Offshore Yacht Charter

30/05/2026

We're delighted to welcome our new office tiger to the team.

We're particularly pleased to see her immediately sinking her teeth into the (slightly overdue) bookkeeping.

We're not sure how much accounting will get done, but the level of enthusiasm is impressive. Morale in the office has improved significantly.

29/05/2026

Part 1 of renewing my Certificate of Competency (CoC)*, the licence that allows me to work commercially as a skipper, is done!

This week, the Basic Safety Training refresher course was on the agenda. While temperatures outside were over 30°C, we spent our time in a mock engine room – containers that had been standing in the sun all day – fighting fires in full protective gear and wearing breathing apparatus. Surrounded by smoke, heat and complete darkness, we also had to locate and evacuate casualties.

Fortunately, the second day was a bit more pleasant. In the swimming pool, we practised various sea survival scenarios: righting a life raft, forming different group formations to stay together, protecting casualties, and making ourselves as visible as possible to a searching helicopter.

And fortunately, we were eventually all "rescued" by the helicopter. Otherwise, I might not have been here to tell the story. 😉

A lot learned, a lot of sweat shed, and hopefully no need to use any of these skills in real life over the next five years!

*In addition to a medical examination, professional seafarers must renew their STCW training every five years (Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for Seafarers): the international safety standards for people working at sea.

08/05/2026

New voyage online: Celestial Navigation Training aboard Cherokee

A new 6-day offshore sailing training focused entirely on traditional celestial navigation.

Starting from Rotterdam, we sail via Maassluis to Scheveningen and back, while learning how to navigate using a sextant, the sun, and a clock — with plenty of practice at sea.

No “fast-track” classroom course, but a practical training where you genuinely learn and understand how celestial navigation works at sea.

Along the way:
– Theory sessions on board
– Taking real sun sights at sea
– Learning sight reduction and position plotting
– Sailing the North Sea
– Working with Freiberger & Observator sextants
– Night approach into Rotterdam

With increasing GPS interference and outages, these traditional skills are becoming relevant again — and besides that, celestial navigation simply remains one of the most beautiful parts of ocean sailing.

No previous sextant experience required.

More info on the website:
NED: https://offshore-yacht-charter.com/tour/sextantnavigatie/
GER: https://offshore-yacht-charter.com/tour/sextantnavigation/?lang=de
ENG: https://offshore-yacht-charter.com/tour/celestial-navigation/?lang=en

Leren navigeren met een sextant Deze bijzondere zeezeiltraining is volledig gericht op klassieke navigatie. In zes dagen varen we vanuit Rotterdam via Maassluis naar Scheveningen en terug, terwijl je onderweg leert navigeren met sextant, zon en klok. Veel theorie, maar vooral ook veel praktijk – w...

25/04/2026

A hell of a season — the new flag says it all.

3 months on the Atlantic Ocean, 3,078 nautical miles. Many storms, many strong coffees, and a lot of good people along the way.

Leaving Lisbon didn’t go easy on us. Tough, punishing conditions — and a midnight collision with an UFO (unidentified floating object) during our 800-mile run to Tenerife — took its toll on both Cherokee and skipper. But with a lot of help from the Cherokee team, we kept her going all winter — and it paid off.

We’ve made it to the Azores, where we’ll spend most of the summer season.

Time to hang up the boots for a while — 5 weeks ashore before we head back.
If you’d like to sail along for a leg of Island hopping, have a look at:
https://offshore-yacht-charter.com/sailing-holidays/?lang=en

Fun fact (NAQ – Never Asked Question):
Why the dark blue instead of cobalt? That goes back to the days of the Dutch Republic — the “Statenvlag” rather than the “Prinsenvlag”.
And that yellowed white? Calima (Sahara dessert storms) from the Canaries — properly baked in.

18/04/2026

Sailed from Madeira to Sao Miguel on the Azores. 560 miles and every day was different. A Sei whale swimming in front of the boat was very special, as where the starry skies and illuminated sea while there was no moon. On Arrival we explored the Island and ended in a natural hot pool. Not bad at all!

We also congratulate our 2 crewmembers Lotte and Vera who finished the Enkhuizer Zeevaartschool / Enkhuizen Nautical College succesfully!

11/04/2026

Sailed from La Gomera to Madeira, a wonderful easy sail of 340 miles making use of a windshift. Hiked to the stunning cliffs on the east peninsula, enjoyed a very nice coffee as well as a swim a natural pool. On arrival in Funchal Anne made a delicious Tiramisu, finished with Poncha, the local fisherman's rum

31/03/2026

Another remarkable week: the strongest storm in 13 years.
It brought challenging conditions, especially when approaching the harbour in Tenerife, with winds from the southwest instead of the usual northeast.

Fortunately, there was time afterwards to explore the island — with a beautiful road trip to Tenerife’s impressive north coast.

27/03/2026

From La Gomera back and forth to La Palma.

On the way out, hardly any wind. The return was a different story with plenty of breeze.

In between, we took the time to slow down: a hike through La Palma’s landscape, a swim in clear ocean water, and back on La Gomera, a well-earned pizza to finish the day.

19/03/2026

A nice, typical sailing day from La Palma to La Gomera — enjoying the sailing (top speed of the day: 12.5 knots), the beautiful coastline of Gomera, and of course a good cup of coffee or tea!