Give me advice! Bareboat charter in Caribbean

I'm planning a sailing charter in the Caribbean around Christmas -
7-10 days with captain for two couples.

I've never been to the Caribbean and am looking for advice on which
island group would best fit our interests:

snorkeling and diving,
lack of crowds,
unihabited or islands still in their natural state,
close distance between islands.

We're not interested in nightlife or cities.

I'd love to hear any advice, ranging from where to go, favorite
charter companies, etc.

Thanks.

Charter from the Moorings in St. Lucia. Sail the windwards one way from
St. Lucia to Grenada. St. Lucia to Bequia, Canouan, Mayreau, Tobago
Cays (three uninhabited islands), Palm Island, Petit St. Vincent,
Carriacou, Sandy Island (uninhabited, great snorkeling) Grenada.
Exactly what you are looking for, we have done it several times, and
looking forward to leaving Florida fall of 2004 to head south.

Kelton Joyner
s/v Isle Escape

nick wrote:
> I'm planning a sailing charter in the Caribbean around Christmas -
> 7-10 days with captain for two couples.
>
> I've never been to the Caribbean and am looking for advice on which
> island group would best fit our interests:
>
> snorkeling and diving,
> lack of crowds,
> unihabited or islands still in their natural state,
> close distance between islands.
>
> We're not interested in nightlife or cities.
>
> I'd love to hear any advice, ranging from where to go, favorite
> charter companies, etc.
>
> Thanks.

The BVIs fit #4, kinda #1 but definately not #2 or 3.

-- Geoff

Juliana L Holm <jholm@osf1.gmu.edu> wrote in news:biggai$pa8
@portal.gmu.edu:

> I'd consider the British Virgin Islands.
>
> In ***********.caribbean nick <nicholaswilder@yahoo.com> wrote:
>> I'm planning a sailing charter in the Caribbean around Christmas -
>> 7-10 days with captain for two couples.
>
>> I've never been to the Caribbean and am looking for advice on which
>> island group would best fit our interests:
>
>> snorkeling and diving,
>> lack of crowds,
>> unihabited or islands still in their natural state,
>> close distance between islands.
>
>> We're not interested in nightlife or cities.
>
>> I'd love to hear any advice, ranging from where to go, favorite
>> charter companies, etc.
>
>> Thanks.
>

In article <UNP2b.1073$d12.291@bignews5.bellsouth.net>,
Kelton Joyner <joyner_k@bellsouth.net> wrote:

> Charter from the Moorings in St. Lucia. Sail the windwards one way from
> St. Lucia to Grenada. St. Lucia to Bequia, Canouan, Mayreau, Tobago
> Cays (three uninhabited islands), Palm Island, Petit St. Vincent,
> Carriacou, Sandy Island (uninhabited, great snorkeling) Grenada.
> Exactly what you are looking for, we have done it several times, and
> looking forward to leaving Florida fall of 2004 to head south.
Yup, this is the ticket.

jay
Tue, Aug 26, 2003
mailto:gofig@mac.com



>
> Kelton Joyner
> s/v Isle Escape
>
> nick wrote:
> > I'm planning a sailing charter in the Caribbean around Christmas -
> > 7-10 days with captain for two couples.
> >
> > I've never been to the Caribbean and am looking for advice on which
> > island group would best fit our interests:
> >
> > snorkeling and diving,
> > lack of crowds,
> > unihabited or islands still in their natural state,
> > close distance between islands.
> >
> > We're not interested in nightlife or cities.
> >
> > I'd love to hear any advice, ranging from where to go, favorite
> > charter companies, etc.
> >
> > Thanks.
>

--

Legend insists that as he finished his abject...
Galileo muttered under his breath: "Nevertheless, it does move."

Go to Thailand or Malaysia. Everything the Caribbean has got in the way
of snorkelling, diving, deserted islands, empty anchorages, X 10 and NO
CROWDS. last time we were there was in February and in 12 days we saw
maybe a dozen yachts.

In message <b2643f9.0308261214.250de75f@*****************com> , nick
<nicholaswilder@yahoo.com> writes
>I'm planning a sailing charter in the Caribbean around Christmas -
>7-10 days with captain for two couples.
>
>I've never been to the Caribbean and am looking for advice on which
>island group would best fit our interests:
>
>snorkeling and diving,
>lack of crowds,
>unihabited or islands still in their natural state,
>close distance between islands.
>
>We're not interested in nightlife or cities.
>
>I'd love to hear any advice, ranging from where to go, favorite
>charter companies, etc.
>
>Thanks.

--
Philip Allum

x-no-archive:yes

"Don W." <donw_s11@swbell.net> wrote:

>I should
>add that we hired the captain directly, and he did not work for the
>charter company although he was on their list of outside captains.
>
>YMMV,

I put this at the top of the post because this IMHO KEY to getting a
good captain. When I was putting down captains, I really meant
getting a bareboat and letting the bareboat company assign a captain
to you. I've read a couple of horror stories about that - one where
the captain wouldn't let them fish even though they had specifically
asked if they could bring their gear and fish.

Sometimes the bareboat company will assign a good captain (in one of
the horror stories there had been a really good captain assigned that
was between boats or his own, but the charter company changed him to
another charter at the last minute), but keep in mind that the
captains get a flat rate (probably less than you pay the charter
company) and IMHO if he had any ambition or was any good, he wouldn't
be working for the charter company.

>Hi Rosalie,
>
>Just to give a different opinion of charter "captains". We
>chartered out of Ft. Lauderdale, and crossed to the Bahamas
>on a 51' Bendytoy. It started as two couples on a 42' boat,
>but got a last minute upgrade to the 51' at no extra cost because
>another couple wanted the 42', and they hadn't hired a captain.
>Then, at the last moment, the other couple dropped out.
>
>So that left just the three of us--me, my wife, and our captain
>on a 51' boat. This worked out great, because our captain knew
>the area very well, including clearing procedures, and where the
>good anchorages were. He also brought his fishing gear, which we
>would not have had otherwise.
>
>A good captain is well worth the money you spend on paying and feeding
>him, just for the local knowledge. Our's expected to cook for
>us, and was willing to provision the boat before we arrived, but we said
>no. We provisioned, and shared the cooking because we both like to cook.
>
>Its also nice to have someone who is getting paid, so they don't mind
>standing late night watches, and anchor watches. We also swapped
>stories etc, and ended up learning from a very seasoned blue water sailor.
>
>Bottom line is that if you get a _good_ captain, they are worth more
>than you'll pay for them, and you'll have made a new friend.
>
>Of course, you could also end up with a personality conflict.
>
>Don W.
>
>
>"Rosalie B." wrote:
>>
>> x-no-archive:yes nicholaswilder@yahoo.com (nick) wrote:
>>
>> >I'm planning a sailing charter in the Caribbean around Christmas -
>> >7-10 days with captain for two couples.
>>
>> Just a note - I note that you talk about bareboating 'with a captain'.
>> IMHO that's the worst of both worlds. You have to do all the work of
>> feeding and catering to the captain, so you are responsible for the
>> provisioning etc and that negates the savings you get by bareboating.
>>
>
><snip>
>
>> grandma Rosalie
>>

grandma Rosalie

"Jim Woodward" <jameslwoodward@attbi.com> wrote in message
news:b3a8520c.0308271256.a61cd86@*****************co m...

> If you said "in the Caribbean", I'd agree wholeheartedly, and
> absolutely so with respect to the BVI, but "in the tropics" covers a
> lot of ground.
>
<snip lots of lovely places>

> All of the above have magificent diving and snorkeling, but except for
> Isla del Coco and, possibly, Eritrea, you have to have your own boat
> and a lot of time to get there.

All agreed Jim, but he was talking chartering, and almost by definition, if
it's a charter area, there's sufficient traffic to change the area and give
it a commercial outlook. But yes, these things are a matter of degree . . .
--
Jim B, Yacht RAPAZ,
Summers in the Med, winters in UK
jim[dot]baerselman[at]ntlworld[dot]com

On 27 Aug 2003 13:56:13 -0700, jameslwoodward@attbi.com (Jim Woodward)
wrote:

>"Jim B" <jim.seesig@ntlworld.com> wrote in message news:<HS03b.1432
>
><SNIP>

>In the Pacific, certainly Suvarov (in the Cook Islands, 500 miles from
>anywhere) is in its natural state (a real paradise and, given its
>location, likely to stay that way).
Ain't no ****ing Suvarov in the Cooks.