St Lucia - Ok for a first charter / cruise?

adpmijs1

adpmijs1

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Hi all,
I've found out that I've amassed enough airmiles for a free (excl taxes) return flight from the UK to St Lucia for me and SWMBO. We were looking at hotel accomodation, but then suggested that perhaps we bareboat charter a yacht out there and cruise around on that instead.

Bearing in mind this will be my 1st time sailing in the Caribbean, is St Lucia an ok place from which to charter from and use as a base? Are there enough ports / marinas / anchorages to keep us occupied for a week or will we really be looking at sailing a bit further afield? (St Vincent and the Grenadines, or Martinique, for example?).

Hopefully this trip will get us on the 1st rung of the "lets leave blighty and sail around the world" ladder....so I'm keen to impress SWMBO.

Any comments / suggestions anyone?

Thanks in advance,

Andy
 
Fly to Antigua instead, then LIAT to BVI's.... sailing is a lot easier.... not so open...... probably a lot less stressfull for a 1st time Caribean charter.....

Quite frankly, if you feel the need to ask, you would probably be a lot better off in the BVI's.... which are GREAT... and have loads of beaches and a lot of boats to choose from...etc.. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Have a great time!
 
How much experience do you have/ how much sailing do you want to do?
Don't underestimate the Caribbean the passages between islands can be pretty blowy with choppy seas.
Having said that we enjoyed having our kids out to St Lucia and kept them well entertained by sailing from Rodney Bay to Marigot to the Pitons and back again. It's a well trodden path but plenty of restaurants, the anchorage between the Pitons has a strange micro climate and it can be blowing 25k in there and calm as a millpond outside.

I would avoid Castries, even when we were there 3 years ago the advice was not to leave the boat, I understand it has only got worse.

I would also suggest that the BVI's may be superior for a first time charter.

www.gerryantics.blogspot.com
 
If you want to go on a bare boat charter, I think that you would be happier flying into St Vincent and picking up your boat there, rather than St Lucia.
It might be a wee bit more expensive re flights, as you have to get an inter-island connecting flight from Barbados or St Lucia, but then you don't have the long sail from St Lucia south to the Grenadines and back (you are possibly looking at 16 - 18 hours on the nose from Bequia back up to Rodney Bay).

OK, you could potter around St Lucia and Martinique for a week or 2, perhaps go up to Dominica as well, but I think you would prefer the Grenadines - they are not quite the tropical Solent like what the BVIs have become, but still very straight forward to sail amongst the islands - and your longest passage might be 20 miles or so, with most being just a few miles between islands.
Bequia is the logical first stop when sailing south from the charter bases in St Vincent - its about 10 miles from Blue Lagoon to Admiralty Bay, and is a good 'shake down' passage to start off your holiday with.

Sunsail have a base in St Vincent - www.sunsail.com , also Barefoot Yachts www.barefootyachts.com
 
As others have said, St Lucia has a pretty bad reputaition for crime of all sorts. There aren't many places to moor

- Rodney bay: pretty in the bay, unattractive in the marina

- Marigot bay: one of the prettiest in the Caribbean but quite common for boats to be ransacked while the crew are ashore

- The pitons: pretty

- Soufriere: a bit of a crime hotspot

We left St Lucia for a cruise of the Grenadines, making an overnight passage - it took quite a while. Charter boats are generally not allowed to sail at night.

Once in the Grenadines, starting at Bequia, the cruising is great - beautiful anchorages, spectacular snorkelling, short hops from one island to another. Pilotage requires concentration but not difficult.

You will be plagued by boat boys everywhere in the Windward islands (except Martinique). In most places they are reasonably good natured but there are a few bad spots e.g. St Vincent and the Southern end of St Lucia.

You could go North from St Lucia. There are quite a few nice anchorages in Martinique with the benefit of French food, no boat boys and some interesting places to visit ashore e.g. St Pierre and Mt Pelee.
 
As others have said - one week is too long in St Lucia, and too short to go from St Lucia to the Grenadines (where you really want to go) and back.

BVIs are perfect for a week.
 
I wouldn't suggest a week in St Lucia. It's not so much the security problem, which is not as bad as some here are making out, but there's just not enough comfortable/safe/unrolly places to go other than Rodney Bay & Marigot Bay. Try instead the BVI, or Martinique for a more gentle sail, nice beaches, secure anchorages and good food. Or try the Grenadines - to avoid the sometimes hard slog back from Bequia to St Vincent (Sunsail base), choose a one-way from St Vincent to Canouan (Moorings base), or start/finish in the latter.
 
Thanks to everyone for their prompt replies and advice.

I think I see a pattern here! lol

Looks like I was right to ask...I did have a niggling doubt, which has been confirmed.

We'll prob look at the BVI's instead now for our 1st charter over there.

Thanks again for all your invaluable advice!
 
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