Chartering a yacht, particularly from a distance - the UK in our case, can be tricky - not so with CharterLink.

The booking process was deftly handled by Janet in the office and when we arrived Brett immediately lent us the firm's car to pick up our luggage from the hotel and the easily chosen very high quality food (and wine!) for the week from the nearby supermarket. The briefing was thorough and everything worked and we were on our way an hour after the stated time for the charter to start with "Elizabeth Reed", a Bavaria 30 for my wife and I to sail for a week.

We used to have our own boat and most of our sailing was in west Scotland, in my opinion the best sailing in Europe (despite the weather), because of the enormous variety of island destinations - there is always one to suit the wind direction and how far you want to go. The Hauraki Gulf offers exactly that but in a very much better climate. The result was a hugely enjoyable week and at the end there was Brett on the fuel jetty waiting to berth the boat in that day's strong wind and to check that all was well.

Let it also be said that CharterLink's rates offer good value and the client has all the advantages of dealing with Brett and Rob, the on-the-spot proprietors who know the firm's boats inside out and who offer the best of personal service.

Reviewed almost 12 years ago