Well it’s coming up on the 2013 Spring and Summer snorkeling season and we have been scheming and dreaming for the best year ever. For all our good friends who have sailed with us and all the wonderful people who have supported us over the years we are truly thankful. Without your support, guidance, and caring we would not have ever realized our success. Thank you!
And now on to the scheming and dreaming. Last year we were thrilled with our successes with providing an exclusive snorkeling eco-adventure for mostly private groups. If there were any disappointments, at all it was because we could not accommodate all the inquiries we received. There were several times when we simply could not accommodate smaller groups because our price point conflicted with the smaller budgets of couples. This scenario set up a dilemma which caused for some reflection and reevaluation.
When we first started, we were lucky enough to come under the wing of Sunny Andracchio of Classic Harbor Line. Sunny shared with us some keen insights into the marketing sailing charters in Key West and we were smart enough to listen. The two most important things I learned from Sunny were, number 1: Always Smile, and number 2: If you are truly a “Top Shelf” charter then, by all means, charge accordingly. So that is what we did and experienced fantastic results. Namaste Sailing quickly became the little tug that could. We picked up a slip at Schooner Wharf, networked with some friendly competition, and avoided pissing off the big boys at Cattleboat Inc. We earned a reputation for being a quality premium charter who charged accordingly, and the the rest is history.
I know this borders on T.M.I., but it is important for Trish and I to be as transparent as possible when it comes to our business ethos. We probably take things like price changes much more serious than necessary, but we are who we are. So in a nutshell, we are improving our pricing to include the smaller groups. Starting February 1st our day snorkeling trips will be lengthened to a five hour Key West Snorkeling excursion and we will offer a “mixed private” option which will allow individuals to join us at $125/guest.
Elsewhere in the news:
- Captain Trish got a new camera lens for her Olympus Tough, so look out Facebook, here come some awesome photos.
- A big shout out to Trishies Fishies. Capt Trish just passed the 3000 mark for art pieces sold. Yea Trishi.
- Namaste got a new 800 amp hour battery bank, so our overnight trips are really “off the grid”. I calculated we can run the IPad for the next 105 years without a recharge. Now thats’ reserve capacity.
- With the help of Larry Wasabi of West Marine we now have a kick ass wind generator that will easily keep up with my IPad use, so as Buzz Lightyear says “to infinity and beyond”.
