Got Plans for Christmas?

Got plans for Christmas? If not, you might consider chartering one of San Francisco Bay’s most elegant charter yachts: the 105-ft schooner Eros. She recently arrived in St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands, where she’ll be based for the winter season — and she’s still available over the Christmas holidays.

For owners Bill and Grace Bodle of Pt. Richmond, this escape from the harsh weather of more northerly latitudes is like coming full circle. They first arrived in the Caribbean back in the mid-1960s aboard their first schooner, Nordlys. As explained in the pages of Latitude 38, they’d bought her for a song here on the Bay, and set sail for sunnier latitudes with much more wanderlust than experience or money. By the time they got to St. Thomas, the engine was kaput, and their cruising kitty was frighteningly low. So they took the advice of some new sailor friends and got into what was then a fledgling chartering industry. 

Back then, of course, there were no megayachts, and the crème de la crème of available charter yachts were big, luxurious schooners. The Bodles had a splendid run of chartering each of their three big schooners over a couple of decades on both sides of the ‘pond’, and even did a circumnavigation with occasional charter parties aboard. 

Fast forward to the present, and they’re at it again with Eros. (For charter inquiries, email Grace Bodle or call 510-232-4282.)