USVI-On-Line

Gang,

My lover and I are looking at scheduling our Learn To Sail class with the intent of moving forward with bareboat certification. We have friends who have had very good experiences Colgate's Offshore Sailing school for both courses. Do any of the sailors out there have any opinions on these folks?

b-as-u-r mentioned Fair Winds Sailing school on St. Thomas. Their pricing certainly looks lower than Offshore Sailing.

I know there's a difference between US Sailing and ASA certifications. But, on reading, it looks like one of those transubstantiation/consubstantiation debates.

Cheers, Rick

Rick,

Have you thought about going over to Annapolis for sailing, I have a friend that lives in the DC area goes over on the weekends all the time to learn how to sail. Just a thought. Might give you something to do here while waiting for your trips to St. John.

Sandy

Hey Rick, did I see in another thread (?) that you were planning a trip to STJ in May? It looks like my next trip to STJ will also be in May, 2008 (5/2 - 5/9), to coincide with the St. Croix Half Ironman Triathlon. Who knows, I could be a sailor by then; soon come, more fearful things in the VI waters (LOL). My husband is typically very thorough and he couldn't seem to find any limitations by going with Fair Winds and he thought the pricing seemed more reasonable as well. Actually, I had seen a recommendation for Fair Winds from someone on the "other" forum some time ago. Anyway, it will be interesting to see what responses you get. Ali~

DCphoto wrote:Rick,

Have you thought about going over to Annapolis for sailing, I have a friend that lives in the DC area goes over on the weekends all the time to learn how to sail. Just a thought. Might give you something to do here while waiting for your trips to St. John.

Sandy

Sandy, I grew up in PG County and spent a lot of years on the Chesapeake Bay. I've event taken classes at Annapolis Sailing School. Its a good spot, but bloody cold in the winter! What I really want is the certification for bareboating. I'd rather take that class in the Virgins.

Cheers, RickG

[quote="b-as-u-r"]Hey Rick, did I see in another thread (?) that you were planning a trip to STJ in May? It looks like my next trip to STJ will also be in May, 2008 (5/2 - 5/9), to coincide with the St. Croix Half Ironman Triathlon. Who knows, I could be a sailor by then; soon come, more fearful things in the VI waters (LOL). My husband is typically very thorough and he couldn't seem to find any limitations by going with Fair Winds and he thought the pricing seemed more reasonable as well.quote]

Ali, we hit Coral Bay with the kids in March, Easter week. I'm looking to start the sailing instruction after that.

Have you booked your sailing class with Fair Winds yet? Are there any surprise fees?

Cheers, RickG

Rick, we're all booked for December! We've received all our books (review ahead of time is recommended for terms, etc.). No surprise fees (at least not so far). Can't help but wonder....what have I gotten myself into? Ali~

Funny (or not so funny) Story!

We belong to a sailing club. And I know a few people that have rented boats in BVI. As far as I know they didn't have any certificate for bareboating. They just set up the rental and had to show some sailing knowlege and away the sailed. Always made me wonder!


It does sound fun and it's on my list of things to do.
OPPS .... that another topic !!!

Pia wrote:

True story - instead of pulling the anchor up upon leaving he just left the anchor where it was and dropped the rope into the ocean

Pia

Isn't is scary to realize how many idiots are out there?

To go along Pia's angle, we spoke with one agency, don't remember who, and we had the rent a skipper discussion. We own a 27' sailboat and sail on Lake Ontario, and we have US Sailing keel boat certification. We were told that a skipper would go out with us on day one for a while, see if we know to reel in the anchor (kidding), see if we know what we are doing, and decide from there. We still have not done this, but it is on the to do list.

Rick
Both of the schools have a good reputation so I don't think you could go wrong either way. One other thing to consider would be doing a normal crewed charter with a captain that is certified to do the ASA course on his own. You may get a more personal approach that way. You may want to inquire on the Travel Talk Online Forum, as it is mainly boaters on that board and there are several boat owners/captains from the Islands that post there. If you have any specific questions about boats or charters let me know.
Jay

I've bareboated twice in the BVI. We did it with our basic ASA certification from back home ( I'm proud to be able to say I learned to sail in the BRONX). Off Shore ran a school up here for a long time. They were in The Bronx, then moved to the marina next to WTC. I think after 9/11 they moved over to Jersey. A very well known company. I don't think you can go wrong with them, but I know nothing about the other school you mentioned. I would ask about what kind of boats they use for the cousre. Most likely you will be sharing close quarters with strangers unless you can fill the whole boat.

With the basic ASA certification and a letter detailing sailing experience we had no problems bareboating. We did not use Morrings, but two smaller outfits, the names of which now escape me. both times we had nice boats. If you already have some sailing experience, or can bring someone along who does that's all you might need.

Each time we went we hired a captain for the first day. I think it was $100, food and taxi or ferry fare back to Roadtown. I would highly reccomend this. He/she showed us the boat, tested out our skills and helped map an itinerary.

As long as you don't hit the Christmas winds the sailing is great. Steady winds blowing a nice beam reach you can sail up and down Drakes Channel without tacking. To make it easier on ourselves we picked up a mooring somewhere each night rather than anchor. No need for anchor watches that way. Also if you're in the mooring feild its less likey someother jerk will drag an anchor and decide to go bump in the night.

I always wanted to go to Anegeda, but most charters don't allow that without a local captain, something to keep in mind. Im sure you could pick one up at Bitter End or Leverick Bay.

Fair winds and following seas!

Pia
That is one of the funnies things I read today. i luv it. Was the renter Polish - I can see that being a great polack joke. I'm allowed to make fun of the Polish since I am one too.

Gang, thanks for the tips. I'm leaning towards getting the US Sailing keel boat certification and the bareboat certification. I know I don't technically need it, but doing a BVI live aboard week long class sounds like fun and good training.

captainjay, thanks for the TTOL reference. I do monitor that forum occasionally, but a lot of that gang are way technical sailors. We've been all over the BVIs with adult supervision and want to work up to doing this ourselved through some predictable training. I think once we do the Learn to Sail classes and understand the nomenclature we'll get into it with the TTOL folks.

sailorgirl, thanks for the reference on the Offshore Sailing folks. I definitely like the idea of having a captain on the first day to show us around the boat. I love Anegada, but I think I'll keep flying there. I remember once sitting with Vernon Soares at Neptune's Treasure's bar as the day came to a close. Vernon was drinking his red wine on ice watching a sailboat come in under motor pretty late: "Where that boat goin? He don't know where he goin?" He picked up the radio and gave them what for. That boat turned hard, backed up and came through the right spot in the reef. The folks in that boat worked in a boat yard on Tortola and had made the Anegada passage a half dozen times. Funny thing about not having any visual navigation cues. Vernon was the person to originally mark the reef in front of the Anegada Reef Hotel and Neptunes around 1963... with sticks stuck in the sand.

Pia? That hurt!

I'm not looking to give up the STJ villa lifestyle. I just want to spend time in the BVIs too, and island hopping and staying on land like we did in 2004 is too much of a compromise.

Cheers, RickG