BVI Charter/Flotilla - recommendations please?

PeppaPig

PeppaPig

Well-Known Member
Joined
18 Nov 2007
Messages
101
Location
UK
Visit site
Hello folks, this has probably been asked before but "search" hasn't proved too helpful. We are looking for a decent, reliable company that would provide either bareboat or flotilla (preferably followed by bareboat) for a couple on a monohull for 2 weeks or so in January. Obviously we are aware of Sunsail for the latter and Moorings have a big presence, but this would be our first Caribbean exposure and felt it may be more "gentle" to dip the toe in with a flotilla for a week before going off on a bareboat deal for a week afterwards. Any suggestions or good experiences specifically in the British Virgin isles please??
 
With the big companies a lot depends on the charter base manager.

We have bareboat chartered twice with the Moorings in the early 2000's. The first was excellent with a great manager, the second was not quite as good as standards appeared to have slipped. Having said that, the BVIs are so good sailing-wise that you can't go far wrong whoever you go with.

I am sure that most of the companies will put together a 1 week flotilla / 1 week bareboat package if you call them.

Richard
 
I did bvi charter quite a few times a few years back, and since sailed around the area a few times on own boat. Moorings is US-focussed, Sunsail a UK company, lots of others easily googleable have sprung up in the last five/ten years.

You *may* be able to get better deals (altho keep reading) but perhaps for you the sunsail advantages are that
1) the other people are likely to be brits you can easily socialise with on flotilla, unlike that time when i brilliantly found a slightly better ski deal but everyone else in the place was French. This is probably the main issue if doing flotilla.

2) sunsail have oodles of boats. So if there's a problem with your boat on arrival, they flip you to another boat. Not so with smaller outfits - this is Your Boat, and they haven't got another as a spare.

3) sunsail are part of first choice so if the plane is delayed, the boatie people at the sunsail base get told, and all stay up. Or on return, if the transfer is slow, they hold the plane.

4) you are asking about this *just* before the southampton boat show and the very best time to book would be right there and then IF you have done your homework and know excatly what you want - there are usually special deals.

I would book a boat that is as big as you can possibly handle - because bigger boat is more roomy and it is HOT in bvi so don't imagine that sleeping to the max capacity is gonna be in the least bit comfy - it isn't. So of nicest will be a big 4-cabin boat for four people - not fr 10 people like it says is (just) possible in the brochure. Actually loads of people end up sleeping up on deck.

At any rate - get a boat with an autopilot

There's loads of mozzies at night if you anchor close inshore - so try anchor behind the mooring buoys, and praps eat lotsa garlic capsules before you fly. Take "Flammazine" from the chemist which stops the bites from itching. Not at all OTT to take mozzie net things, cheap from the field and trek type shops in the uk - learn to set them up properly and let everyone else get bitten to bitds, not you.

At the end of the hol, everything might be wonderful, but if it isn't, you write them a nice (ish) letter saying that the flippin planre was late, or you got given the wrong boat, or the outboard was rubbish etc. Then they write back and say oh dreadful sorry and as a token of goodwill they might give you a discount on your *next* sunsail holiday - and the discount can be up to 40%! Woohoo. And this is how you end up locked into going on loads of sunsail holidays, one after the other, for years and years...

Have a great time.
 
tcm said:
Take "Flammazine" from the chemist which stops the bites from itching.
Click to expand...

Having done a Sunsail flotilla in BVI a number of years ago, I'd agree with most of the advice already given.

However, Flamazine is a POM (prescription only medicine) in the UK and there are reasons for this ! This means that you can't buy it over the counter in a pharmacy and there are many considerations to take into account before using it. It is NOT for itching, it is for the treatment and prophylaxis of infection in burns and infected wounds. If you want to stop your bites from itching, take something else !!
 
We went bareboat 5 years back and used nautilus we had been to Antigua the previous year with them and as posted above had the 10days for 7 deal because we had problems in Antigua .
We were 5 middle-aged guys in a 4 cabin 42ft boat and used the space this also meant going bigger was not a financial problem. Depending on your experience you are the only people to decide whether to go flotilla or not but if you go flotilla would you be expected to return to base loose a day etc?
We had no problem with navigation it's all line of sight and used mooring bouts most nights which meant we would be in about 3/4 to ensure a bouy but a someone switches the lights out at 6 it was not a problem
We ate on board more than ashore and had no problems food wise we ordered on line and the food was delivered when we arrived only problem was I had not advised credit card co before traveling and this caused major problem getting cash from bank etc. Ice was replenished several times especially for the chest of cold drinks in the cockpit.
The only downside is the travelling which is a dragged out affair the advice to go Sunsail with the intregated travel is well worth thinking on
We were fortunate that one of the party had relatives in Antigua we suggested the sticky wicket next to Antigua airport to laze out during layovers between flights .
 
PeppaPig said:
... and felt it may be more "gentle" to dip the toe in with a flotilla for a week before going off on a bareboat deal for a week afterwards.
Click to expand...

That's how Moorings used to run their fortnight charter deal back in 2001. (See http://www.mjcoon.plus.com/page34.htm, though I don't go into that detail. Sorry the "Texan couple" link is no longer live)

The trip out to Anegada is something that they insisted had to be guided and not done outside the flotilla. But I guess they thought that there was not enough to keep a flotilla interested for the whole fortnight. Or maybe that Americans didn't have a whole fortnight (not that they know what that is!) to spend. Whereas Brits would not want to fly so far for just one week.

We also went through the hassle of getting US visas (which were then, at least, not covered by the waiver) so we could visit the US Virgin Islands. Not sure it was really worth it, but gave us the fun of clearing into and out of a "foreign" territory...

Mike.
 
hum. As far as i can see the main reasons for lots of things being prescription-only in the uk is to protect the long-held overpaid positions of uk medical types, and using obscure words like "prophylaxis" instead of "prevention" is perhaps another example.

Flammazine is cheap under $5 and over-the-counter at pharmacies in spain, france and caribbean.
 
tcm said:
As far as i can see the main reasons for lots of things being prescription-only in the uk is to protect the long-held overpaid positions of uk medical types.
Click to expand...

I'm not a medical type, and I'm not a UK citizen (and I'm certainly not overpaid !). I used to work for the manufacturers of this product, and have seen at first hand some of the problems caused to patients by inappropriate use, that's all.
 
Sunsail... For all the reasons that tcm mentions. I started my sailing career with Sunsail Clubs in the Med, followed by Club/Flotilla, then Flotilla in the BVI and finally bareboat, all with Sunsail.

Although this is some years ago now, I know from meeting others doing Sunsail flotillas around the BVI just last month, that they are still as enjoyable as ever. I would recommend getting a boat with air con for anyone going in the summer but in January you should be fine without.
 
Thanks for all the responses, we have plumped for Sunsail for a week's flotilla to familiarise ourselves with how it works out there, followed by week away on our own bareboating on the same boat. The only other flotilla experiences we have had have been with Sailing Holidays in Greece/Croatia, so it'll be interesting to compare.
 
We went to the BVI with Nautilus in 2009 and are going with them again next January, so may come across you then. They are a LOT cheaper than Sunsail and yachts are generally good, we've been all over with them from BVI to Thailand, Sweden, most of Greece, Turkey and Croatia.

BVI is great and navigation & mooring no problems. Don't know what mooring deal you're on but it was $25 per night on buoys last time. Have a great time and if you see a yacht with a giant inflatable lobster attached, come and say hello.
 
Shame that, Horizon was our favorite in the BVI's....

Been with Sunsail and Moorings as well.... not much between them... but the Moorings base was better than Sunsails...

Horizon was a much nicer laid back operation, with better boats.
 
photodog said:
Shame that, Horizon was our favorite in the BVI's....

Been with Sunsail and Moorings as well.... not much between them... but the Moorings base was better than Sunsails...

Horizon was a much nicer laid back operation, with better boats.
Click to expand...

Sunsail and Moorings now share a base at Road Town
 
BVI is great and navigation & mooring no problems. Don't know what mooring deal you're on but it was $25 per night on buoys last time. Have a great time and if you see a yacht with a giant inflatable lobster attached said:
Is anchoring not the done thing then by any chance? I presume that isn't charged for? We will keep an eye out for th einflatable lobster.
Click to expand...
 
PeppaPig said:
Is anchoring not the done thing then by any chance? I presume that isn't charged for? We will keep an eye out for th einflatable lobster.
Click to expand...
You can find places to anchor in most bays in the BVI. The only place where it isn't really practical is Cooper Island where there is seagrass everywhere which makes anchoring difficult. Some mooring fields are now $30 (The Bight, Norman Island for one)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Share this page

Top