It does not matter which place you select, it will be the trip of a lifetime! We have chartered twice in the BVI's and had great times there. As you may know, there are basically two types of charter companies. Tier 1 companies such as Moorings & Sunsail who provide boats that are generally not more than 5 years old. Tier 2 companies such as Conch Charters, North-South, Footloose (owned by Sunsail) etc provide boats that are generally older than 5 years. They all pretty much give the option of mono-hull or catamarans for charter. On the plane back to San Juan after our first charter (Nov 2004), most of the passengers were charter guests from different companies and were all comparing notes on their respective boats. Many had used Moorings or Sunsail and many had used a Tier 2 company. Basically it didn't seem to matter whether you had a Tier 2 boat or a Tier 1 boat, they each had guests who had problems. The thing with the teir 2 boats is they are generally quite a bit cheaper than the fancy, newer, Tier 1 boats. That means you can spend more on the other things!! We chartered both times from Conch Charters in Road Town, Tortola. The boats were clean and well looked after. The method of choice for communication is the cell phone as there is so much traffic on the VHF, the charter base may not hear you. Cell phone service in the BVI's is GSM and very well set up. Each boat is provided with a cell phone for which you have to provide a credit card deposit. Calls back to the charter base are free, but any other calls are charged out at the going rates. Some charter companies offer the opportunity to spend the night before or after your charter on board at the charter base. We did this both times and planned our arrival to be in the mid afternoon (didn't quite work out the first time as we had bad weather and the plane was delayed). This is a good opportunity the check out the boat for yourself before heading off on your charter. Conch charged about a $100.00 total for the four of us for the first night at the dock before the charter started. When it comes to provisioning, you have several choices. You can have the charter company provision for you and they will provide either complete provisioning (food for all meals and snacks) or partial provisioning (food for most meals and snacks so you can dine out when you want) or you can do your provisioning yourself. We chose to do the provisioning ourselves as we could then select what we wanted instead of a packaged deal. We did our provisioning through Bobbies Market in Road Town. They have a web site with a downloadable MS Excel spread sheet with all of their products and prices. You merely check off what you want and send them a copy telling them who you charter with and when you want the stuff dropped off and they will deliver it to your boat for free. You provide them with a credit card number when you order, but it is not charged until you take delivery. There are a number of smaller markets on Tortola, one of which is close to the Conch Charter base at Fort Burt Marina. Most of the foods that you are used to are available, albeit more expensive. Of course there are lots of great places on shore to eat at each of the islands, but that gets very expensive if you have a family with you. We chartered in November the first time and the end of January the second time. January was the best weather wise, but you still end up with the occaisional ground swell from the north. When this happens, places like Cane Garden Bay are not very comfortable for an overnight stop. The same for day stops at the Baths on Virgin Gorda. At the Baths they have morring balls that are free on a first come first served basis and as was mentioned by another listee, you can not land a dinghy at the Baths as there is insufficient beach space, however they do provide a dinghy mooring line just off the beach where you can tie up and swim to shore as it is not very far. I would suggest that you rig a rope ladder or loop for the dinghy to assist reboarding from the water. Most overnight anchorages have mooring balls for rent at $20 to $25 per night. They don't come to collect the fee until 4:30 or there abouts so use of the moorings during the day is basically free as long as you are gone before they come out in the dinghy to collect. Make sure you get a receipt!!! You can also anchor near most of the mooring fields if you choose. Once in a while you may see someone try to outwit the guys who collect the mooring fees by anchoring in the middle of a mooring field (not a good thing to do!!) but they are generally asked to pay the morring fee or move out of the field. The only place we actually had to anchor was at Great Harbour on Jost Van Dyke as there are no mooring balls there (at least as of January 2007). This is where Foxy's main bar is located and they have a great barbeque on Friday and Saturday nights. In any event, as I say, it doesn't matter where you charter you will have a great time, and unfortunately there is always the possibility of getting a lemon boat! Take care and have a great trip. Tom & Janis Grover C27 # 2855 C36 # 0949
----- Original Message ---- From: Stephan Debelle <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: [email protected] Sent: Monday, August 4, 2008 5:19:34 PM Subject: catalina27-talk: Bareboat Bahamas or Tortola Same topic different area, not sure this is the proper list but any comments welcome:-) I am planning to charter a boat sometime in January either in the Abacos or Tortolla, most likely a Catamaran with the Moorings. I have been boating a major part of my life but sailing for only two seasons with my own Catalina 27 on the Hudson river. Looks like either Abacos or Tortola makes for short legs and easy sight navigation and the Moorings seem to have a good reputation. Any suggestions regarding the company, area, weather, things to do while there, experiences etc.. are greatly appreciated:-) Good sailing. Stephan -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Monday, August 04, 2008 4:03 PM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: catalina27-talk: Bareboat Cape Cod Area Not saying not to ask around once you get there, but she is pretty knowledgeable about the business. ************** Looking for a car that's sporty, fun and fits in your budget? Read reviews on AOL Autos. (http://autos.aol.com/cars-BMW-128-2008/expert-review?ncid=aolaut00050000000017 )
