Is going to the Caribbean now a possibility?

Paddy Fields

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Hi

Before Covid, the plan for this year was to go over to the Caribbeans (From the uk), do a bit of chartering, then (assuming we liked it) buy a boat and do some extensive cruising. Obviously that didn’t work for the previous season.

How are things looking there at the moment? Are there some islands that it would be worth taking a risk on?

Would be good to hear from some people out there at the moment

Middle aged, but not in a high risk group as such. I’m very careful, But will take a calculated risk

Cheers

Dan
 

nortada

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Hi

Before Covid, the plan for this year was to go over to the Caribbeans (From the uk), do a bit of chartering, then (assuming we liked it) buy a boat and do some extensive cruising. Obviously that didn’t work for the previous season.

How are things looking there at the moment? Are there some islands that it would be worth taking a risk on?

Would be good to hear from some people out there at the moment

Middle aged, but not in a high risk group as such. I’m very careful, But will take a calculated risk

Cheers

Dan

Yes.
 

capnsensible

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Hi

Before Covid, the plan for this year was to go over to the Caribbeans (From the uk), do a bit of chartering, then (assuming we liked it) buy a boat and do some extensive cruising. Obviously that didn’t work for the previous season.

How are things looking there at the moment? Are there some islands that it would be worth taking a risk on?

Would be good to hear from some people out there at the moment

Middle aged, but not in a high risk group as such. I’m very careful, But will take a calculated risk

Cheers

Dan
Hiya. I reckon you will get the best answers from the charter companies. They gotta have the finger on the pulse. Friend of mine has just sailed his own yacht from Antigua to St Vincent. Had a covid test, 24 hour wait. Now in Bequia. Seems like usual Carib confusion, every official has a different idea!
 

Yngmar

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Possible? Probably. But probably not a smart move. Just ask any of the folks that got stuck there this last season and had to make tough choices as hurricane season approached. Or are still there, :poop:ing their pants every time a new depression forms in the Atlantic. I'd wait until vaccines have happened.
 

Paddy Fields

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Hiya. I reckon you will get the best answers from the charter companies. They gotta have the finger on the pulse. Friend of mine has just sailed his own yacht from Antigua to St Vincent. Had a covid test, 24 hour wait. Now in Bequia. Seems like usual Carib confusion, every official has a different idea!

Possible? Probably. But probably not a smart move. Just ask any of the folks that got stuck there this last season and had to make tough choices as hurricane season approached. Or are still there, :poop:ing their pants every time a new depression forms in the Atlantic. I'd wait until vaccines have happened.

Perhaps buying out there is not such a good idea, unless you buy and have got the use of the marina where you bought the yacht, and that marina is a good place to be when the next hurricane season hits, and its a good cruising ground that will keep you happy for a while.

Being an avid snorkeller/diver, if there are good reefs nearby, I recon I'd easily be able to stay put in one place for a season or so. Mediocre sailing but great underwater life would keep me happy.
 

Paddy Fields

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And a good chance of being out of date quickly as no one knows that much from day to day at the moment.. :(
Though noonsite seems pretty good with a large crowd sourcing info base to keep as up to date as possible.

As I don't intend to moving from island to island for the first season (and will be restricted from doing so anyway), I think the more important site to monitor is the one giving the daily covid cases/deaths for each island.
 

capnsensible

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Perhaps buying out there is not such a good idea, unless you buy and have got the use of the marina where you bought the yacht, and that marina is a good place to be when the next hurricane season hits, and its a good cruising ground that will keep you happy for a while.

Being an avid snorkeller/diver, if there are good reefs nearby, I recon I'd easily be able to stay put in one place for a season or so. Mediocre sailing but great underwater life would keep me happy.
I think a lot of people don't realise what's beyond the Windies. At the south end, Trinidad, loadsa marinas and boats for sale. Keeping out of the hurricane belt, Venezuela and its islands are amazing......if you are careful. Bet there are bargains in the few marinas.
Further on , Islas Aves and more. I met a French couple once who pit stopped in that area and stayed seven years. ?

Onwards again, ABC's. Reputedly the best diving around. Seen them in passing but hear great reports. Got friends who live on Curocao. They left years ago to circumnavigate, but found their way back.

Columbia, Panama, Guatemala all got marinas. I was contracted to pick a boat up from Guatemala pre covid. Waiting still!
Panama is a typical place to search for yachts on US Brokers lists.

So after all that waffle, what I'm saying is, plenty of yachts for sale in great locations. Good luck with your search!
 

Paddy Fields

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I think a lot of people don't realise what's beyond the Windies. At the south end, Trinidad, loadsa marinas and boats for sale. Keeping out of the hurricane belt, Venezuela and its islands are amazing......if you are careful. Bet there are bargains in the few marinas.
Further on , Islas Aves and more. I met a French couple once who pit stopped in that area and stayed seven years. ?

Onwards again, ABC's. Reputedly the best diving around. Seen them in passing but hear great reports. Got friends who live on Curocao. They left years ago to circumnavigate, but found their way back.

Columbia, Panama, Guatemala all got marinas. I was contracted to pick a boat up from Guatemala pre covid. Waiting still!
Panama is a typical place to search for yachts on US Brokers lists.

So after all that waffle, what I'm saying is, plenty of yachts for sale in great locations. Good luck with your search!

Those are a few interesting tips to think about. Im probably going to start off on an island, because, well, its an island, and hence the physical isolation makes controlling a pandemic easier. Preferably an island with a better developed health infrastructure.

Venezuela seems to have coronavirus under control, but travel is extremely restricted there. Might be able to fly there, but getting to the boats is another question!
 

Bajansailor

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Paddy, have you ever been to the Caribbean before?
If not, then a reconaisssance visit might be a good plan initially?

If you are adamant about getting a boat, and happy to stay in one place for a while, I am sure that you would be very happy spending some time in the Grenadines between Grenada and St Vincent.

Barefoot Yachts have bareboats for charter in St Vincent -
Caribbean Bareboat Sailing Charters | Barefoot Yacht Charters

Or you could hire a yacht from The Moorings in Grenada
Grenada

If you want to buy a boat, what is the budget available?
 

Paddy Fields

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Paddy, have you ever been to the Caribbean before?
If not, then a reconaisssance visit might be a good plan initially?

If you are adamant about getting a boat, and happy to stay in one place for a while, I am sure that you would be very happy spending some time in the Grenadines between Grenada and St Vincent.

Barefoot Yachts have bareboats for charter in St Vincent -
Caribbean Bareboat Sailing Charters | Barefoot Yacht Charters

Or you could hire a yacht from The Moorings in Grenada
Grenada

If you want to buy a boat, what is the budget available?

Thanks for the tip about Grenadines.

Never been to the Caribbeans. The plan is to do as much reconnaissance as possible, but given the current lockdown situation I'm not sure how much I can do. Main aim is to enjoy myself!

The sailing I've done is all in Europe, but Ive done a lot of diving in tropical places (Costa Rica, Galapagos, Indonesia, Philippines, Maldives, Australia), so Im pretty confident I will like somewhere like the Caribbeans.

I don't mind chartering for a while. If I can't find a boat that I want, I'll come back to the UK at some point and buy one here. Just spent the last few weeks trying to buy a boat in the UK, but it seems like the entire population of London has the same idea!

So my budget was enough to buy a 45' blue water boat in reasonable condition that could make it across from the UK to the Caribbeans in reasonable comfort pretty much right out the box. If I buy in the Caribbeans, I don't think I'd need such a high spec boat, so I wouldn't be looking to spend as much.
 
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Bajansailor

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It might be easier to buy a boat out here - the cost is bound to be much less than a similar boat in Europe.

Here is an 'advanced' search I did on Yachtworld for yachts in the Caribbean, between 40' - 50', and between GBP 100 - 150,000 in price - 96 boats 'came up' in the search.
You can easily change the parameters of the search.

(Sail) Boats For Sale
 

Paddy Fields

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It might be easier to buy a boat out here - the cost is bound to be much less than a similar boat in Europe.

Here is an 'advanced' search I did on Yachtworld for yachts in the Caribbean, between 40' - 50', and between GBP 100 - 150,000 in price - 96 boats 'came up' in the search.
You can easily change the parameters of the search.

(Sail) Boats For Sale

Thanks for the input.

Regarding size - I was originally figuring on 45' because as I was going to be starting out in Europe, and would have done some European sailing, cost and availability of berths in a marina is always a concern, as is draft (in the UK), so I wouldn't want to go above 45'. Plus if you get a 45' with a deck saloon layout and a large aft berth that runs the full width of the transom, that a lot of living space. In Europe there are quite a few 45' deck saloons with a full width aft cabin available. Not so much in the Caribbean.

OTOH, if I were to buy in the Caribbeans, given that Im not going to take a boat bought in the Caribbeans back to Europe, I wonder is the cost and availability of large marina berths is not such an issue in The Caribbean? If so, going up to 50' might give me enough living space so that the layout is not so important, and I could forge the deck saloon and the full width aft cabin, and live with a 'production boat' layout.

Looking at boat in the Caribbean, between 40' - 50', over GBP100k and between 2010-2015, which is more my target - about 50 boats 'came up' in the search. Most of those look like ex-charter boats that need converting into long term/short handed cruisers.

2010 (Sail) Boats For Sale
 

capnsensible

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You may well find marinas are not much of an issue. It's likely you will spend most of your time at anchor.

I can give an example. My good friend lives on his 45 foot Jeneau and has done for probably around 12 or more years. During that time he has been mostly in the Caribbean but sailed back to the Med a few times for hurricane season. Most of his time is spent up and down the Windies but he hardly ever uses marinas. Now and then, when he pops back to the UK to do his grandad bit, he gets the boat lifted out in Grenada for a month or two and flies back. So it can be done.

Even over the last few months, he managed to deliver a yacht from Antigua to UK, spend a few weeks with family, fly back to Antigua and has sailed solo to Bequia with a broken autopilot. Meanwhile, the rest of the world has a pandemic......
 

Bajansailor

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Paddy, you did not mention an upper limit on price - this is also a strong requirement usually!

Deck saloon yachts are generally not so popular here, as they seem to become like greenhouses, with the blinds closed all the time to keep the sun out. The deck saloon is the large open cockpit, with the saloon down below for when the weather is inclement.

As Cap'n Sensible says, don't worry about marina berths - get used to living life at anchor, as marinas are few and far between out here.
Draft is also not an issue out here, unless you want to go sailing in the Bahamas - pretty much all of the anchorages in the Eastern Caribbean have enough water to anchor a 'deep draft' 45' yacht.

The former charter boats have all been designed for sailing in the tropics, and they shouldn't require much to convert them into long term cruisers for pottering about in the Eastern Caribbean. You would probably want to add a water maker and perhaps an extra dinghy (as typical examples).

If you budget will stretch to a bit over GBP 300k, this 45' Ovni looks rather nice, and has been outfitted for blue water sailing -
2012 Ovni 445 Sail New and Used Boats for Sale - www.yachtworld.co.uk
 

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Wish you well with your plans. Personally with a boat of around 45 foot and the location you are intending staying I would avoid a deck saloon or centre cockpit boat and buy a boat with an owners stateroom fwd. Reason being if you spend lots of time at anchor it can be much quieter as you do not get the slap on the hull up fwd that you get in modern boats at the stern and can prove annoying when it is your main sleeping cabin. Also you spend a lot of time in the cockpit and getting in and out of a tender or water so a good sized cockpit with easy access to the stern is an definite advantage.
 
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Paddy Fields

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Paddy, you did not mention an upper limit on price - this is also a strong requirement usually!

Deck saloon yachts are generally not so popular here, as they seem to become like greenhouses, with the blinds closed all the time to keep the sun out. The deck saloon is the large open cockpit, with the saloon down below for when the weather is inclement.

As Cap'n Sensible says, don't worry about marina berths - get used to living life at anchor, as marinas are few and far between out here.
Draft is also not an issue out here, unless you want to go sailing in the Bahamas - pretty much all of the anchorages in the Eastern Caribbean have enough water to anchor a 'deep draft' 45' yacht.

The former charter boats have all been designed for sailing in the tropics, and they shouldn't require much to convert them into long term cruisers for pottering about in the Eastern Caribbean. You would probably want to add a water maker and perhaps an extra dinghy (as typical examples).

If you budget will stretch to a bit over GBP 300k, this 45' Ovni looks rather nice, and has been outfitted for blue water sailing -
2012 Ovni 445 Sail New and Used Boats for Sale - www.yachtworld.co.uk

Thanks for the perspective on marinas. It confirmed my suspicions.

BTW, why would you want an extra dinghy?

Its a bit of an ask, but I could stretch to that Ovni. Would be great for going to the Bahamas. However its a conventional main sail, and I'd rather have a furling main sail coz it will only be two of us sailing most of the time. Mind you, the sails and the rigging on that Ovni are probably due for replacement soon, so maybe now would be a good time to change them and get a new mast with an in-mast furling system at the same time.

Do aluminium hulls get hot in the sun (too hot to walk on in bare feet), or does the sea act as a great big heat sink and keep them cool?
 
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Paddy Fields

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Wish you well with your plans. Personally with a boat of around 45 foot and the location you are intending staying I would avoid a deck saloon or centre cockpit boat and buy a boat with an owners stateroom fwd. Reason being if you spend lots of time at anchor it can be much quieter as you do not get the slap on the hull up fwd that you get in modern boats at the stern and can prove annoying when it is your main sleeping cabin. Also you spend a lot of time in the cockpit and getting in and out of a tender or water so a good sized cockpit with easy access to the stern is an definite advantage.

Thanks for the wishes.

There are almost no deck saloons on sale in the Caribbeans, so it wouldn't be an option anyway. If Im going for a forward stateroom, its got to have an island berth. I expect it will be the newer models that have larger forward staterooms. Will need to do some research.
 
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