USVI-On-Line

Hello - I've been lurking a bit and have finally decided to jump in and start posting. Thanks to everyone contributing and running this board...it's been such a help to me so far. I love reading the reviews and trip reports.
My question - I've emailed some of the companies on St. John re: day trips to the BVIs, etc.. I was told that I should post something to the board to see if anyone else is looking to share a charter for the day. Is this standard operating procedure due to off season, or am I just not checking with the right company?
TIA for any help/suggestions you can give me.

Welcome! You may very well find someone to share a charter with here. Check the Forum Calendar to see who's going the same time as you are and maybe pm someone. I tried it back in June, but alas I was too late. People plan these trips well in advance. Good luck!

Thanks for the suggestion, Ksea.

I've done this before and had great success. That way I can "pre-interview" folks to see if they're a match for our interests and personalities.

Some charter co's will be gald to just fill a boat, but that means several people would have to want to travel on the same day by circumstance.

Your best bet is trying to plan a trip with folks on the board- since you can "get to know" us before you extend the invite!

We just booked with Palm Tree Charters. They only take 6 people. I like these guys because they will take you where you want to go, rather than some set itinerary. Having a private charter is nice. But, you only share the price across the folks in your group. Lion in da Sun is a similar deal.

There are a couple of different Captain's licenses. The basic one (I don't know what they call it) allows you to take no more than 6 people. The next one up lets you take a good bit more. We usually have a group of 8, so we've ended up on larger charters - moving at the speed of the slowest beast in the herd.

Cheers, RickG

I would post your dates and see if you get any bites for a shared private charter. I am with Rick G on this you will have a better time on a small private charter rather than a cattle boat with bunches of people on it. Also you specifially mentioned daysail. Make sure what kind of charter you want. A daysail is great but keep in mind you can't cover as much ground in a six knot sail boat as you can a center console. So if its island hopping and beach limin' you want a power boat may be a better option. If its classic sailing with a snorkle stop or two then by all means enjoy the sail.

Also for anyone interested the breakdown on the captains licenses is two fold. The boat makes as much difference as the license. The basic license/law that the smaller boats run under is an OUPV (Operator of Unispected Passenger Vessel. This license by code is a vessel, like the center consoles that ocean runner rents, or a sailboat built for private use that is engaged in transporting paying passangers,they are restricted to six paying passangers plus crew. This license is commonly called a six pack license. This is why you see so many charters limited to six people as Rick said. The next step up is inspected vessels, once an operator goes to the expense of builing or buying an inspected vessel then they will typically build a boat with a much greater capacity to take advantage of the economy of scale involved with hauling more people, this usually translates into a larger day boat with less personal service, more like a bus on the water with a snorkle stop or two and not much flexibility to the charter unless you book the whole boat. The license for the captain is a Masters, there are several diffent classifications in this license having to do with the size of boat and type of experience, I won't bore you with the details they are on the Coast Guard web page if your interested. Hope this helps clear up some of the issues with number of passangers. I know a lot of people have a hard time figuring out why a charter won't bend the rules and take along a few extra people if they all get along but the rules just aren't flexibable on that count.
Jay

We had a day of sailing with White Wing Sailing in April and shared it with B&J in VA (Geri & her husband) & Maggy (Karin & her husband)that we met on this forum. It was great! So much nicer than spending the day with 'total strangers' and they turned out to be wonderful company.

By the way, anyone going to be in St John the week of April 19th and interested in sharing a day trip?

Thanks for the suggestions/information, everyone. I appreciate your help!

We are going October 27 - November 3. I'm open to about anything. Is anyone else out there interested in a day trip?

Thought I'd try again. Is anyone interested?

Neeners, post your question as a separate subject, its kind of buried here.

Cheers, RickG

Rick - do you have contact info for Palm Tree Charters?

Can anyone recommend a similar outfit which can accomodate more then 6 people? I've used 6PAQ, but they have the same limitation.

http://www.palmtreecharters.com/

Sorry if I stepped on your toes RickG!

No worries Ksea. We are going out with Palm Tree Charters the Tuesday before Halloween. They max out at 6 people. Its BYOB and they'll take you where ever you want to go. We're going to focus on snorkeling in the morning, have lunch somewhere in the BVIs and spend the afternoon at White Bay.

Cheers, RickG