Cruises... view cost - view map
The Pacific Northwest and the inside passage to Alaska begin in the
I did my first paying charter to Catalina Island off Los Angeles in 1966. Dana and I took our first couple of charters aboard Harmony to the San Juan Islands in 1976. In 1979 we sailed to Tahiti for 2 years. It was Dana's first and my third cruise to French Polynesia.
In the summer of 1982 we founded Harmony Charters (named after our 68 foot sail boat Harmony). We charted Harmony till fall of 1997, when we sold her and purchased our present 65 foot motor yacht Countess. Our main reason for changing yachts was to have more comfort and privacy for our guests.
I have been cruising on boats most of my adult life and with Dana for the last 30 years. Few people have the opportunity, the time, or perhaps the desire, to spend months or years aboard a boat or yacht, but many can spend a few days or a week or two chartering. In those few days we do everything in our power to show our guests the highlights of cruising and all that it entails.
Throughout my 4 decades of designing, building, cruising, and chartering sail and motor yachts I have concentrated on personal comfort, quiet accommodations and always making the cruising experience as much fun and as memorable as possible.
To that end, one of my main considerations was to design systems on the yacht to, as much as possible, eliminate the use of a generator while anchored and still maintain all the amenities for guests and crew. This end would eliminate the noise, vibrations and, most important, the diesel fumes from a generator, while relaxing in a quiet cove.
Countess has several thousand pounds of batteries, which run lights, refrigerators, freezer, ice maker, heating furnace, galley equipment, sound system, domestic hot water and many other items. This creates a condition on the boat that is called "silent night". A yacht is considered a "silent night" vessel, if she can shut down her diesel generator for 8 hours during sleeping time and still maintain all amenities mentioned above.
Countess is not only "silent night", but we can anchor at cocktail hour in the afternoon and sit till cruising time the next morning with no generator running. No matter how fine and well insulated another yacht's generator is, it is still a smelly, fumy annoying interference in an otherwise wonderful North West experience.
Do your home work and try to find another large, comfortable yacht with the amenities of Countess that has this capability. About one in 100,000 yachts is "silent night" capable and is almost unheard of in yachts of 60 feet and more.
In our 23 years of full time chartering we have always tried to represent ourselves and our cruises as accurately as possible. One way of doing so is to give quests honest time for their dollars. That is one reason we have priced our cruises at a certain price per day. A day to us is 24 hours. Most charter companies call 6 nights a week cruise, and some even call 5 nights and 6 days as a week cruise.
If we go for a "week" cruise, that is 7 - 24 hour days. Our cruises range from a few hours to 1 to 10 days or more, but all overnight charters are based on 24 hours. In searching for a cruise read the fine print on the web site or brochure or call and ask the company exactly what, and how much time you would get for your money.
Due to the big increase of food and especially fuel costs, we have no choice but to increase our rates as shown below.
Do some research on your own and you will find that we still have, by far, the best prices in the area for the quality of service, food and comfort aboard our fine yacht Countess.
San Juan Islands, with more than a thousand miles of twisting passages, timbered islands, beaches, and abundant wildlife.
Combine breathtaking beauty with a culinary masterpiece customized to your tastes and our flexible itinerary and you have a cruise tailored to fulfill your loftiest dreams.
The pilot house seat - touring a remote fjord to see waterfalls
Our chartering philosophy:
Chartering is more than just a business. Far more. It is a lifestyle we like to share with our guests.
On board the Countess - evening cocktails in the sky lounge
