There is nothing quite like a sailing vacation. Whether you’re after sunshine and beam reaches, rum drinks and reggae, or quiet anchorages and adventures ashore, a charter with The Moorings can deliver exactly what you have in mind.

“The British Virgin Islands is our flagship operation and the most popular charter destination in the world”, says Josie Tucci, VP of Marketing for The Moorings. “Over the past few years we have made unprecedented investments in the marina facility and fleet in the BVI, which have all recently been completed. Whether it is your first time visiting us, or you are revisiting The Moorings for the first time in a while, we are confident guests will be pleased with the improvements welcoming them upon arrival.”

From a new watersports shop, to newly-built docks, a new on-site supermarket and remodeled hotel, there is no shortage of upgrades to experience. Also new is the option for a skipper-only charter aboard a dedicated catamaran, in addition to traditional bareboat and fully crewed options. A skipper-only charter is a great choice for anyone who wants a skipper on board to handle all the safety, operation and navigation needs—not to mention bringing in-depth local knowledge along for the ride. With a skipper-only charter, guests are in charge of their own meals. If you enjoy dining ashore at the BVI’s restaurants and bars, then a skipper-only charter can be a great choice.

“The beauty of a charter with The Moorings is that you can enjoy your vacation your way,” Tucci says. “If you want to be fully in command as a bareboater, you can do that. If you want a skipper to handle the boat for you, that’s an option too. And if you want a fully crewed package with a chef to take care of meals, we have wonderful, professional Crews on staff ready to pamper you. However you envision the perfect cruising vacation, The Moorings can make it happen.”

The Moorings flagship base at Road Town, Tortola, had to be completely rebuilt after Hurricane Irma. They took the opportunity to reimagine the base with everything you need to equip your yacht for your itinerary around the BVI. From thenew Moorings Market for provisioning food and beverages (with an online-shopping option), to the water toy rental and watersports shop run by Sail Caribbean Divers, you’ll have everything you need without having to endure an off-base excursion. Just enjoy your first night with dinner and drinks at Charlies Restaurant, featuring  a revamped menu.. There’s also a rejuvenated fleet of sailing catamarans such as the Moorings 4200, the larger Moorings 4500 and the flagship Moorings 5000, each of which won Boat of the Year honors upon launch. The power catamaran fleet now includes the three-cabin Moorings 403PC, the four-cabin 464PC and and the larger 534PC. Prefer a monohull? No problem. As many as 12 brand-new monohull yachts arrive this fall.

And, in great news for anyone traveling from the United States to the British Virgin Islands, American Airlines is now offering seasonal nonstop flights from Miami to Beef Island, Tortola. These flights will operate during the summer and winter months.

Once aboard the boat, the rest of the BVI is yours to discover—explore the magical Baths on Virgin Gorda; sip a Painkiller at the Soggy Dollar on Jost Van Dyke; and check out the Indians, one of the best snorkeling spots in the area. 

In the U.S. Virgin Islands, from The Moorings base at the Marina at Yacht Haven Grande, you can explore all that St. Thomas offers, including abundant shopping and nightlife. Then head out to explore beautiful and laid-back St. John, where you can experience the pristine beaches of Cinnamon Bay, excellent snorkeling at Leinster Bay, and even some hiking trails at Virgin Islands National Park.

Abacos, Bahamas

The Moorings base at the Abaco Beach Resort is located in Marsh Harbour, Bahamas, a central location that makes it the perfect place to start your exploration of the Abacos—a longtime favorite destination for cruising sailors. Enjoy sailing in the protected waters of the Sea of Abaco to destinations that include quaint villages such as Hope Town and Green Turtle Cay, and abundant secluded anchorages.

Exumas, Bahamas

If you’re looking for an out-islands experience, an Exumas charter might be for you. Departing from The Moorings base at Palm Cay Marina in Nassau, Bahamas, visitors can then cruise down to the Exuma Cays, a string of 365 islands and cays that stretch for 120 miles. Many sailors who have traveled the world agree that the Exumas are their favorite cruising grounds. Once you go, you will understand. From exploring the mangrove creeks of Shroud Cay and the incredible Thunderball Grotto to the friendly settlement of Black Point and colorful Staniel Cay, the Exumas offer a wide variety of experiences—and unforgettable sunsets on the Great Bahama Bank.

The Magical Med

If your dream sailing vacation includes exploring ancient ruins, villages steeped in history, and a variety of sailing conditions, a sailing vacation in the Mediterranean might be just what you’re looking for. From The Moorings bases in Italy, Greece and Croatia, you can choose the Med experience that suits you best. Looking for sun-soaked beaches, quaint tavernas and excellent scuba diving? Try a charter from Corfu in Greece. Does visiting an abundance of islands offering everything from wild, barren landscapes to historic towns and lively nightlife sound ideal? A Croatia and Dalmatian Islands charter is for you. How about a view of mountain peaks, incredible cuisine, and soaking in hot springs? Check out a sailing vacation from Sicily.

Whichever location you choose, a charter in the Med is an incredible experience. If you are looking to do a bareboat charter in one of these destinations, you will need to have an approved sailing license, such as an International Proficiency Certificate, or have passed ASA 104 (Bareboat Cruising) or US Sailing Bareboat Cruising courses. No certifications? No worries. Crewed charters are available with a captain and a chef.

And don’t worry if you can’t make up your mind about which destination you want to visit next. With so many fantastic options, it sometimes takes several charters to enjoy them all.

“Some of our guests return to The Moorings year after year, exploring new destinations, trying out new boats, and further improving their own sailing skills,” Tucci says. “The fun can be endless if you’re cruising with family and friends. These are the kinds of memories that will last a lifetime.”

For more information and to start booking your charter vacation, visit The Moorings or speak to a vacation planner directly by calling 800-416-0247.

The post Better Than Ever appeared first on Cruising World.

An atmosphere of Caribbean-inspired euphoria, unbridled enthusiasm and — in retrospect — a pinch of overconfidence blew across the cockpit of Aigue Marine, our Sunsail-chartered Beneteau 50, as we sailed from English Harbour to nearby Green Island, just off of Antigua’s eastern flank. The plan was to toss the hook and clean the boat’s ample undercarriage in preparation for the next day’s start of the 2008 edition of Antigua Sailing Week. Given that our crew all had racing experience, and given that we were competing in the regatta’s chubby-hubby bareboat fleet, we naively assumed that our competition would be soft.

Three days and numerous mid-fleet finishes later, we were quickly learning that it takes more than a scrub brush and some late-winter cabin fever to win a Caribbean bareboat ­regatta, especially with other accomplished racers gunning for the same prize. Fortunately, as we happily discovered, competition can be as stiff or relaxed as each crew chooses to make it, giving sailors of all sailcloths the opportunity to engage in fun-spirited racing on some of the world’s best racecourses.

For sailors who want to do well, however, bareboat racing ace Neil Harvey shares secrets gleaned over 20-plus years of racing — and winning — these storied events.

“Bareboats are a ­wonderful concept of racing,” says Harvey, a longtime marine-­industry veteran and world-­famous Australian ocean racer, a few days after winning the 2018 Heineken Regatta’s 10-boat-strong Bareboat 2 division aboard KHS&S Contractors, the Dufour 44 that he and Michael Cannon chartered from Dream Yacht Charters. “You can bring your family and friends — your crew doesn’t have to be rock stars, and the boats are quite comfortable to stay aboard.”

As with all sailboat racing, assembling the right crew is one of the most important pieces of any winning formula, and the key, says Harvey, is to build a core group who are complemented by other sailors of varying experience levels. “We don’t practice together at home beforehand, but we like to practice before the first day of the regatta,” says Harvey, adding that the KHS&S Contractors crew used the regatta-within-a-regatta Gill Commodore’s Cup at this year’s Heineken regatta as their warm-up.

Much like our ­bottom-scrubbing sojourn to Green Island aboard Aigue Marine, Harvey and company arrive a day or two before the regatta and carefully comb through the boat. Their checklist includes a thorough bottom scrub (taking particular care to clean the leading edges of all appendages and the keel bulb’s underside), tuning the mast and inspecting the running rigging. Here, Harvey suggests dividing the crew into “bow,” “mast” and “mid-deck/cockpit” teams that are responsible for inspecting every individual piece of equipment, ferreting out broken sheaves and chaffed halyards and sheets, taping off lifeline fittings and gates, and taping over mast-mounted cleats that could otherwise snag jib sheets.

Most charter boats are equipped with a midboom traveler, and Harvey recommends carefully rinsing out the traveler car and its bearings, track and bearing races with fresh water and dish soap, then slacking all control lines and running the car back and forth on the track to remove all salt crystals before a final freshwater rinse. “Then, I put a little bit of McLube or WD-40 in the traveler car to condition the ball bearings,” says Harvey, who also advises polishing the compass prisms on both helms.

Next, Harvey suggests pasting white electrical tape next to each of the jib tracks — port and starboard — and numbering each pin-stop hole for easy visual reference. Also, if your boat’s jib-furling line leads aft to a primary winch, Harvey suggests re-leading it from the bow through an empty slot in a cabin-top organizer to a rope clutch and then to a cabin-top winch, which allows you to shorten sail if the primary winch is otherwise occupied.

Following the rules is an important part of mastering any game, and it’s critical that multiple crewmembers have read the regatta’s notice of race and are familiar with its sailing instructions. While most Caribbean regattas are governed by the Racing Rules of Sailing and handicap each boat using the Caribbean Sailing Association’s handicap formula, some events, including the St. Maarten Heineken Regatta, employ their own bareboat rules. In all cases, it’s critical to understand the rules and penalties (such as 360- or 720-degree penalty turns), and while no one wants to be penalized and go into “the room,” Harvey suggests taping a protest flag to the backstay for fast deployment, just in case. “It’s a fabulous set of rules, and they made it even for everyone,” says Harvey about the even playing fields found in the bareboat fleets.

Once under sail and in full upwind trim, Harvey recommends marking your outhaul and halyard positions with a magic marker and then adding additional marks a few inches behind the clutch to serve as rough-trim reference points when quickly switching gears from upwind mode to ­reaching or running.

“I joke with the charter companies that I’ll be ­disappointed if the boat doesn’t come back in better condition than when we took it,” Harvey says of his pre-race setup work.

Next, the task becomes one of employing the fastest boathandling tactics. This starts, says Harvey, by backing down the boat minutes before your starting gun to remove any errant seaweed or kelp, while also ensuring that the engine’s gear shifter is in its neutral position.

Sails come next, and the first commandment of bareboat racing is never to reef the mainsail in less than 28 knots, says Harvey. “Full-batten sails with internal slugs make it almost impossible to pull the sail down without heading into the wind,” Harvey says, adding that swept-back spreaders make it extremely hard to re-hoist the main after rounding the windward mark. “Instead, it’s better to go with a full main and a [partially] rolled-up jib because this opens the slot, letting you lower the traveler in puffs.” Similarly, when pounding into bathtub-warm seas and preparing to tack, Harvey often puts four or five reefing rolls into the headsail and then unwinds this cloth on the next board.

While roller-reefing the headsail — rather than the mainsail — is fast, don’t ­forget to adjust your jib cars to achieve the correct sail shapes. Here, Harvey says, a smart move involves using the end of your jib halyard as a temporary jib sheet (running from the clew to a rail cleat) while adjusting a jib car, and to adjust the port and starboard jib cars at the same time — using the numbered tape as a fast reference — so the helmsman can tack as needed.

Carrying a full mainsail in a fresh Caribbean breeze requires active trimmers, and Harvey stations crew on the port and starboard ­traveler-control lines, which are never cleated off. This allows the crew to instantly crack the traveler off in puffs — keeping the boat on its feet and reducing weather helm — and quickly trim it to weather during lulls.

As with all sailboat ­racing, it’s important to watch the breeze and to react by “changing gears” as necessary, using controls such as sheets, outhaul and halyard tension, and movable ballast. “We have two rules when going to weather,” Harvey says. “We prefer you sit on the windward rail, but it’s OK to lean against the cabin side, and if you go below, you’d better come up with a few beers.”

Downwind tactics are eased considerably by the fact that bareboat fleets don’t use spinnakers, and Rule 49.2 of the Racing Rules of Sailing limits how far outside the lifelines crews can reach while holding sheets, but fast crews will pay close attention to the boat’s heel angle and attitude. “We’ll move two bodies to leeward [when sailing downwind],” Harvey says. “And we move all weight forward of the shrouds to get the stern out of the water.”

While spinnakers are out, sailing wing-on-wing is fast and class legal. In light to moderate airs, Harvey and his crew ease the mainsail all the way out and tie the boom to the cap shroud (using duct tape or a towel to protect it from damage), and move all crewmembers to the headsail side of the boat to help encourage the jib to fill. Also, steering 5 degrees to the lee is quick when sailing deep angles, Harvey says.

While fairly obvious, it’s important to avoid competitors’ dirty air and adverse currents, just like on any racecourse. However, Harvey points out that the equatorial current generally flows through the Caribbean in a westward direction (eventually becoming the Gulf Stream). Here, smart tacticians will monitor the difference between the vessel’s speed over water and its speed over ground, and will leverage this information.

Likewise, wave angles ­relative to the breeze are ­another important consideration, and Harvey suggests using the roller-reefing headsail to help deal with offset seas. For example, when negotiating the Anguilla Passage at the Heineken Regatta, where the seas are generally skewed a bit to the prevailing breeze, Harvey suggests putting in four or five headsail rolls when tacking into the waves, and then shaking out one or two rolls on the opposite board.

Harvey’s final pieces of ­advice are ones that we fortunately heeded aboard Aigue Marine, namely that the Caribbean sun is hot and intensely bright, especially for anyone accustomed to northern climes, so proper hydration and sun protection are critical. Consider carrying large water jugs to refill individual bottles, and definitely use strong sunscreen and SPF-rated clothing, the latter of which can be ordered with team livery.

While chartering a boat and enjoying a fantastic week of sailing at a Caribbean regatta is relatively easy (see “Charter Considerations,” above), winning is another matter. Still, Harvey and his core group of “nuclears” have used this playbook to collect more than their fair share of racecourse hardware over the past 20-plus years.

“It’s the most enjoyable keelboat racing I’ve ever done,” Harvey says, adding that he often optimizes his experience by tagging on a few days of cruising before or after racing. “And it’s an affordable way to do a major Caribbean regatta.”

David Schmidt is CW’s ­electronics editor.

Charter Considerations

Given bareboat racing’s popularity, Harvey recommends booking your reservations as early as possible to secure your spot on the starting line. Josie Tucci, the vice president of sales and marketing at Travelopia Marine (owners of The Moorings and Sunsail), advises that prospective customers must provide a sailing resume detailing their qualifications, pay a nonrefundable race-supplement fee, put down a refundable damage deposit and obtain the charter company’s permission to go racing.

“We’ve had fleets participating in the BVI Spring Regatta, St. Maarten Heineken Regatta and Antigua Sailing Week since their inception,” Tucci says. “We have a big contingent of active customers who enjoy the racing circuit in the Caribbean and can’t bring their own boats down but who still want to enjoy the awesome breezes, sunshine and turquoise waters. It’s nonspinnaker racing, so it’s accessible for all and a lot of fun.” Finally, Tucci says, “If you book your race package through us, we’ll handle registration with the regatta organizers for you.”

The post Bareboat Racing Basics appeared first on Cruising World.

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The post Chartering in Panama appeared first on Cruising World.

The mantra for this trip is that far-away blizzards do have their upsides, especially when they blow while you’re exploring new places. We’d barely made it halfway through our crewed charter aboard the Trade Winds Explorer in the Bocas del Toro archipelago of Panama when word trickled in: “Big snow coming back home.”

Wake up to emerald waters, swaying palms, and 90-degree heat, and news like that may not sink in at first. (Since, though, I’ve come to appreciate the term snowbird.) We were having a great time, so it was easy to ignore the impending doom.

On this charter by Trade Winds (trade-winds.com), a company that features club memberships, fractional ownership, as well as per-cabin bookings, we never did spy the three-toed sloth, as I predicted in my previous blog, but nobody cared.

_Click here to see more photos from the trip!_

Our group of six—the Linsdells, a family of four, including twelve-year-old twin girls, and a couple, yours truly and her other half, Capt. Rick Martell—had had a busy week. We snorkeled in the Hanging Gardens, a spot rich with healthy marine life. We’d roamed the 30-acre Green Acres cacao plantation owned by Dave and Linda Cerutti, and sampled their organic chocolate. We had great sailing, enjoying 6-knot reaches in southeast wind. We’d kayaked from dawn to sunset in waters laden both with chubby starfish and tiny crabs. We took naps and read books while swinging in hammocks strung from the main boom of the sturdy, 70-foot cat.

And we giggled and guffawed when the twins entertained us with their nighttime dance shows, bouncing up and down on the foredeck trampolines. One afternoon I even managed to squeeze in a visit with the researchers at the Bocas Tropical Research Station, one of 13 locations the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute operates in Panama, among its other worldwide locales.

Through it all, we dined on beautifully prepared meals morning, noon, and night. Unbelievably, we had the cruising ground entirely to ourselves, save for the rare sighting of a local in a dugout canoe or a passing sailboat off in the distance.

Fortune was still smiling on us the final night. We’d tucked back into the marina where the charter started, near Bocas Town on Islas Colon; it just so happened that Carnival was revving into high gear. As we wound our way through the streets on a hunt for dinner, the devils parade was coming through the main drag. The spectacle of masked, feathered black and red devils prancing about, shaking tiny bells on their arms and legs, and “whipping” spectators is a carnival time memory I’ll keep forever.

Fortune is still the operative word here, because the end of this charter was starting to feel more like the end of a chapter, not the end of a story. As the snow piled high and the wind blew hard and flights to the U.S. were cancelled, we regrouped and cashed in our good karma chips. We’d made it from the airport at Bocas to the international airport at Panama City, and that was as far as we’d go for the weekend.

Instead of worrying like crazy or guilt-tripping ourselves, we let nature takes its course while we took in the sights. How many times in life do you find yourself stuck in paradise? If it happens to you, my advice is simple: Stay put!

So, on Saturday, instead of taking a flight to Providence, Rhode Island, we landed a room at a hotel on the scenic Amador Causeway, near the Pacific entrance to the Panama Canal, the Bridge of the Americas, and last but not least, the Balboa Yacht Club. Sunday morning, Rick and I hopped a taxi from the Causeway, which was constructed to prevent the Pacific entrance to the canal from silting up, and hung out at the yacht club.

There we met Bill Nokes and Barbara Wade, crew of the Gulfstar 41 Someday. Over beers, they told us about the nearby cruising grounds on the Pacific side. Hailing from Brookings, Oregon, Bill and Barbara prefer the Pacific side to the Caribbean side of Panama, and their argument was a compelling one, though I can’t complain about the experiences we’d just had in the protected Bocas archipelago. After all, the mantra of this trip remains: Blizzards and chartering in new places do have their upsides.

Click here to see pictures from the trip!

The post Sailing In Panama and on the Run from Nemo of the North appeared first on Cruising World.

The Moorings Annapolis

The Moorings offers partial and full-term bareboat and skippered trips via sail and power out of its new base at Annapolis Landing Marina. I had a chance to check out the fleet of mono and multi hulls and shore facilities, which include a restaurant, showers, water taxi, and pool, during the recent 2012 U.S. Sailboat Show.

Choices in boats range from 39- to 40-feet or longer; itineraries run from three days to multi week throughout the largest estuary in the United States, a world-renowned destination approximately 200 miles long. The bay offers consistent southwesterly winds averaging from 5-20 knots.

Monohulls available for charter include the Moorings 40.3 (40-foot, three-cabin/2-head) and Moorings 42CC (42-foot, 4-cabin/2-head center cockpit), both by Beneteau. The new Moorings 3900 catamaran and Moorings 393 Power catamaran also join the Annapolis fleet, both featuring three-cabins and 2 heads, generator, and air conditioning.

For details contact the company (www.moorings.com).

The post Chesapeake Bay Sailing: Short on Time? Charter for a Few Days appeared first on Cruising World.

Grenada

I have one foot in the primitive age and one foot in the modern age,” announced Telfor Bedeau. As brown and sinewy as the branch at which he was hacking, Telfor swiftly fashioned a walking stick, then slid his machete back into a sheath slung across his chest. The swashbuckling machete stood in sharp contrast to the bright plastic “jelly” shoes and cornflower-blue raincoat that completed his outfit.

Telfor was our energetic guide on a trek through Grenada’s Grand Étang National Park. He’s 72 years old and lives in a hand-hewn home with no electricity—but he uses a cellphone. Well-versed on politics and current events, he reads ardently—by candlelight.

His self-observation reflected the great dichotomy of Grenada itself: its refreshing span of old and new. Wiped out by a hurricane eight years ago, Grenada was restored with modern insight and infrastructure. Grenada is one of the most diverse, clean, friendly, and gorgeous places to which I’ve sailed—and I haven’t even mentioned the food yet.

My friends and I timed our sojourn to the Spice Isle, as Grenada is sometimes known, to coincide with several sailing events, but first there was some rest and relaxation on which to catch up. A relative newcomer to the bucket-list of destinations serviced by The Moorings, the Grenada base promised countless islands, sandy beaches, historic sites, rum distilleries, spice plantations, waterfalls, and national parks. Given that description, I hesitated before our plan—R&R might have to give way to A&A: action and adventure.

It was dark when we landed at Maurice Bishop International Airport and taxied to The Moorings base at Camper & Nicholsons’ Port Louis Marina. Arriving at night, I appreciated the broad, even, lit docks at the marina, which was a manicured, secure setting with restaurants, shops, a pool, and soup-to-nuts yacht services.
The gentle slap of halyards and groaning of dock lines were interrupted much too early the next morning by the hubbub of sailors arriving at the marina for a regatta. As racers noisily jostled with sails, duffel bags, and cases of water and beer, we readied for our own trip.

Historic St. George’s Harbour has two forks, the lagoon that lies to the south, where we were, and the Carenage, which lies to the north. Named for the practice of careening—beaching ships for maintenance—this sheltered thumb of water is edged, like a Monopoly board, with bright boxy houses, municipal buildings, and churches. We steered our catamaran to follow the procession of raceboats through this storybook setting.

“Awful light breeze for a regatta,” I thought, but as we peeked out of the bay the wind hit us square on the beam. Our beefy Moorings 4600 shook it off and took it in stride. We reached out to watch the race starts on Grand Anse Bay, then angled around Point Salines. After rounding the point, we bounded into huge swells and a breeze generated by the pesky squalls that tumbleweed across the Atlantic. It was a delightful frolic, but once we’d had our fill, we ducked into True Blue Bay.

Grenada is called the Spice Isle because of the many spices grown here, but I like to think it’s also because the island is shaped like a big jalapeño. Grenada is 21 miles long and a fat 12 miles at the middle, and its southern coast squeezes to a tip pointing west. Along this bottom curve are several excellent hurricane holes that feature narrow, south-facing entrances, hilly perimeters, and plenty of mangroves on which to lash. And because the island lies at 12 degrees north, it’s technically off course for all but the most deviant hurricanes.

But that was the least of our worries on our midwinter sojourn.

We enjoyed the peaceful solitude of Port Egmont, the nightly specials and dancing at True Blue Bay’s Dodgy Dock, and a get-together at Roger’s Barefoot Bar, on Hog Island. Our days were a shameful succession of sampling anchorages, cuisine, and local beers, with Carib lager beating Stag two to one in our group.

Rested up, we decided to tackle the island’s interior.

We tied up at True Blue Bay Resort and Marina and embarked on our own adventures. Grenada offers many diversions: You can swim, snorkel, dive, jet boat, hike, bike, fish, and kayak. You can play golf, cricket, or tennis. You can even go tubing on a river. I can’t image a better destination for a family with kids—or for the young-at-heart.

Inexpensive buses can take you almost anywhere on the island, but we took advantage of the knowledge and charm of one of Grenada’s excellent tour guides, Roger Augustine. He’s famous for appearing in the tourism ads, and it seems that all 100,000 residents know him. Wherever we went, lovely ladies chorused, “Hello, Roger!”

From St. George’s, which is Grenada’s capital and largest city, we climbed through the belly of the island up nearly 2,000 feet, where the winding road is carved out of ruddy soil and the high banks sprout enormous tufts of cabbage fern. The air cooled, the sky turned to gray, and we found ourselves in a lush, green rain forest that reminded me of the movie Jurassic Park.

Named for the large lake at its center, Grand Étang National Park encompasses 3,000 acres of rain forest, and it was here that we enjoyed a morning hike under the guidance of Telfor Bedeau. Along the way, he pointed out unusual plants and their medicinal uses, occasionally peeling off a curl of fragrant bark or crumbling an aromatic leaf in the palm of my hand. Although elsewhere on the island it was the dry season, which runs from January to May, a perpetual heavenly mist presides at altitude. We paused as a pair of monkeys swung through trees thick with moss. Finally, we reached the lake itself, which has formed in a volcanic crater.

According to local superstitions, this marshy lake is bottomless and possessed by a spirit. “The believers think deities live in the lakes, and this one here has a lady,” explained Telfor. “They come, beat drums, have rituals, and cook the best food and bring it alongside the lake.” But no one swims, for fear of angering the fickle spirit Mamadjo.

But the rascal Telfor couldn’t leave things alone, and he plotted to measure the depth of the lake. “They said I was going to interfere with their goddess and predicted all sorts of bad things would happen, and I would get swallowed up in the bottomless hole. I said, ‘OK, that would be a good way to go. No problem!’”

With a lead line he measured the depth of the entire lake. “Eighteen feet!” he said, laughing. “They didn’t like that.” He shook his head. “I graduated from believing in these things for a long time before, but I read a lot, and I realize these things are just mythology. But some people believe in it.”

We picnicked at the edge of Grand Étang, disturbed by neither spirits nor marauding monkeys, then headed back down the hill. Cradled and secure in our spacious catamaran that night, we slept well, cooled by a gusty breeze that set the rig vibrating.

Interest in eating locally grown food is nothing new in Grenada. Fertile volcanic soil and a perfect climate have combined for centuries to produce all types of fruits, vegetables, and spices. So the next day, our tours took a culinary turn, and we looped around the 133-square-mile island visiting the historic Dougaldston Spice Boucan and Belmont Estate, the Gouyave Nutmeg Processing Station, the Grenada Chocolate Factory, and the River Antoine rum distillery, sampling delicious organic chocolates and fiery rums along the way.

Island nightlife was casual, with a convivial atmosphere in which locals and visitors mix it up. At the jammed bar that evening, I accepted a dance with a gargantuan man with Don King hair. Once on the dance floor, with a chance to survey my partner, I realized he was a cab driver outfitted to advertise his trade. He wore a taxi-yellow polo shirt stretched over his big barrel chest, baggy, knee-length yellow shorts, yellow high-tops, and yellow socks with red stripes. As we merrily danced to the beat, I had to make a concession to myself: “Yes, I’m dancing with Ronald McDonald. Well, this is a first!”

The next morning, my humility still in check, we pointed our catamaran back toward St. George’s. Under full sail, with the wind and seas at our stern, it was a glorious romp that ended too soon.

But we were eager to watch the annual workboat regatta at Grand Anse Beach. Entrants from fishing villages throughout Grenada, Carriacou, and Petite Martinique compete in stout wooden sailboats painted vivid colors, and the races start right at the surf line. The weekend was a lively carnival of food, drink, music, and people-watching—on top of the thrills and spills of the races.

Afterward, a long stroll down the strand took us to the Coconut Beach Restaurant where owners Auntie Pat and Scratch greeted us. There were but three choices for lunch—fish, chicken, or lambi—with sides of sweet potato, rice, or a mysterious vegetable called christophine. Curious, I ordered the unfamiliar curried lambi and christophine, and I was presented with a mountain of melt-in-your-mouth strips of spiced conch and what I know as chayote.

There were clusters of picnic tables at the water’s edge, but we tucked inside beneath a lazy ceiling fan. By this point in the trip, my inner Grenadian “Spice Girl” had emerged, barefoot and bronzed and wrapped in a bright sarong. My hair was marching to the beat of its own steel drummer as I enjoyed the rhythm of the islands: the quick beat of the music and the slow pace of life.

We embarked again from St. George’s, this time sailing up the west coast. Our earlier destinations had been more cruiser gunkholes, but we found a decidedly different flavor on the Caribbean side as we sailed past clusters of modest homes and fishing villages. Sweeping across Grand Mal Bay, we approached the renowned underwater sculpture garden at Molinère Bay. This unique art collection contains 65 concrete sculptures and is both a tourist attraction and an artificial reef.

The cove itself was gorgeous, and both here and around the corner at Dragon Bay, where the jungle tumbled from breathtaking heights down to the turquoise sea, there were free moorings.

We plunked in and began our treasure hunt for sculptures. Some were moving: a rendition of Christ the Redeemer, the statue that stands above Rio de Janeiro, a still life, a reclined nude. Others were bizarre: a she-devil, a bicyclist, a man sitting at a desk. They were covered with corals and sponges and circled by indifferent fish.

Around the next point was Flamingo Bay, said to have excellent snorkeling as well, then picturesque Beausejour Bay, and, ultimately, our stop for the night, Halifax Harbour.

We’d been warned away from anchoring here because the garbage dump is just inland, and in the wrong breeze, the aroma and flies are said to be disagreeable. But all we could see was the forested slopes, and all we could smell was our chicken on the barbie.

For the most part, these idyllic anchorages were empty. Many cruisers we encountered in St. George’s were using Grenada simply as a jumping-off point for St. Vincent and the Grenadines.

I was dumbfounded.

Grenada is the tropical island you’ve always dreamed of. You can swim in gin-colored seas in the morning, then rinse the salt from your hair in a cool waterfall in the afternoon. Read in the shade of a palm tree by day, dance under the stars by night. It’s warm, temperate, and clean. The people are sincerely friendly, hard working, and proud. You can drink the water. You can even use U.S. dollars. As I watched the sunset from our lonely anchorage, I could only wonder: Why don’t more sailors come here?

On our final night, we dined at Patrick’s Local Homestyle Restaurant, a spartan concrete roadside eatery decorated with Christmas lights. We sat at a rickety table; a fluttering shower curtain served as a screen. Chef Sandra brought us dish after dish of delectable island specialties: green banana salad, a cornmeal-and-okra dish called coo-coo, lambi calypso, pumpkin, and ginger pork—18 in all! She stood shyly against the cinderblocks when we urged her out of the tiny kitchen to applaud her endeavors.

What awed me the most, in our no-stone-left-unturned cruise of Grenada, was the warmth and pride of the islanders. The service was superb, and people were kindly. And did I mention that there was no litter? And that the breeze was always blasting? And that the food was amazing? I could go on and on in my praise of the mind-boggling variety of natural beauty, sport, fun, and adventure offered by this speck of a nation. But maybe you should just sample some of Grenada’s spice of life for yourself.

Betsy Crowfoot has been writing about yacht racing, water sports, and the ocean environment since 1995. Based in coastal California, she’s a frequent traveler who loves bluewater sailboat racing and catching fish at dawn.

The post The Spice of Life: Charter Grenada appeared first on Cruising World.

Footloose

The results of the 2012 Cruising World web-based poll about bareboat companies are in, and for those who make a living catering to the whims and desires of demanding cruisers, the news is good. Our exclusive survey shows that sailors overall have positive experiences on their bareboat charters and that most of them would go sailing again with the companies they rated.

The poll—a query about boats, bases, companies, and services—is the magazine’s first formal foray into online feedback about the sailing-vacation industry since the last poll CW conducted in print, a dozen years ago.

No other marine-industry media outlet, whether print- or web-based, has conducted such a targeted pursuit of customer satisfaction with regards to the bareboat-charter industry. (CW also conducts an annual study of boatbuilders and charter companies, State of the North American Sailing Industry.)

Publishing consultant Walker Communications conducted the recent poll in cooperation with the magazine. The survey remained live online from the third week of February through May 15, 2012; it was promoted in Cruising World both in print and online through editorial coverage and in-house advertising. And it drew hundreds of responses and comments reflecting all levels of satisfaction—including, in some cases, a total lack thereof.

While some respondents jokingly “complained” that they still have trouble adjusting to “island time,” tropical islands remain a preferred destination, with the Pacific Northwest and its majestic scenic backdrop ranking next.

From Florida to South America, including the Caribbean, the Gulf of Mexico, the Bahamas, and Baja, survey takers sailed with companies including Barecat Charters, B.V.I. Yacht Charters, The Catamaran Company, Conch Charters, Cruise Abaco, CYOA Yacht Charters, Dream Yacht Charter, DSL Yachting, Footloose Sailing Charters, Horizon Yacht Charters, Island Yacht Charters, The Moorings, Pensacola Yacht Charters, Pro Valor Charters, Sailing Florida, Southwest Florida Yachts, Sunreef Yachts Charter, Sunsail, TMM Yacht Charters, Voyage Charters, VPM America, and Yachting Vacations.

In the Pacific Northwest, respondents took trips with ABC Yacht Charters, Anacortes Yacht Charters, Cooper Boating Center, Desolation Sound Yacht Charters, Nanaimo Yacht Charters, NW Explorations, San Juan Sailing, and Ship Harbor Yacht Charters.

Charter activity was tallied as well from other regions, including the Northeast/Mid-Atlantic, the Great Lakes, California, the Mediterranean, the Pacific Ocean, and the Indian Ocean.

In some worldwide fleets, catamarans now have an established place next to monohulls, though the latter still attract the most sailors overall. In general, respondents gave a high rating to the value of the boat for the money spent, whether dealing with top-end, boutique, or budget-level fleets.

Compared with CW‘s survey in 2000, overall satisfaction with all aspects of the charter experience—rated on a scale from 1 to 5, with 5 as excellent and 1 as poor—has climbed. Average scores for service, boats, and bases inched up from the mid 3s to 4 and higher, a notable increase.

The more than 650 online respondents gave these average ratings to aspects of the charter experience:

• Knowledge level of company representatives: 4.6
• Handling of deposits, contracts, payments, and insurance options: 4.7
• Overall satisfaction with travel arrangements, if the company handled them: 4.4
• Charter base: 4.4
• Orientation, chart briefing, and onboard checkout: 4.4
• On-water customer service: 4.2
• Provisioning service, if the company handled it: 4.0
• Equipment: 4.3
• Systems: 4.3
• Overall condition and cleanliness of boat: 4.4
• Overall value of charter experience: 4.5
• Overall value of boat for money spent: 4.3

Respondents, asked about their charter activities over the past two years, had mostly taken either one or two trips. Some respondents had taken three to five trips, and some even more.

The most popular month to go sailing on charter was July, followed consecutively by August, February, and May. These time periods reflect peak sailing seasons as well as popular discounts in shoulder and low seasons, in addition to summertime school breaks.

Monohull charters outnumbered cat charters by two to one; half of the survey takers chartered boats measuring from 40 to 49 feet; 40 percent chose boats measuring 30 to 39 feet; about 10 percent took out boats measuring 50 to 69 feet in length.

Nearly 30 percent of the respondents had a total of four people on board; some 25 percent had a crew of two; 16 percent took six people in total; nearly 12 percent brought a boatload of eight. Just less than 7 percent went with five sailors; 6 percent sailed with three; more than 3 percent had 7 aboard. What does it all mean? That chartering remains a great vacation for couples, families, and groups of friends.

Charterers seem to set sail aboard slightly used boats, with 46 percent sailing boats that were two to five years old. Another 24 percent chartered boats five to 10 years old. Sailors who took boats that were less than two years old made up 19 percent of the respondents; those who sailed boats 10 to less than 15 years old made up 6 percent. For the most part, it would seem—despite a down economy in recent years—that charter companies are doing a good job of moving boats through their ranks and upgrading their fleets.

Sailors, we know, are an outspoken bunch, and those surveyed didn’t disappoint. Respondents, more than half of whom were repeat charterers with the companies on which they commented, provided complimentary as well as pointed feedback about their experiences and their treatment, with detailed explanations of how companies, their fleets, and their staffs influenced their sailing vacations. (For more on this, see “What Could Possibly Go Wrong?,” sidebar.) Larger companies with global fleets earned marks for consistency and for access to far-flung cruising grounds. Respondents praised smaller operations for attention to detail and personalized service.

Budget-level companies were lauded for keeping fleets functional. “Yes, the boats are older, ” wrote one survey taker, “but still newer than my 1978 classic plastic I sail all summer!”

Another commented, “I’m a critical consumer, and I wouldn’t change a thing!”
Worth noting is that more than 88 percent of all respondents indicated that they’d charter again with the company that they rated in this survey. More than 6 percent said once was enough, with a little more than 5 percent saying that they weren’t sure/didn’t know if they’d go back for second helpings from the company they’d critiqued.

Respondents were asked to select one of four marine charities to receive a donation from CW in their behalf for taking the time to complete the survey. From a group that included Virgin Islands Search and Rescue, the National Hospice Regatta Alliance, Sailors for the Sea, and the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s Leukemia Cup Regatta, survey takers gave the most support to the Leukemia Cup Regatta. The magazine has made a donation to the group.

So the sailors have weighed in. They’re keen on their charter vacations, and they consider the money well spent. In return, they expect support, knowledge, and service from the charter base and its staff, and they expect a boat that works well as they explore the islands with friends and family. Is that too much to ask? We at CW think not, and we thank the survey respondents for taking the time to clue in the rest of us and to keep all of us on our toes.

Cruising World deputy editor Elaine Lembo writes about chartering.

The post The 2012 <em>Cruising World</em> Charter Poll appeared first on Cruising World.

San Francisco Charter

Just in time for summer 2012—The Moorings will offer sail, power, and skippered charters aboard monohulls and multihulls from Annapolis Landing Marina, near downtown Annapolis, Maryland, starting mid-May 2012.

And Sunsail opens its San Francisco base at Sausalito Yacht Harbor in June, with a new matched fleet of Sunsail First 40s. Racing, corporate hospitality & events, team building and incentive programs, bareboat and skippered charters, as well as a sailing school with courses based on the American Sailing Association curriculum are available.

The opening of the new Sunsail base is timed to events surrounding the 34th America’s Cup. The 2012-2013 America’s Cup World Series runs August 11-19, 2012, and August 27-September 2, 2012. The Louis Vuitton AC Challenger Series runs July 4-September 1, 2013; the 34th America’s Cup is September 7-22, 2013.

The opening of The Moorings base in Annapolis is meant to expand accessable seasonal sailing options for U.S. clients with boats in the company’s worldwide fleet as well as attract new owners. A key aspect of the new incentive program includes offering owners unlimited access to their yachts. The Moorings also plans to open additional U.S. bases in Anacortes, Washington, and Miami, Florida. For details about base openings and ownership programs, contact the companies.

The post Pick a U.S. Coast and Go Sailing appeared first on Cruising World.

May 2012 Charter Notes

Book a charter with Pensacola Yacht Charters, celebrating 10 years in business in 2012, and you’ll earn a 10-percent discount off the full price if you mention that you saw this offer in Cruising World. The company’s Beneteau fleet, which includes a new Beneteau 331, is available to vacation sailors eager to explore the more than 300 miles of cruising grounds that stretch from New Orleans to Apalachicola, Florida, and encompass 150 miles of national seashore and state parks. For details, contact the company.

Head North in Summer
White Raven, a Cavalier 45 offshore cruising cutter designed by renowned New Zealand naval architect Laurie Davidson, is available for guided, women-only, and bareboat charters in the San Juan Islands of the state of Washington.

Weeklong trips with a professional skipper introduce sailors to the delights of these Pacific Northwest islands. With sleeping accommodations for up to five people, the charters are ideal for two couples or a family. Meals are served on board and at local restaurants.

An all-women’s cruise runs from September 16 to 22, 2012, featuring captains Barbara Marrett and Carol Hasse. Marrett is a Cruising World contributing editor with thousands of bluewater miles, and Hasse is a well-known sailmaker and instructor. The boat is also available for bareboat charter to experienced sailors on a weekly basis.

For details, contact the Orange Coast College School of Sailing and Seamanship.

For those who prefer cruising by trawler, NW Explorations offers guided flotillas aboard Grand Banks trawlers through the San Juans, along the British Columbia coastline, and in the waters off Southeastern Alaska. Slots are available for portions of the five-part flotilla called the Mother Goose throughout the summer of 2012 as well as for a flotilla to British Columbia’s Desolation Sound set for September 22 to October 7, 2012. For details, contact the company.

Power Cats Added to Fleet
MarineMax Vacations, which recently opened a charter base with 13 Dufour monohulls in Tortola, in the British Virgin Islands, will add 10 MarineMax 382 powercats to the fleet by June 1, 2012. The powercat is a customized Aquila 38 designed by the renowned naval architect team of Morrelli & Melvin. For details, contact the company.

Kiteboarding Sailors, Take Note
Kite Caribbean Catamaran Expeditions offers kiteboarding aboard Pluto, a 47-foot Nautitech crewed cat, in destinations throughout the Caribbean, including the British Virgin Islands, St. Martin and Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, and St. Vincent and the Grenadines.

Each expedition is based on a seven-night itinerary for groups of four to eight passengers. For schedules and other details, contact Kite Caribbean.

The post Florida Charters and Caribbean Kiteboarding appeared first on Cruising World.

Let’s Go Sailing

When I stepped aboard a sailboat for the very first time almost 15 years ago, I was amazed and overwhelmed by—well, everything. Putting a new vocabulary into practice, safely directing the boat to where you want to go, returning vessel and crew to the dock at the end of the day—these were only the early challenges. For sailors who are interested in heading offshore or on an extended cruise, the required skill set is large and varied: navigation, boat and engine maintenance, communications, weather prediction, route planning, provisioning—the list goes on.

In the days of yore, if a prospective cruiser wanted to gain skills in these areas, the choice was pretty much limited to the School of Hard Knocks. These days, fortunately, that’s not the only school available, and no matter where you’re starting from or what your goals are, you can find a sailing school that’s right for you.

Goal: Bareboat Charter
Many sailing schools offer a “learn-to-bareboat” type of class that can often take you from landlubber to sailor in a week. The classes are typically based on American Sailing Association or US Sailing plans of study and include basic sailing, coastal cruising, and bareboat-charter instruction. The coursework is usually quite intense because there’s plenty of ground to cover. Once a student has completed a course, testing for certification is an option.

Steve and Doris Colgate’s Offshore Sailing School has been perfecting this model for years, and their Fast Track to Cruising course is the school’s most popular. No experience is necessary to enroll in this course, and the first two days are spent learning to sail aboard a Colgate 26, the school’s training sailboat. Students then spend the next five days aboard a 43- to 50-foot monohull or cruising catamaran to cover the coursework in Basic Cruising and Bareboat Cruising. The real test, however, comes at the end of the week, when the students take the boat out for 24 hours without the instructor. “I really think the last day was my favorite part of the class,” says Offshore Sailing School student Tom Huntington. “The other two students and I took the boat out on our own, and we had to decide on an anchorage, make dinner aboard, reef the sails in bad weather, and understand the varying depths while navigating the Intracoastal Waterway. This really helped to solidify the previous four days of coursework.”

Photo: Courtesy of Offshore Sailing School

Florida Sailing & Cruising School, in North Fort Myers, Florida, offers something similar. “Since people are so short on time these days, our most popular course is the five-day class,” says owner Barb Hansen. “It’s an intensive course that takes students from the basic sailing course through the basic coastal-cruising level and finally ends with the bareboat-charter class. After they complete the course successfully, I also recommend that people start to charter or go out on boats with friends to get as much hands-on experience as possible.”

There’s plenty to consider when deciding which sailing school is right for you, including location, the boats used for instruction, and class size. “The top schools provide sufficient classroom time to understand sailing principles but maximize time on the water,” says Captain Dave Bello of Fair Wind Sailing School. “They also keep class size low to limit the student-to-instructor ratio.”

Photo: Fair Wind Sailing School

Be sure to keep your goals in mind when choosing a sailing school. If your immediate goal is to bareboat charter in the Virgin Islands, consider taking a course there on a boat similar to what you’d like to charter. If your goal is to go cruising on a catamaran or to improve your racing skills, there are courses for that, too.

Most sailing schools offer certifications from either US Sailing or the A.S.A. In general, charter companies in the United States and the Caribbean don’t require certification, but it may be required on your sailing résumé in other global destinations. “We ask customers to fill in a sailing résumé online, and we rate their ability,” says Josie Tucci of Sunsail. “However, bareboat certification such as A.S.A. 103/104 or Offshore’s Fast Track to Cruising and US Sailing’s Bareboat Certification will allow someone to charter from us, too.”

Photo: Courtesy of Sunsail

John Alofsin of J World adds, “What’s most important is to select a school and a course that will get you the real skills you need in order to daysail, charter, or cruise. If you want to go through the certification process during that course, great! But the piece of paper shouldn’t be the goal. When a charter company says, ‘Let’s go for a checkout sail,’ you should be very prepared for this.”

Some sailing schools also provide courses specifically for women, couples, or families. This might be a good option if you’re planning to cruise with your spouse or kids to give everyone a chance to learn to work as a team. Womanship, a sailing school based in Annapolis, Maryland, “brings women aboard to gain real skills and the confidence of proving to themselves, step by practical step, that they know what to do and when and—more important—why,” says owner Suzanne Pogell.

_ Photo: Fair Wind Sailing School_

For a real sailing confidence builder, never underestimate time in the saddle. “While courses are great,” says Mollie Hagar of Modern Sailing School, based in Sausalito, California, “it’s what you do between courses that make you a confident and competent sailor. It’s pretty easy to sail anywhere when you have an instructor on board. It’s when they’re not on board that a sailor’s confidence has room to grow.”

Goal: Bluewater Sailing
If you’re ready to bring it to the next level, consider taking a course that teaches the skills you’ll need for sailing down the coast or across an ocean.

These courses typically range from three- to four-day liveaboard classes for coastal cruising to a week or more for offshore passagemaking. These classes aren’t for novices, and if you’re seeking certification, most schools require that you have all the prerequisite coursework completed and/or significant time at the helm before taking the class.

“Often times, when a sailor has a lot of experience, they’re not interested in the certification as much as they’re interested in gaining advanced skills,” says Hagar.

If you’re climbing the certification ladder, advanced courses usually include some combination of coastal navigation, advanced coastal cruising, and celestial navigation, all of which you may be required to complete before taking an offshore-passagemaking certification course. These advanced courses introduce students to passage planning, navigation, night sailing, watchkeeping, provisioning, and sailing in adverse conditions.

Modern Sailing School conducts a program called Adventure Sailing that offers real, hands-on experience in such cruising destinations as the South Pacific and Southeast Asia in which students are involved in every aspect of the passage. “Our most advanced courses are taught on our overseas Adventure Sailing trips,” says Hagar. “And, you don’t need to be a total expert to go on an Adventure Sailing trip. I typically advise people to have basic skills, as this will make the trip much more rewarding, but a lifetime of experience isn’t required. Having said that, there are a few select trips that we do that include overnight passages. Students on these trips are expected to take a night watch and should have the foundational experience to do so.”

For 22 years, John Neal and Amanda Swan Neal have been offering offshore-passagemaking training through Mahina Expeditions. The courses are intense; they’re designed for experienced sailors who really want a taste of serious cruising before heading out on their own. “Our goal is to have our graduates, following the expedition, ready to circumnavigate on their own boats,” says John Neal. “Of the 1,100 graduates from our expeditions, each year we meet several out cruising the world on their own boats. That’s exciting!”

Goal: Fill in the Blanks
One of the things that most sailors love about sailing is that there’s always something more to learn. If there’s a specific area in which you need to improve—say, docking—then consider taking a skill-specific clinic or attending a seminar. Many schools offer classes and clinics covering such topics as spinnakers, sail repair, and anchoring.

In addition, you can usually find free seminars that are offered at boat shows throughout the year and periodically through such organizations as the Seven Seas Cruising Association.
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Click here to find out more about choosing a sailing school.

Offshore Sailing School founder Doris Colgate shares her tips for finding the best classes here.

The post Let’s Go Sailing! appeared first on Cruising World.