. I would welcome Anders to the CYOA family but he has been part of it for several years prior to actually buying the boat.

But congratulations is definitely in order. He forgot to mention this isn't a cookie cutter Oceanis 45. He and his wife went over the options list a color choices to make a nearly one of kind boat. It has leather saloon upholstery, it has bedflex slats under the mattresses to make them more comfortable. It also has full traditional sails. Last but not least a 12 volt drink fridge in the cockpit table.

It also has the full blown motorized swim platform.

Thanks for the welcome to the cyoa family. I have always felt at home there.

I can absolutely confirm that none of the pretty people hanging out on the transom in Jay's picture are my wife or I. For one thing those people are way too clean for having been on a boat <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Grin.gif" alt="" />. And we're nowhere that good looking.

Thanks for all the comments thus far. I will add another post later addressing some of the comments.

12 volt drink fridge in the cockpit.... <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Yikes.gif" alt="" />

Welcome to the CYOA Family agrimsrud!
We've been chartering from CYOA for 32 years and think they are a great company!
We looked hard at the 45's, but are just not ready buy a boat.
They look really nice and we hope to charter one soon... I've been spending too much time in the catamarans and am forgetting what it's like to sail up wind!

I will give one small piece of advise about being a charter boat owner. Do not get emotionally attached to the boat. If you do in the end you will be disappointed. Think of it as a opportunity to share some great experiences sailing all around the world. Think of the boat only as a tool.
G

Thanks to all that gave some input and the private messages.

When you click an image you now get a larger picture. I'm using Wix which I really like but some things it just doesn't seem to give you much control over. For example when you click on the picture it gives you the size image that they've decided you get.

Engine specs now included. Not sure how I neglected that but that's why you get someone else to look it over!

Updated the fridge/freezer specs to include the volume in cubic feet.

I'm not actually sure how large the genoa is. I know that sounds stupid and I really ought to know that. I'm thinking it's 120% but I can't find any documentation for that number so I'm not sure right now why I think that. As soon as I figure it out I will surely add it.

Lisa - I will add details regarding storage once I get on the boat for it's maiden voyage Oct. 15. Maybe see you at CYOA? Again... I'm glad I asked you guys for some feedback 'cause I would not have thought of adding that information. What I bring can fit into a back pack. But obviously the point of the website is not to assist me. So good feedback!

The direction I hope to take the web site is to add more system information, i.e., my experiences rolled into a user manual for each system. This will take some time to pull together.

That 12V fridge in the cockpit. It will be interesting to see how well it works. I'll report some time when I have some experience.

Thanks again and please if anyone else has some feedback I'll be happy to receive it.

Good point. I think we have realistic expectations. And we have seen how the boats look over time as they age. But obviously it's an emotional attachment to some degree or no one would actually pull the trigger and buy a boat 'cause from a financial point of view it's pretty hard to justify. We have plans to be the first to take her out once she's fully outfitted. I'm not convinced this is a good idea - having seen her without scratches and with new boat smell it might be disappointing to see her scratched (and that's probably the good news) up on the next trip.

Thanks! Speaking from my own experience I'm pretty sure no one is ever "ready" to buy a boat. In my case it was a long term dream that just seemed like I needed to fulfill while I was fit enough to enjoy it. In addition I still have a couple of kids living at home that I hope I can teach them the beauty and challenge of sailing. The danger with any dream is that it's not realistic. I hope we've done enough homework and have enough experience thus far to overcome this. Time will tell.

In the end we have chosen CYOA to keep our boat because we believe they're small enough to take care of our needs but have enough experience to know what they're doing. While I like to think of myself as being easy to get along with I am sure it is a difficult task for a charter operation to appease the needs/desires/dreams of the owner while taking care of customers plus employees and then try to make money as a business. CYOA seems to have figured this out so my hat is off to them. Though it was suggested to me a few weeks ago that I was being "persnickety" over some subject or other. Which I took no offense at because (a) I appreciate that they feel like they can push back if I'm being unreasonable (how do I know I'm being unreasonable?) and (b) they're managing a very large asset for us - we're not the people with the deep pockets but rather the people with the big dreams. So seems like I ought to be able to be a little bit persnickety.

If I ever buy another boat maybe I'll name it "Persnickety". It's got a ring to it.

Very nice website about Dream Machine and very informative. I know you must be very excited about the boat. We have a 45 on order also and expect delivery in September-October. Our boat will be in Charleston but we dream of someday having in the BVI's. You have really equipped your boat very well and it will be a really popular charter I am sure. Have a great time

Very nice Boat congratulations. I like the web site also. I have added your site and CYOA to my favorites and am now considering going this route for our next charter. We just returned from a wonderful week sailing out of Moorings, but definitely going a little bigger with AC on the next voyage. My wife really wants to try out a Cat, not sure I can do it though, too much of a traditionalist

Nice boat! Congratulations! Fortunately for you, the self-appointed snark patrol on here haven't noticed you broke their rule of highlighting your charter boat in a post without becoming a TTOL sponsor.

Be prepared to suffer through the wear and tear of lending your boat to others. Some will treat it like their own and leave it in better shape, others (sadly) will abuse it because "hey, I'm paying a lot for this vacation". We're pulling our boat out of charter to begin cruising, and we're elated that no serious damage happened.

Best wishes on your new investment.

Isn't it a CYOA boat? I thought they were Sponsors...

Right! The exemption clause in the rule book. Forgot that one.

Well, actually not. I have been somewhat asleep at the switch.. The post is an advertising post, that should not have been allowed, correct.

Didn't mean you. I would never put you in the category of the "snark patrol".

Hey, you're probably one of the few that doesn't! <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Laugh.gif" alt="" />