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REEF Experts Reveal Luxury Yacht Destination Palm Beach Boasts Awesome Snorkeling and Diving

Palm Beach has a plethora of activities to offer yacht charter clients. Designer shops and gourmet restaurants line Worth Avenue, excellent museums, upscale marinas and the Blue Heron Bridge, which according to Mike Phelan, REEF (Reef Environmental Education Foundation) Expert surveyor, is a little known biological hotspot.

This is a top dive destination for sighting unusual species that can be added to your lifelist. Mike Phelan and two other REEF members often dive this site. The day before Thanksgiving, they were treated to quite a sight – a large school of Cownose Rays! This is a rare sighting in Florida, but it’s just another day at the Blue Heron Bridge. Some of the more unusual and recent sightings include the Blackwing Searobin, Roughtail Ray, Northern Stargazer, Orange spotted Blenny, Polkadot Batfish, and the Chain Pipefish. In fact, the Blue Heron Bridge has over 282 species recorded in the REEF database and this number is on the rise.

The dive site is located in Phil Foster County Park. Dives must be shore based and dive at high tides when depths range from 8 to 17 feet. Mark Phelan suggests that divers may combine their bridge dive with offshore diving in Jupiter to witness the winter Lemon shark aggregation, or in early summer for the active Loggerhead, Green and Leatherback turtle-nesting season.

REEF is an active organization of divers and marine enthusiasts committed to ocean conservation. Their many projects include a lionfish research program. Lionfish are exquisitely beautiful but unfortunately an invasive species of voracious predators that pose a serious threat to the marine environment. In an effort to stop the rapidly expanding population, REEF has just published The Lionfish Cookbook, with the aim to make the fish a catch in high demand. The book makes a novel holiday gift for Atlantic and Caribbean divers, with proceeds that support marine conservation and lionfish research.

Photos by Mike Phelan, courtesy of REEF.org

Boatbookings.com has an extensive selection of yachts available for charter equipped with dive gear and dive masters onboard. Here are a couple of links to begin exploring the possibilities:  Florida and Bahamas Yacht Charter,  Caribbean Yacht Charter,  BVI Yacht Charter

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Boatbookings Onboard Moonen 124 Northlander: A Luxury Yacht of Style and Sophistication

One of the largest vessels launched by Moonen shipyard to date, NORTHLANDER made her US debut at the Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show, and Boatbookings was delighted with the opportunity to tour this elegant yacht with the builder.

NORTHLANDER is a 124’ steel-hulled expedition yacht, ideal for chartering to any port of call. It is hardly surprising that NORTHLANDER was a finalist in this year’s most prestigious 2010 World Superyacht Awards, selected by a jury comprised of owners and industry experts.

Moonen Shipyard, located in Voss in southern Holland, builds only three to four boats per year, each with entirely customized interiors. NORTHLANDER is the end product of the close collaboration between the Owner and Art-Line Design Interiors.

Throughout the yacht, unique decorative finishes such as pyramid shaped panel sections, sculptural copper and copper mesh, punctuate elegant oak soles and immaculate cherry wood joinery. Sophisticated modern furnishings are playfully touched by bursts of 60s mod fabrics and accents.

The ambience of NORTHLANDER is incredibly unique. A very calm and serene quality is achieved through the use of materials reminiscent of summer, such as woven cane, river rock, and kirei board, an eco-friendly material made from the soybean plant. This ingenious juxtaposition of many different elements works amazingly well together.

On NORTHLANDER, the four-deck central atrium and spiral staircase is the signature feature. Connecting lower deck to sundeck, it is topped by a hydraulically opening skylight that gives access to the sun deck when open and allows a column of light that fills the core of the yacht, augmenting the surround of full height windows on three sides of the main and bridge deck salons.

Accommodations are in the main deck master forward, and two double and two twin guest suites amidships on the lower deck. Intricately woven cane beds seem to float peacefully above the floor creating a wonderfully airy feeling. Master and guest bathrooms are handsomely designed with a rare level of sophistication.

The bright and inviting bridge beckons guests to sit and pretend, if only for a moment, that they are master and commander. The helm design is based on ergonomic principles, which surround the Captain in an awesome array of high tech monitors, panels, joysticks, buttons and digitized controls, all within arms reach of the centrally positioned adjustable chair.

The sundeck on NORTHLANDER is well equipped for an on deck barbeque, or cocktails in the Jacuzzi. At the spacious round table, a large glass lazy susan is perfect for family style dining al fresco.

NORTHLANDER is stylish, stable, comfortable and a very special yacht. Whether guests choose to be out on deck or relax indoors, each area can handle the crowd with ease, yet each space has an intimacy to delight the most romantic couple.

Boatbookings features extensive information to assist you in chartering the perfect yacht. Here is a link to help begin your quest: Super and Mega Luxury Yacht Charter

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TÛRANOR PlanetSolar: Eco Catamaran Destined as a Luxury Yacht

TûRANOR PlanetSolar reminds me that visionaries of the past, like Isaac Asimov, were closer to future reality than fiction. The goal of the PlanetSolar team is to pioneer the circumnavigation of the globe in a boat driven exclusively by solar power.

Even before embarkation from Monaco on September 27, the TûRANOR PlanetSolar team made impressive advancements in the production and application of composite materials and structures, and the production and storage of solar energy, that will likely set a precedent for future yacht design.

The vision of the project is to enlighten the public about the possibilities and importance of renewable energy as well as practical applications in the increasingly eco conscious marine industry. According to the company, construction costs were a primary consideration, and builds will be kept reasonable and competitive through the use of materials and technologies available today, which have the potential to be mass-produced.

PlanetSolar, which will be home to four sailors during the circumnavigation, is designed as a luxury catamaran yacht with a crew of six, and can accommodate up to forty people while in port. The vessel is presently at the Beach Marina in Miami after cruising 61 days 34 minutes from Monaco with stops in Las Palmas and St. Maarten.

The TÛRANOR PlanetSolar website is informative and fun, with many features including; Google Earth RSS-Feed, live current boat location, photos and logbook. There is even a Virtual Regatta that lets you be the skipper!

If you are interested in eco-friendly charter yachting, Boatbookings.com offers pertinent information that can be found at: Green Chartering – Low Carbon Emissions Charter

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A Gift for the Yachtsman Who Has Everything: Adopt a Sea Turtle and Track Its Movements via the Web

Here’s a novel idea for gifting the precocious child or the yachtsman who has everything.

SEATURTLE.ORG has tax-deductible donation packages that let you adopt a satellite-tagged sea turtle, or other animal, whose movements you can track through their website.

Seaturtle.org and partner organizations have fitted sea turtles, whale sharks, sea lions, even a peregrine falcon with high-tech data transmitters that relay information about their location via satellite. The information helps researchers better understand animal behavior and improve laws and regulations that protect endangered species.

Visit the SEATURTLE.ORG adoption page to view the names, nationalities and descriptions of many adorable animals like Jah, an Argentinean loggerhead or Lucy Jack, a flatback from northern Australia, or Navajo, a green turtle from New England. Seaturtle.org also has a shop with an assortment of items including apparel embroidered with the seaturtle.org logo, cute stuffed animals, even sea turtle tattoos. If you wish to adopt an animal as a holiday gift international orders must be placed by December 11 and US orders by December 17 for a timely delivery.

Visit Boatbookings.com for information on eco-friendly chartering at Green Chartering!

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Boatbookings Onboard Oceanco 168 LAZY Z: The Quintessential Luxury Family Charter Yacht

What makes a truly superlative family charter is the combination of a magnificent luxury yacht and a long term, professional yet playful crew. LAZY Z not only meets but also exceeds these criteria.

Oceanco built LAZY Z in 1997, but you’d never guess her age because this stunning superyacht is graced with a timeless beauty of design and blessed by an owner and crew who keep her meticulously maintained, from the smallest knob on up.

Interior spaces are furnished with an elegant simplicity of design, featuring plush carpeting, supple leather upholstery and rich Indonesian bubinga hardwood against a backdrop of soft silk paneling. The palette of warm wood tones and golden hues is relaxing and inviting. The wide central staircase is a stunning and unusual architectural feature.

LAZY Z has accommodations for twelve guests in 6 spacious staterooms with a special cabin designed to delight children, right down to the teddy bears. With a 29 foot beam the true full width master suite, from porthole to porthole, is wonderfully spacious and filled with natural light. There is also a dedicated gym and the elegant observation lounge is an inspiration.

Even the radio room on LAZY Z is impressive, housing racks of state of the art equipment, including the Kaleidescape entertainment system storing over 3,000 movies, a capacity that exceeds yachts twice the size of LAZY Z.

We are not surprised when we are told that there is nothing on the bridge that is more than 12 months old. The CCTV was upgraded ten months ago; two new radars were upgraded eight months ago. The Servowatch integrated ship control system, which monitors the main engines, generators, bilges, water tight doors, all of those sort of systems onboard, is just eight months old. From comfortable banquette seating guests can peer at the high tech electronic chart system and the forward facing sonar, which gives a 2D display of what the seabed is like ahead.

Out on deck, LAZY Z has fabulous seating under a huge shade awning, and surrounding the Jacuzzi pool, which is only a couple of years old, there’s lots of sunbathing and, of course, you cannot miss the slide. This is a huge hit with all charter guests who, we are told, opt to use it every day. The owner of the boat is 72 years old and he uses the slide, preferring to go down backwards or head first. It’s simply awesome, they’ve had girls as young as three slide down it.

It is quite evident why LAZY Z is a very busy yacht featuring charters in the Caribbean and Mediterranean directed toward young families who, at the end of their charter, eagerly book a slot for the following year. The youthful and energetic crew boasts a guarantee that if you are a charter client on this boat you’ll be back again next year. We have no doubt.

Boatbookings.com features an extensive selection of charter yachts for every destination, type of clientele and information on family charters. Here are a couple of helpful links:

Chartering with Children,  Super and Mega Luxury Yacht Charter

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