British Virgin Islands - catamaraning it :o)

Connie · Post by **Connie** » Sat Apr 12, 2008 2:00 pm

For our next trip we're thinking of doing a trip on a catamaraan in the BVI'S, even the USVI's.

I don't even know where to begin to look.

Does anybody have any ideas? We thought of Windjammers, but I think they're a little to big for us. We would like a laid back atmosphere.

Where do we start?

sailorgirl · Post by **sailorgirl** » Sat Apr 12, 2008 2:12 pm

Are you looking into bareboating, a private charter or a shared charter?

I recently book marked this amazing looking Cat called Cuan Law. Its a shared unless you book the whole boat. Its pricey but looks amazing.

Bareboating/private charters there are lots of options. Check out Moorings, there are others which you can find by googling. They will charter you the boat and arrange for a captian, a cook, or any combination.

There is a BVI board called TTOL which cateres to alot of sailors and its quite informative.

RickG · Post by **RickG** » Sat Apr 12, 2008 2:13 pm

We saw Cuan Law in the Bight at Norman Island in March. It is freakin' huge!

Cheers, RickG

ihochman · Post by **ihochman** » Sat Apr 12, 2008 2:13 pm

We did an amazing trip of the BVI's this past February.
We went on a 62 foot catamaran called the Mister T. We had a captain and a first mate/cook and they were amazing. I suggest you just go on line and look up the Mister T and if that doesn't work for you it will at least get you in the right direction. The booking agent we had was located in Miami but I don't have her number. Her name was Barbara Dawson but I don't have any other info since I wasn't the point person. Good luck.

sailorgirl · Post by **sailorgirl** » Sat Apr 12, 2008 2:15 pm

RickG wrote:We saw Cuan Law in the Bight at Norman Island in March. It is freakin' huge!

Cheers, RickG

Check out the website it looks beautiful 104 feet LOD but its the beam which is impressive 44feet, that's wider than my house!

RickG · Post by **RickG** » Sat Apr 12, 2008 2:46 pm

It looked to have open air dining for about 40 people. Nothing like that white table cloth dining experience on a sailing catamaran. This looks like serious fun.

Cheers, RickG

sailorgirl · Post by **sailorgirl** » Sat Apr 12, 2008 2:50 pm

[quote="RickG"]It looked to have open air dining for about 40 people. Nothing like that white table cloth dining experience on a sailing catamaran. This looks like serious fun.

Cheers, RickG[/quote

Forum Road trip ???

Kentuckygirl · Post by **Kentuckygirl** » Sat Apr 12, 2008 3:04 pm

sailorgirl wrote:
RickG wrote:It looked to have open air dining for about 40 people. Nothing like that white table cloth dining experience on a sailing catamaran. This looks like serious fun.

Cheers, RickG[/quote

Forum Road trip ???

Yeah!

Diana2 · Post by **Diana2** » Sat Apr 12, 2008 3:09 pm

We have done 2 sailing charters. Go to http://www.admirals.com/cari-multi.html. You'll find lots of boats listed there to chose from. We loved the experience but it's pretty costly unless you can find another couple or 2 to share expenses. We aren's sailors ourselves so we chartered with a captain and cook and it was wonderful. I highly recommend it.

Puddlejumper · Post by **Puddlejumper** » Sat Apr 12, 2008 5:47 pm

Connie,
this will likely be the best vacation you have ever had. Start by Googling the Ed Hamilton Co. They specialize in finding the right boat to fit your style and needs. Sure you want a cat? My best friend is Captain of the yacht Lady Angele. I am going to spend the weekend on her this weekend. Waiting at the airport in STT now. It is 73 ft of perfection. Ed Hamilton is a great place to start your search.
Puddlejumper

Puddlejumper · Post by **Puddlejumper** » Sat Apr 12, 2008 5:52 pm

One more. Try The Catamaran Company. Plus Capt Jay on this board works for a charter company in STT. Forget the name of it. Hopefully he will see your question.

Exit Zero · Post by **Exit Zero** » Sat Apr 12, 2008 7:19 pm

CaptainJay works for CYOA in STT
In the BVI try saildivebvi.com
Check the captains blog put out by sailpromenade.com -- lots of pictures and info and stories
It is a great way to experience the islands - basically a villa afloat in most instances
The Windjammer Co is out of business in the BVI
Terms:
Bareboat- bring your own Capt. or rent one
Term Charter- comes with Capt and usually crew
Head-Boat --- that rents out by the cabin -has crew --- Cuan Law is one of these

captainjay · Post by **captainjay** » Sun Apr 13, 2008 6:56 am

I have to say prior to going to work for CYOA I would have gone on for days on a post like this. I am reluctant to plug one company over another now as bias will be obvious. I will concur that it will likely be the best vacation you will ever have. The company that I work for does primarily bare boat charters, which means you and your group act as the crew and must be qualified to operate the vessel. We do have captains available to operate the boats and this will cost a little extra. You can be as involved in the operation as you care to and the captain will even teach you the basics if you want to learn. The other options are a fully crewed boat or a larger boat like Cuan Law. Most of the crewed charters are run by couples and handled through brokers like Ed Hamilton. Promenade as mentioned is a nice boat with a very experienced crew. They normally do charters for large groups, but a few times a year they do cabin only charters which means you would be sharing the boat with other people not of your choosing. This can be very good or very bad depending on your shipmates. I will be glad to answer any specific questions that you might have feel free to post them here or pm me.
Jay

Connie · Post by **Connie** » Sun Apr 13, 2008 7:38 am

This sounds like alot of fun and I'm not getting any younger, so I better get moving on this.

I'm going to have to start writing all these suggestions down.

Thanks everybody!

sailorgirl · Post by **sailorgirl** » Sun Apr 13, 2008 9:03 am

My two cents about the shared charters. Jay is right that your shipmates can make or break the experience. About 10 years ago I did a sailing trip to The Grenadines, I highly reccomend the location, Bequia, St Vincent, etc... We got a great deal. The boat was empty except for one other group,a couple. The chef/first mate was fabu;lous. We had wonderful meals on deck eveynight. The problem was the other guests. After having traveled 2000 miles to get away from it all, by some weird coincidence the other couple was someone I knew, an obnoxiuos lawyer I had the unfortunate experience of going up against. He, about 70, pranced around all week in a speedo (a visual image 10 years later I still have difficulty erasing from my brain). She ,the much younger trophy wife, spent most of the week trying to get cell phione service as we passed from place to place so she could have long conversations with her broker. A 80 foot boat never felt so small. We fantasized with the crew scenarios where we just left them behind

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British Virgin Islands - catamaraning it :o)

British Virgin Islands - catamaraning it :o)