Talking with Sag Harbor's Top Charter Boat Captain, Graham Godsall

Graham Godsall, who hails from England, has it figured out. During the summer in the Hamptons, he takes people out on sailboat charters for a day or sunset cruise. He’s been sailing for over 20 years, has his 200 ton license, and bides his time between Sag Harbor in the summer and the Caribbean in the winter time. A very funny man, he has developed an excellent reputation as one of the best people to charter a sailboat from in the Hamptons.

Mr. Godsall explains, “I won the Dan’s Papers Best Charter Boat Award a couple years ago. After doing this for about 20 years I’m basically the busiest boat in the harbor in terms of charting in Sag Harbor.”

Interestingly, Mr. Godsall got his start being recognized as a great guy to sail with thanks to his experience with working well with people, “I used to be involved in the wine industry before I started doing this, and found that I was really great with people and having fun on the boat safely. I have been in New York Magazine for specializing in bachlorette parties, people love those trips. I basically take people out in the Shetler Island area. A typical charter would be to sail around for four hours or so and at some point we drop anchor and have lunch on the boat which is very nice. A lot of people like doing the sunset charters for 2 and half hourss, but I’m very flexible. whatever the people want, I give them.”

The boat that Mr. Godsall charters out to his clients is a 50 foot Gulf Star Floop and it has a large center cockpit with a lot of shade for people. It can accomodate 8 people, but less is more on a boat. The name of the boat is “Dove.” Mr. Godsall also manages a couple of other boats and does power boat instruction as well.

“I love sailing. To tell you the truth, what I love about chartering is meeting interesting people. Most of my clients are usually extremely interesting and this area is just so incredibly nice to sail.”

Rates are negotiable according to Mr. Godsall, but for a typical 4 hour cruise you can expect to pay about $800, and for a sunset cruise you can expect to pay around $600.

To charter a cruise, call Raymond Godsall at 631-901-8928 or e-mail him at probabar@hotmail.com