I hope you all enjoyed the Christmas and New Year festivities. It seems no time at all since the summer season was drawing to a close and we were preparing Dark Star for her Atlantic crossing. At the end of October she emerged from the paint shed with a very shiny newly re-sprayed hull and arrived safely in St Martin early in December before heading off up to the British Virgin Islands to pick up guests. Christmas day was spent anchored off White Bay, Jost Van Dyke - a little piece of palm fringed paradise where the photo on the left was taken. Dark Star will be in the Caribbean until April, so get in touch if you'd like to escape from winter for a rum punch (or two!) in the sun. Watch our video; you'll be able to almost feel the warm breeze on your face.

Thank you to everyone who sailed with us in 2011 and in previous years. We enjoyed having you on board and hope we'll be able to welcome you back in the future. Here's wishing you fair winds and sunshine for 2012.

Michelle

In the past couple of summers we've begun to explore the Ligurian coast of Italy, heading north east from Menton to Portofino and the Cinque Terre region. A number of recently built marinas have increased the accessibility of this coastline, making it possible to visit places such as Loano and the historic city of Imperia. Due to the amount of sailing involved, the trip across the Gulf of Genoa to Portofino remains best suited to groups of adults rather than families with young children. However, taking a few days to head along to San Remo and Imperia is a great way for everyone to experience the flavour of Italy and still have time for lolling about at anchor around Cap Ferrat and the Isles de Lerins.

There are plans afoot for Dark Star to take part in this year's Round the Island Race at the Isle of Wight in June, which means she'll be stopping off in the Solent on her way back to the Mediterranean.

During May and June she'll be available for charter on the south coast - ideal if you'd like to entertain corporate guests for a day or reward your staff with a luxury sailing trip. There are very few yachts of her size and specification available in the UK, so this is quite a unique opportunity. Contact Michelle for more information.

Thank you to everyone who came along to our autumn get-together at 47 Park Street, and equal thanks to the team there who welcomed us to the luxurious surroundings of this unique residential membership club in Mayfair. It was great to catch up with as many of you as possible. We love to stay in touch, but unfortunately can't invite everyone to every event, so please don't think we've forgotten about you if you don't always receive an invitation as there will be other evenings in the future.

If you've not sailed with us, but are considering doing so and would like to come along and meet us first, please register your interest and we'll send you an invitation to a future event.

We like to find the most stunning anchorages so you can enjoy lunch or dinner with a view to remember. This photo of Kishti anchored at Cap Rossu in Corsica was taken by her Skipper, Rich, last August. More of Rich's photos of Corsica can be seen on our most recent blog post.

Rich and Lottie are now Captain and Chef/Chief Stewardess aboard Dark Star.

At the end of the day, the best reward is to see and hear about the wonderful times you've had aboard Kallista, Kishti, DreamCatcher and Dark Star. We try very hard to make your holiday as unique and special as possible, but the final word is yours:

"The cooking has been superb, nothing is ever a problem - no matter how bizarre the request. We hope to see you all again next year."
"These five days with you have been such an incredible experience for all four of us."
"I love the sense of happily wasting time and watching beautiful places slide by."
"I especially enjoyed wakeboarding off the mast, and jumping off the boom on the rope swing."

If you'd like to subscribe to our occasional
newsletter please click here