It's the perfect time to charter a yacht for a summer getaway in the Mediterranean. Ample supplies of sailing and motor yachts are available, the currency exchange is the best it has been in years, and there is wiggle room in the prices, something unthinkable before the financial crisis of 2008-2009.

If you play it right, you may be able to get a free extra day tacked on to a seven-day cruise. That amounts to a 13% savings, no small sum considering that a week onthe azure seas of, say, Sicily and the Aeolian islands can easily run north of $100,000.