BVI Christmas Charter

Badger

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We are thinking about chartering just after Christmas for a week in the BVI. Can anyone offer any recent experiences on this area. I'm particularly interested in how busy it gets, good charter companies, interesting places to go etc.

Thanks in Advance

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davel

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good time to go. will be busy but still lots of space! Even at it's busiest it's as nothing compared to UK Solent.
Sunsail and the moorings are both solid companies with good boats and back-up service.

Try a search on threse forums for lots and lots of good suggestions re places to visit. A personal recomendation is to take a US visa with you and visit the USVIs as well as the BVIs. Worth doing if you're looking at a 2 week charter - probably not enough time for one week. Contrast between the two groups is quite marked and is an interesting diversion. Strongly recommend you visit Skinny Legs bar in Coral Bay on St Johns. A great, laid back bar.

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tcm

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I'm a part-time sailor, sailing charter boats in UK and caribean. When I say "caribean" I mean that over the past three years we've sailed for six weeks in the bvi, and due again next year too over christmas/nyear for 2-week jaunt. So I have little/no exp of other carib places except antigua where really you have to clear off to other islands cos there's few usable places to stop around the coast of antigua itself.

Every time to bvi we've chosen sunsail. Moorings is another large operator out there, but not as good in my opinion, as far as I can see. sunsail is now by far the biggest, and controls an entire marina, Hodges Creek (also known as Maya Cove) almost entirely dedicated to sunsail charterers. We went during the busiest two weeks when around a hundred boats are out on charter, and they handled everthing very smoothly.

Last year I was very pleasantly surprised at how things have improved even more. This isn't normal with asset-heavy businesses where there's a tendency to over-sweat the assets and things start new and gradually get older and older. Not so with sunsail - they've upped their game year on year, free ice, smart new paint adn so on.

The bvi is known as the easiest peasiest sailing in the caribbee - far easier than UK waters, no tide, protected area about the size of the greater solent. The area has lots of protected coves, all with loads of mooring buoys set up ($20 a night) or you can anchor for free. Actually, we were so out of synch (they are 4 hours ahead that we were always ashore if anyone came round at dusk (6ish), then went back to boat and slept from 9pm, then up again and off at 6:30...so they don't seem to get round to charging anyone.

You can sail from one place to another in an hour or two, or plan longer less efficient routes that cris-cross around the place. Nice flat seas most of the time. You need no wet weather gear at all, as even if it rains it will be warm.

We had a problem or two witt he boat, as di others, nothing massive, a dodgy outboard, and they turned uyp pronto on big speedboat with complete repalacement. Another time I had tentaively asked for a boat with an autopilot, the alloted boat a/p didn't work so we were quickly moved to another boat. With smaller charterer's you 've hired a specific boat, and they have no "spares".

Also noticeable is that sunsail (and Moorings) are selling late-ninties boats ex-charter- others are selling much older ex-charter boats - so they stay on charter for longer, and bear in mind these boats will do 1000 engine hours a year, so age matters.

The standard sunsail deal is to fly air2000 to st thomas, and sunsail look after the whole thing as a package. You can go with flotilla for a few extra quid, and make some mates, but there's not much to get wrong - essentially flotilla guarantess some external social life in the evenings, bound to be at least one or two other boat families/crews with whom you'll get along. You'll also not "miss" anything and they should take you to the best bits.

There's enough to do bvi at some speed in a week, though with two weeks you can revisit, explore more slowly, follow the winds and so on.

Mayer cove itself is quite good spot, tho most boats never return until hometime - a nice pool, free mooring, free ice this year too. They lend you snorkel gear free of charge. I think Spanish town is a dump, and like nanny cay it is too windless so gets too hot. The wind is almsot guaranteed (well, guaranteed actually, it's a Trade Wind) from East, mebbee NE mebbe SE, mebbe F3, if not F4, if not F5. No hanging about hoping against hope for some reasonable wind. There will be wind. Same applies to other islands, though they'll be less protected and less flat on atalntic sides and in open areas away from the coast, more ocean swells.

Boatwise the smaller boats tend to have seen more action, so worth paying a bit more for slightly more space, and avoiding the Hunter boats if at all poss - tyhey only have two winches! If shorthanded, and autopilot (simply to "hold a course" whilst trimming sails or having a drink) is rec'd.

There are midges, which bite numerously but not heavily. Don't rush to the most inshore flat water nearest the beach - take more seaward anchrage spots. I took sprays and lashed the stuff all over seldf and all aroujnd the hatches too. I also took mosquito nets, 20 quid in camping shops, nice and cool to sleep under instead of sheets. Oh, and all bedding, towels are provided by sunsail. Dose up on anti-hystamine a week beforehand say many - it reduces your sensitivity to the bites.

Ambitious types want to sail further, but it's 15 hours to next islands eastwards, and the USVI are much more populous, less paradise-island-like, and free to enter for all US citizens so there's more crime and low-life, so they say, and fairly obvious as you pass from St Thomas (part of US Vigin Islands) to the ferry to the bvi.

Air2000 from Gatwick isn't a great airplane - not a jumbo, and not much legroom for transatlantic 8hours, but ok really. Upgrade to extra legroom economy or Premium economy if you can. All drinks are chargeable, so we sneaked in our own premixed bacardi and coke in plastic coke bottle. Born skinflint I'm afraid, from Yorkshire, I can't help it.

Another flight option is to fly (say Virgin) to antigua, then LIAT hopper flight 200 miles up to the bvi and land just a mile from the sunsail base. Another is to take cheaper flight to one of the french islands like St maarten from Paris which I understand is cheaper, have a night in Paris, but you're getting into lots of connecting flights.

There is the option of a 2-centre holiday with sunsail, one week on a boat, then one week on a "club hotel" beach hotel in antigua, which we did twice, but I'd stay on the boat, and chill for the whole 2 weeks, less packing and unpacking too.

Oh, a good thing I took was a 100-quid battery powered gps, just to make sure that you don't mistake one palm-fringed green island for another.

Final handy tip- there's a black guy in a dory who collects the mooring fee money in Frenchman's Cay /soper's hole (recommended) who will confidently announce that he works for sunsail and look there's no way you can anchor out in this and you should take a buoy. Fortunately, i was in a bad mood and toldim I was the skipper not him so sod off. Later found out he may have worked for sunsail in the past but he wants you on the buoy to collect the $20. No sunsail staff are based in Sopers Hole any more.

This year i will be in the holpelessly undercrewed 46.2 SunOdditywassrname Fizzsummink. Se you there.


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aod

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[url]www.yacht-charter.net[/url]

Charters boats all over the place. Cheaper than S-c-u-msail as well!

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1stmate

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Despite the disparaging comments of others we're booked with Sunsail in the BVI for Christmas and New Year. They are very competitive on price particularly re flights during this period. Check out www.traveltalkonline.com (sorry I dont know how to insert links) - wealth of info on the BVI and chartering in the area. Bear in mind a lot of the contributors are from the US though where air conditioning appears to be top priority on a boat rather than anything else.

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ROSSCO

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Think the reason Sunsail's operation is as good as it is , is because they are competing against The moorings who have set the standards

<hr width=100% size=1><P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1>Edited by ROSSCO on 07/08/2003 12:07 (server time).</FONT></P>
 
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