3-5 day liveaboard cruise/sail - suggestions?

[17th Hole]

We're planning our next trip back to the rock and were thinking of doing 5-7 days on the island and then 3-5 days on a sailboat around the VI. I know I've seen some of you report on this so I was wondering if you had any suggestions. We love to snorkel, explore, eat good food and drink (you know, the basics). Thanks for the help!

[Diana2]

My advise is the to the boat days first and then the time on the island. It always takes me a day or two to stop 'rockin' when I get off a charter, that's why I suggest you do it in that order.

[mrscaptainjay]

Do you want to do a bareboat or with a captain? You could charter a bareboat and then hire a captain for $125 a day (I think that's the price). Check out CYOA's website for a bareboat and they can hook you up with a captain. http://www.cyoacharters.com/?gclid=CKbf ... 7QodVHm4-w

Or you could charter with Forever Young out of Red Hook. Their price includes a captain, chef, food, drinks, very nice couple.
http://www.interlinesail.com/st_thomas_ ... _fleet.htm

[17th Hole]

Thanks for the responses so far! We're not looking to spend too much money, so maybe a private charter wouldn't be the way to go. I was wondering if there were any ships that took out small groups (maybe 6-12 people) for a couple days out around the islands. Kind of like a mini-cruise/sampler-plate sort of thing. We'd like to visit some of the other islands but not have to go home at the end of the day and just sleep on the boat wherever we are.

[Diana2]

I don't think what you're looking for is something you're going to find on the cheap. I'd say if you can't afford the do a private charter then you're best bet is to rent a villa and do a couple of day trip on a boat while you're there. There really isn't a small live-aboard arrangment like you're thinking of.
Have you checked into the Windjammer cruise ships. I've seen them sailing around in the BVI but I don't know what kind of packages they offer. I'd think they'd be pretty cheap these days with the economy the way it is. Just a thought.

[Diana2]

Here's a website for Windjammer. http://www.windjammercruises.com/us-bri ... slands.htm It looks like their cruises are 6 days but the prices are pretty good. Check it out.

[cptnkirk]

Hey 17th glad to see ya back around I got nothin for ya but I don't think Windjammer is in business anymore.

[sailorgirl]

We did a sunset sail with Captian Larry Fries on our honeymoon in August 2005. I can't recall now whether it was the 36' or the 42'. We were his last gig that season before he put the boat into its Hurricane Hole and headed north. He was a pleasure to sail with.

[Diana2]

Oops!! Sorry about the Windjammer bum steer. I did not know that the Windjammer's were out of business. I thought that we saw their ship over at Jost last year when we were on STJ but it may have been a couple of years ago.

[mrscaptainjay]

We did a sunset sail with Captian Larry Fries on our honeymoon in August 2005. I can't recall now whether it was the 36' or the 42'. We were his last gig that season before he put the boat into its Hurricane Hole and headed north. He was a pleasure to sail with.

Larry Fries is the Forever Young sail that I was talking about. He and his wife Betty are awesome. You will have a good time. They will also do short trips, like 2 or 3 days, you pick how many days and where you want to go.

[Exit Zero]

You might want to look into the 3 masted ARABELLA - she take small groups / by the cabin on shorter trips in the Caribbean. www.cruisearabella.com

[sailorgirl]

We did a sunset sail with Captian Larry Fries on our honeymoon in August 2005. I can't recall now whether it was the 36' or the 42'. We were his last gig that season before he put the boat into its Hurricane Hole and headed north. He was a pleasure to sail with.

Larry Fries is the Forever Young sail that I was talking about. He and his wife Betty are awesome. You will have a good time. They will also do short trips, like 2 or 3 days, you pick how many days and where you want to go.

Very nice people indeed. Larry and his wife actually headed north just after our sail and he captained a schooner in the Mayor's Cup race here in New York that September, where several of my friends crewed other boats.

[execubob]

There's some recommendations at http://www.usvibroker.com