In the last week of July the office is cool and the phone rings often. The question is nearly always the same: a boat for eight, for next week. On the other end there is goodwill, a plan, and usually a long journey already booked. On our end there is a list, and that list is far shorter than the one we had in January.
The reason isn’t hidden. It just doesn’t get said out loud.
Why the calendar closes early
The Aegean charter calendar is built in winter. A boat’s July and August weeks generally go between January and February, often to last year’s guests. Boats with settled crew and honest maintenance go first. What is left in mid-season is usually one of three things: a week that opened late because of a refit or a change of crew, a week freed up by a cancellation or a shift of dates, or a boat whose price has stayed above the market.
The first two are real opportunities and move fast — sometimes within a day. The third sits there through August. Telling them apart is what decides how a week actually goes.
Talking about September
The most honest answer to a late question is often a change of dates. September is among the best months in the Aegean: the water is still warm, the meltem has softened, the coves have emptied and the quays have loosened up. Prices generally come down as well. A week spent in mid-August on a boat someone had to scrape together and a week spent in September on the right boat are not spent on the same sea.
Sometimes the dates really are fixed — school, work, a celebration. Then the job is choosing well from what remains, and in that choice it’s worth asking about the crew as much as the boat.
The call ends. Two names are left on the list, and one of them is still good.
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