S
erial charterer Suze Orman knows a thing or two
about sound financial decisions. The New York Times
bestselling author literally wrote the book on personal
finance – actually, about a dozen highly regarded tomes
on the subject. And as an Emmy award-winning
TV host, magazine columnist and motivational speaker,
her message of no-nonsense financial empowerment has spread like
wildfire. So when she says that chartering a yacht simply makes good
financial sense, it’s worth taking notice.
“Financially speaking, chartering is really the only way to go,”
Orman says. She is fresh from a visit to the Bahamas, a place she
fell in love with five years ago with her first charter on board the 32
metre Heesen Lady J. This family friendly yacht was the perfect fit for
Orman’s eight-strong charter clan, comprising her partner of 16 years
Kathy Travis, and Travis’s two sisters and the sisters’ kids. This
original cast has varied little since that first adventure and forms
a tight-knit group Orman lovingly calls “the Pod”, who have gone
on to charter a 44 metre yacht in Alaska and explore the BVIs by boat.
The first charter was an experiment more than anything. Orman,
a novice to yachting, wanted to find out if she had what it took to be
on the water before deciding to buy a boat. She not only found her
sea legs but discovered an overwhelming love for being at sea. “There
is a feeling when you’re on the ocean that is unlike any other feeling
in this world,” she says. “Nothing is as adventurous, realigning and
rejuvenating. I loved that and, to this day, we spend the majority of our
time on the water.”
Orman was so taken with the experience that she bought her own
yacht, but the complications that guests are shielded from on charters
soon turned her off ownership. “The depreciation, the cost of crew, the
cost of upkeep and of fuel – it didn’t pay in my opinion,” she says. “It
didn’t make financial sense to the ‘money lady’.”
So she sold the motor yacht, bought a 10 metre Boston Whaler to
support her newfound love of fishing, and went back to chartering.
Her charter bucket list is ample, with far-flung destinations such as the
Galápagos, Antarctica and South Pacific taking top spot, as well as a
return trip to the Bahamas, where it all began. The ease of charteringappealed as much as the financial good
sense. She relished adventures being pre-
planned for her, never having to know if
anything broke, feeling safe because the
crew had everything under control, and
the all-out luxury of superyachts. “I loved
how the second you get on board until the
second you leave, every need is taken care
of before you knew it was a need,” Orman says.
Chartering wasn’t all rosy, though. There was the pesky problem
of gaining weight from all the excellent food. Now she has very specific
requests for the chef: “gluten-free, nothing fried, stay away from sweets- and take us out fishing to catch dinner.”
Not only must a chef cook healthy food but Orman will often
help with the provisioning. It’s a financially practical decision, as she
explains: “We’re usually flying private anyway, so I don’t have a problem
loading the plane with what we want.”
Orman is quite exacting about her requirements for a charter,
to the extent that she will go and inspect a yacht before signing. Her
checklist: cleanliness, a non-boat smell, lots of outside areas – the
family often enjoys sleeping on the upper deck – a clean tender, and
absolutely no one in the crew can be a smoker. “If any of the crew
smokes, I do not take the boat,” she says.
Having the right crew can make the charter experience, she says.
It’s important the crew is proficient in diving and fishing – two of the
main preferred activities of the Pod – and she wants a crew she can feel
secure with. “When I look back on some of the things we’ve done, like
swimming with sharks, I think we had to be crazy,” Orman recalls, “but
when you’re with a captain and crew that exude confidence, they take
your fear away.”
For Orman, chartering has gone far beyond being a new favourite
holiday – it has changed her life. She is now an avid fisherwoman.
“The chartering and boating experience opened up an entirely new life
for me,” Orman says. “I wanted to spend time exploring, so I have taken
a sabbatical, to really explore what the water can reveal to us and add
to our quality of life.”
Why
I will always
charter
the experts / Charter special
Financial expert Suze Orman reveals
how chartering changed her life – and why it’s the best
yachting experience money can buy