OH WOW...WE’RE OFF TO MATAU !

Exciting news from Virginia Wagner and Jamie Stark…

We are very pleased to announce that we will be taking over MATAU on October 1, 2009.  This beautiful new Privilege 74.5 is the premier catamaran in the Caribbean this winter and the only 74.5 available for charter in the world! Your guests will enjoy a new level of exclusivity in MATAU’s luxury 5-star interior.

During our tenure on TRUE NORTH, we completed fourteen charters, three boat shows, seven owner weeks, twelve weeks of maintenance / haul out and nearly 10,000 nautical miles – all in spite of a sluggish world economy.  We even found the time to sail MATAU across the pond from the Med!  So you can be secure in the fact that we have sailed many miles on MATAU and that we know her systems well.

We have always worked very hard to ensure that our charter guests enjoy a memorable and care free charter experience with us.  We enjoy the fact that we have become known among charter brokers for creating a truly unique experience for your clients.   Some of the personal touches that we have shared with charter guests during our time on TRUE NORTH are “Idol Night” -- where everyone is a star!, hat parties -- everyone makes a hat from scratch, a good old fashioned game of charades, an elegant beach barbecue, a pirate treasure hunt – planned for the kids -- but the parents seemed to enjoy it more!, “TRUE NORTH Oscar Night”, sports playoffs, and even a special appearance from Elvis himself!  We have never had a guest turndown an invitation to one of these fun adventures.

We love seeing our guests enjoy the photographs that we take for them of their vacation.  We put all the photos together and then display them on the large screen television to the delight of all. The guests also receive one of our renowned hand made, keepsake photo albums with photos of some of their memorable moments along with a hand drawn chart with the course sailed during their charter. We always make the last evening together with our guests a very special occasion.

At this time we are pleased to introduce to you the two new crew who are joining us on board MATAU -- chef Patrick Labrosse and stewardess Yuliya Miroshnyk -- an impressive team!  Both have extensive motor yacht experience and together we look forward to combining the elegance and luxury of MATAU with an International crew and first class service.  We will of course continue offering the unique style of charter that we are known for and that our guests love, but taken to a new level on board MATAU.  You can view the complete new crew profiles on Nicholson’s web site as well as the Charter Index, MYBA Net & CYA web sites, and we look forward to introducing them to you in person at the Antigua Charter Show 7 – 11 December 2009.

MATAU & TRUE NORTH continue to share the same dedication to guest service and luxurious sailing charters throughout the Caribbean, representing two different price points to offer to your clients. You may be confident that your clients will always enjoy ours and Travis Yachts' tradition of good care and excellent service. 

Both MATAU & TRUE NORTH will be available for you to inspect at the Antigua Charter Show and will be berthed side by side at the Falmouth Harbor Marina.  We very much look forward to welcoming you on board in Antigua, and to offering both a high standard & memorable charter experience to the valued clients that you entrust to us. 
 

Some Where At Sea... Virginia Wagner & Jamie Stark

JOHN AND MAXINE WHITE
on
TRUE NORTH

We are thrilled to be the new Captain and Chef on TRUE NORTH, the Privilege 65.   TRUE NORTH has carried your clients on many a fabulous holidays through the years, and, with enthusiasm, we will continue that tradition.

For those of you who do not know us, we are known as Whitey and Max.  We have had many years and miles of chartering throughout the Caribbean.  This past year has taken us from Venezuela to Antigua, St. Maarten and the BVI, as well as a passage across the Atlantic followed by a great land trip through Portugal, Spain and on to Mallorca.  During our travels we always seek new ideas to help us continue to offer guests a fresh yet high standard of service in a relaxed and enjoyable atmosphere.

We are honored to follow in the footsteps of Virginia Wagner and Jamie Stark as crew of TRUE NORTH.   As part of the Travis Yachts team, we will work closely with them on MATAU.   You can expect us to continue many of their personal touches while adding a few fun ones of our own!   Guests love taking away a personalized photo book of their vacation with us as well as a chart showing all of the great spots they have visited.

PADI Dive Instructor.   The one dive that Max doesn’t pass up is the one with the two seahorses in the BVI – she seems to be the only person to locate them consistently, which is always a thrill to our guest divers.

Of course providing fabulous service on TRUE NORTH requires a great team.  We are happy that Sara Manning is staying on board as stewardess for a second year.  Sara comes from a boating family and has a great enthusiasm in chartering.  We are currently interviewing for an experienced Deck Hand to round out our team.   You may find our profiles on the Nicholson web site, as well as Charter Index, MYBA Net and CYA, and will be updated when we have selected our Deck Hand.

We will join TRUE NORTH by the end of September in Grenada and will be spending the month of October completing maintenance projects and shining up the boat for the new season.   Our crew will join us at the end of October and we will be ready for charter in November!    We can be anywhere during the month of November – the Grenadines or the Virgin Islands or anyplace in between.  The calendar and location is open, so please contact Nicholson Yachts for any inquiries.

We are excited to be showing TRUE NORTH at the Antigua Charter Yacht Show, where we will be side by side with MATAU.  We look forward to seeing those of you we know from the past and to meeting new faces.

Wishing everyone a successful upcoming season,

Whitey and Max    (John and Maxine White)