A Short History of Motor Vessel Top Shelf
Concept: Hilton Head Yacht Charter
My wife Julianne and I had our second Top Shelf, a 55 foot Fleming Motor Yacht, moored on the T-head of Shelter Cove Marina’s C-Dock for the last five years. We always kept her looking good, and people would ask if we considered chartering her—That’s where we got the idea for Hilton Head Yacht Charters.
We began searching for a yacht that would fit the Hilton Head boat rental marketplace. We agreed on an 80 foot Hatteras Motoryacht for the following reasons:
- A galley (kitchen) big enough to prepare gourmet lunches and dinners for our guests
- Multiple areas on the yacht where people could relax in the sun or shade
- An aft swim platform that can be used to launch a large selection of water-toys and provide an in-the-water lounging area
- Storage areas large enough to store all of the water toys that guests can enjoy.
We started looking in Florida, where most of the eighty-foot Hatteras reside. In the spring of 2020, I found a Hatteras based in Turkey. It was odd that a USA built Hatteras Yacht was for sale in Turkey, but to only have 250 hours on the engines caught my attention.
That was in May, long story short, after buying the yacht and cruising her for six weeks. We delivered her to Antalya, Turkey, for modernization. Antalya is a beautiful city of 4 million people and has many world-renowned mega-yacht builders located there. I was fortunate enough to meet Kemel, a carpentry sub-contractor, and Harkan, an upholstery sub-contractor who worked with the mega-yacht builders.
We had 20 workers on the yacht for two months straight as we refit Top Shelf stem to stern. Using mega-yacht construction practices, they refitted the boat to look better than she did when new.
We transported her on a yacht carrier ship from Antalya to Fort Lauderdale, where we had USA based repairs completed and installed the water toys before delivering her to her berth in Shelter Cove Marina.
We all hope you have an opportunity to spend some time on Hilton Head Yacht Charter’s luxury yacht Top Shelf.



The BEST night!!! Worth every penny. My brothers and sisters, spouses and a couple of dear friends spent the evening cruising the Calibogue Sound. The food was great, the boat is stunning and the crew amazing. I highly recommend the Top Shelf!!!!!
We are glad you had a great time aboard Top Shelf
Would be interested in celebrating our 20th anniversary on board in 2025
Hi Beverly: We would love to host your 20th anniversary. When the time is right, go to our “Contact Us” page to call or email our Cruise Concierge. She will plan every detail of your anniversary to perfection.