Charter Questions

[Grouchie]

You'll have to excuse my newbiness, I have had a long time desire and love for sailing boats. Alas, I am one of those land locked types(live in Indiana)... Wiff and I have been thinking of taking a vacation this year... we dont usually do vacations, prefer to spend the time at home spending money on the niceties we desire...

Couple of years ago we took a vacation up to Lake St Clair in MI, and took some ASA certified sailing lessons.. I dont know if I put much faith in our knowledge though, never really put it to any practical use.. hehe

ANYWAYS, on to the point of this post... We were thinking of heading to one of the coasts or Hawaii, etc, and chartering a nicer sailboat for a week or two.. Even though wife and I are both asa certified(Basic Coastal Cruising, Basic keelboat, and Bareboat Chartering ) I would assume we will have to have a captain/crew...

We obviously dont live in environments that lend themselves to chartering.. so I was wondering what to look for in a charter service? When we took our classes I did a bunch of internet surfing, but still felt like we got taken with the "Landlubber" express rates and didnt really get the most bang for our buck.. hehe oh well live and learn...

SO any recommendations of what to look for, or any recommendations on chartering services, etc? I love the wooden sailing boats and catamarans, dont mind getting dirty per say in the way of having fun... Guess I want ten times the fun of one of those carnival cruises.... I want to go to places "The locals" only know about, maybe do some snorkeling and although I aint certified, Scuba would be fun...

I guess I should also state that being 6'5" I dont necessarily want to live aboard something where I have to bend my knees and duck my head to sleep at night...hehe and dont want the trip to be me scrubbing the decks the entire time and not getting to have any fun... but I also dont want to spend my life savings for a week in the carribean etc... hehe

Does any of this make sense? our ASA instructor was ex army drill instructor.. he liked to bark orders and the wife liked to shut down and not do anything(she makes me proud like that!! eheh).... so fun was not good on that vacation!! but losing a cell phone to the water gods, now that was fun-ny!

any help recommendations would be greatly appreciated... or if you want to point me somewhere else, that would be appreciated also..

PS - I love reading the stories and experiences you all have.. but being landlocked I am heavily limited on the boats I can tinker with.. would love to have a 50-100+ ft sailing yacht, but in indiana a 20' is pretty darn huge.. heheh

[Dan Payne]

Grouchie, I would highly reccomend a boat charter in the U.S. and British Virgin Islands for MANY reasons. 1. Price. Your airfare from Indiana will be less than half that of Hawaii. Boat availibility will be much greater also, allowing you to pick a craft that suites your large stature and/or modest budget. You may choose the amount of time of your charter to save money (i.e 5 nights vs. 7 nights). 2. Enviornment. the V.I.'s are totally protected waters. Eyeball navigation. Well marked hazards. Protected overnight anchorages. Yet, you can still put your ASA skills to test. 3. Fun. It is still "somewhat" unspoiled, Most of the locals appriciate the Yankee $$$. You'll meet hundreds of fellow midwesterners in search of the pirate lifstyle. Great island style nightlife in certain harbors...as well as absolutly NO nightlife in others. Great snorkeling and diving. Great fishing (get a license)....So, my advice, get back on line, check out VIP, or Sunroad (I think that's their name) charters. You wont be dissappointed. Dan Payne (619) 813-1799

[rbgarr]

The Bahamas (Abacos) is another alternative. In either case, if you feel the need to have a captain and crew, you may only need them for a couple of days before you feel secure enough to go on by yourselves.

Have you considered the Maine Windjammer cruise alternative? You aren't skipper of your own boat, but I hear they can be wonderful experiences for a husband and wife, especially if you want to get a break from the cooking, etc., as many sometimes do.

[JimConlin]

What Dan and RBGarr said.
As of a couple of years ago, the two largest bareboat outfits in BVI were Moorings and Sunsail. They are remarkably flexible about who they'll charter to. The cruising grounds are WONDERFUL.
There are brokers who can book these outfits and others and they get their commission from the charter outfit. I've used Ed Hamilton (http://www.ed-hamilton.com/)
and will use them again.
Do it!

[MarkC]

I will second that - speak to a broker, ask their opinion and ask for any special deals. I would recommend 'The Moorings'. With Sunsail I have had positive results in New Zealand and bad in Sydney, Australia.

I will put a plug in here for New Zealand as a destination

1. their dollar is so low that for an American you will be damn rich (perhaps you can even double the length of your stay).

2. the New Zealanders have a very free attitude to letting people have and find their own 'adventures' with charter yachts. In comparison to Australia (in Sydney, NSW) where you are not allowed to sail past here - dare not do this, dare not do that, must radio your position every night etc... The New Zealanders said, 'there is the sea, go and have fun'.

3. The New Zealand boating fraternity are very friendly (even to clumbsy charters) as we found out in the Huraki Gulf (spelling?) when we snared our anchor - the cruising couple next to us, the wife put on her diving outfit swam down in the 9 meter cold water and freed us. I felt so embarrased that I gave her my best bottle of Peter Lehman red wine as a thank you!

I would go again.

[Carlsboats]

All your questions are answered. The only thing I could add is that, after picking a charter company
you ask them to give you a few references-- people
who have chartered from them in the exact area where you plan to go. It's no good knowing that someone has a swell time chartering from SinkorSwim Charters in Tortola if you you want to book with them for Fiji. Any and reputable charter company should be happy to supply references.

[Art Read]

All good advise. When you narrow down your itenerary, come on back for more specific advise re: which outfits have the best reputation, etc...

I'll second the recomendation for the BVIs, (British Virgin Islands) as a first time charter destinaton. Hawaii isn't really a great cruising area. Too unprotected. You're basically in the middle of the Pacific Ocean as soon as you leave harbor. People tend to just go daysailing on those big, party beach catamaran outfits there. The Bahamas are lovely but very shallow with lots of nasty reefs and few aids to navigation. In the BVIs, besides the simple navigation, local amenities, nice people and comparitively safe, crime-free environment, the weather is about as predictable as it gets. You could buy a chart now and plan your route knowing what to expect right down to what tack you'll be on the first day out! At any time other than the few weeks around Christmas, figure on winds from the East, South-East at 15 - 20 kts every day, all day, dieing down slightly at night. During the "Christmas Winds", add about ten knots. Count on a half dozen, five minute rain showers, day and night, which aren't even worth closing your hatches over. Stay off the beaches at dusk unless "no-see-ums" don't bother you. Don't stand under the Manchioneel(sp?) trees during a rain shower. Beware "PainKillers". ;)

(BTW... If you passed your ASA course, I wouldn't worry too much about a crew. Almost any charter outfit will provide you a skipper for just the first day or two. You can always drop him/her off after you're comfortable with the boat or just keep 'em all week if you'd rather. I always advise graduates of my own ASA sailing courses to take advantage of this option. Goes a long way towards lowering anxiety, and you'll get a great introduction into the "local knowledge" to boot! Enjoy!)

[ 03-17-2003, 12:14 PM: Message edited by: Art Read ]

[Grouchie]

thanks for all the replies so far....

any special time of year we should consider or not consider for optimal fairs/bad weather/etc? wiff and I only need enough time to get a good rate for airfare.. hehe

[Art Read]

Well, for the Caribean, Christmas through May or so is usually considered "High Season" with the highest rates. After May, it tends to get hazy and a bit hotter with a little less wind. After the middle of August or so thru November you have a good chance of having a hurricane spoil your whole day! ;)