MEET THE EXPERTS

Meet the people at Carol Kent Yacht Charters International. Carol Kent uses her expertise in domestic and international travel to make your luxury yacht vacation experience easy, inspiring, and completely satisfying. The CKYCI crew includes Martin Trice, Chief Operating Officer; Sarah Nottage, Charter Manager; Lajla Dale, Digital Denizen extraordinaire; and Ed Alexander holds the office of Chief Digital Ventriloquist.

CAROL KENT

PRESIDENT and OWNER

Hello! Since 1986, I have been in the ever-growing yacht charter business. From January 2020 to January 2022, I served as the American Yacht Charter Association (AYCA) President, a position that allowed me to serve the yacht charter industry in a comprehensive way. These were two extraordinary years and I am honored to have worked with so many consummate professionals in the AYCA organization.

In 2017, the International Yacht Brokers Association (IYBA) named me the Charter Professional of the Year! I was surprised and thrilled as this is indeed a great honor coming from my industry peers.

Sailing out of Marblehead, Massachusetts with my family since the early ’80s, I have continued to explore New England, the Caribbean, the Mediterranean, Scandanavia, Southeast Asia, and the world by sea. Read more in the Marblehead WickedLocal article about my career in yachting from humble beginnings.

My previous day charter business served many prestigious corporate clients; The Four Seasons, Boston Harbor Hotel, the Ritz-Carlton, and other boutique hotels confidently referred their clients to my company’s care. I developed a strong reputation in the “big pond” of Boston, Newport and New York. After selling the day charter business in 2013, we now bring that same reputation for detail and satisfaction to crafting worldwide private luxury yachting experiences for discerning travelers.

I have chartered extensively in the Caribbean and the Bahamas with family and friends, learning the intricacies of planning international yachting. Each year I attend charter shows worldwide, inspecting yachts from 40-300+ feet and meeting their international crews. My acquired understanding of different cultures and high business acumen have enabled my company to establish a valuable network of travel partners around the globe.

Meeting interesting people and forming long-lasting relationships is one of my favorite activities. My wanderlust and keen interest in travel have taken me to many exotic destinations. I am always gripped with the desire to be elsewhere!

In 2017, I traveled to 7 countries. In 2018, I discovered the beauties of Thailand both by land and sea, from Bangkok to Phuket. In 2019, I traveled to the Amalfi Coast by land and sea, sailed in Croatia and Belize for a second time, and explored the new marina in Edinburgh, Scotland.

I have also had the good fortune to receive awards for service and to be selected to partake in many FAM (familiarization) trips – an earned privilege in this industry – which has allowed me an insider’s view to the charter client’s experience aboard exquisite sail and motor yachts.

Yachts that have invited me for a 4-5 day familiarization trip include:

Click on country names to read about that destination and yacht names to visit their profiles.

BELIZE

46′ TRANQUILITY sailing yacht

CARIBBEAN

140’ ICE5 motor yacht (formerly CAPRICORN)

130’ SWEET ESCAPE motor yacht

CROATIA

114′ SAN LIMI motor sailer, 112′ DOLCE VITA gulet

THE GALAPAGOS ISLANDS

141′ INTEGRITY motor sailer

GREECE

115’ IRAKLIS motor sailer  (now LIANA H)

75’ IRIS motor yacht

62′ SELENE & 52′ LUCKY CLOVER sailing catamarans

ITALY

Land & sea on the Amalfi Coast

MAINE

142’ LADY J motor yacht

120’ NAMOH motor yacht

ST. LUCIA

142′ LADY J motor yacht 

SWEDEN

69′ ICHIBAN motor sailer

THAILAND

108′ DOLCE VITA motor yacht

TURKEY

101’ ZEPHYRIA motor sailer (gulet)

VIETNAM & CAMBODIA

Mekong river cruise 

SARAH NOTTAGE

CHARTER MANAGER

Sarah brings to CKYCI 15 years of experience in sales and marketing. She has run her own business as well as worked in the travel and IT industries.

While working for a large educational travel company, Sarah ran the domestic division and developed custom itineraries that met the needs of teachers and their students. She has extensive international travel experience and a love for new adventures.

Sarah received her undergraduate degree in Business Management from Skidmore College and graduate business degrees from the University of Colorado.

MARTIN TRICE

CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER

Martin brings to CKYCI his expertise in operational efficiencies, marketing, strategic planning, and leadership development.  He is an educator and entrepreneur with more than 30 years’ experience leading schools and consulting with organizations in the U.S. and abroad.

An avid boater growing up on the Chesapeake Bay, Martin combines his love of the water with a love of learning.  He has chartered from Maine to the Virgin Islands and is currently pursuing his 100 ton license.

Martin first met Carol while working for Wells Yacht Charters in Marblehead before sailing off to the academic world.

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Harbor at Antibes, France w Fort Carré and Maritime Alps

LAJLA DALE

DIGITAL DENIZEN

As the world now turns on connections of all kinds, Lajla is Carol Kent Yacht Charter International’s Digital Denizen. She brings 30+ years of award-winning photography, design, copywriting, marketing and communications experience to CKYCI. Her work can be seen in recent CKYCI blog posts, newsletters, logos and web designs.

In 2015, Lajla (pron. Līla) took her skills and passion for travel on the road to Europe with her partner. While they stayed in 44 locations and became Power Airbnb Users, she launched their blog, TravelOggy.

While living in Antibes, France, as a Digital Nomad, Lajla gravitated to the luxury yachts at Billionaire’s Quay. She’s photographed boats of all kinds along the Riviera, the Amalfi Coast, Sicily, the UK and in New England. She also specializes in nature, portraits, food and animal photos.

Earlier, Lajla was a Cupcake Evangelist and creator of the event The Night of 1,000 Cupcakes. When Lajla is not working for Carol Kent Yacht Charters, she enjoys working at her design business, Free Your Chi, hiking, biking, singing, dancing, traveling near and far, and taking care of other people’s dogs and ghosts.

ED ALEXANDER

CHIEF DIGITAL VENTRILOQUIST

Ed grew up on the New England shores and can often be found in, on or under its waves. Any sail, personal or power craft will do. When not sailing the North Atlantic or the Caribbean, Ed is quite intent on helping preserve our oceans by promoting and supporting sustainability causes. 

When ashore, Ed doggedly pursues answers to some of the more perplexing puzzles involving people, process and technology, often solving them by knitting together the database, website and middle ground tech tools that help treat clients well. Email, CRM, SEO, Social Media, and Content Marketing are all in Ed’s wheelhouse. 

You can learn more about Ed on LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter under his moniker: “fanfoundry”.