A month ago, I was down in St. Thomas attending the Annual USVI Fall Charter Yacht Show put on by the Virgin Islands Professional Association produced and managed by the very personable Oriel Blake and her extremely hard working staff. The 4 day show was a tremendous success with about 70 luxury yachts on display for approximately 180 charter yacht broker from around the world to tour the yachts and meet the crews.
I had the good fortune to have been invited to a gourmet luncheon along with seven other brokers aboard the beautiful and luxurious 105 ft. motor yacht OUTTA TOUCH. My dear friend Ann E. McHorney of the clearinghouse Select Yachts arranged this lovely opportunity for me. Thanks Ann E.
The Chef who created this amazing luncheon was Annette (AJ) Sharpe. AJ spent her college years working her way through school in the restaurant industry. This ignited a passion in her for food preparation, exploration, and presentation!
Chef Annette (AJ) Sharp
She was also involved in the opening of an extraordinarily successful restaurant in Charlotte, NC. In 2021, AJ attended the prestigious Ashburton Cookery and Chef’s Academy.
She won First Prize in both the Entrée and Dessert Categories at the VIPCA Charter Yacht Show in St. Thomas, USVI in 2021.
Let me take a minute to describe this lovely well maintained yacht
OUTTA TOUCH was built right here in America back in the year 2000. Her lovely lines are to me what a sea going proper luxury yacht should look like. Her interior joinery work is bar none the best I have seen.
The yacht offers luxurious ensuite accommodations for 8 guests. Her spacious full width master cabin has its own desk, cedar lined closet, and walk around king size bed. The large ensuite head has glassed in shower stall and twin, his and hers sinks.
The VIP cabin forward has a walk around queen size bed with a nice ensuite head and shower. And there are two identical Twin Cabins on both the Port and Starboard side of the yacht, each with their own ensuite heads and showers. All the cabins have individually controlled air-conditioning and TV’s.
The large Sky Lounge offers a fantastic view with plenty of comfortable seating in the sun or shade. In addition, the large Sky Lounge includes a Jacuzzi, and a nice large BBQ. The aft area of the Sky Lounge is were the 2 Wave Runners are stored.
You have the option of dinning al fresco up in the shy lounge, or aft in the cockpit. If you prefer to have a more formal dinner it will be hosted in the Private Dinning Salon. The Main Salon offers a beautiful full marble bar and plenty of comfortable seating.
Be sure to check-out all the amenities that OUTTA TOUCH’s offers on her Spec Sheet. There are just too many amenities to mention here.
Now let us get down to my favorite subject Food!
Below is a description and a few pictures of what was served at the luncheon aboard OUTTA TOUCH.
The luncheon started with a chilled cantaloupe soup with crème fraiche and fresh mint.
The main course was a Low Country/Jamaican fusion. Pan seared crab cakes with jerk aioli, surrounded by a refreshing watermelon salad and a red pepper mango jerk slaw.
And for dessert, the taste buds we were tantalized with a vanilla meringue set on a raspberry coulis, draped with lemon curd, and drizzled with a blackberry sauce.
The meal was amazing; I was living large.
I would be remiss if I did not mention that the crew aboard OUTTA TOUCH is extremely welcoming and very accommodating to your every need.
Captain Keith Cressman
A case in point, I took the last seat available for this luncheon. I boarded the yacht before lunch with my friend Dik Muller who was there to help me get around and take some good pictures while
Captain Keith Cressman took the time to take me on a full tour of the yacht even though they were about to entertain seven other brokers that were about to arrive.
Chef AJ Sharpe the yacht’s Gourmet Chef noticed my friend Dik Muller looked very hungry and made a place for him at the bar to have the same wonderful meal experience that us brokers had been served al fresco in the yacht’s aft cockpit. I thought that was extremely nice of her to do that.
This is an extremely great and attentive crew. I suggest you take a few more minutes to read the complete Crew Profile of this fantastic crew.
Mate Niko (Nicholas) Caldellis
Stew Samantha (Sammie) Elston
Thanks for your attention to my story of an enjoyable day at the boat show. – Dennis Dori
For more information about OUTTA TOUCH‘s rates and availability please contact me, Dennis Dori at Charter the Caribbean. Phone: (317) 745-1990 | Email: charter@charterthecaribbean.com
