āµ Ready to take the trip of a lifetime? I write a twice monthly, free newsletter with planning ideas for your next yacht charter trip: insider destination guides, sailing itineraries, and the latest news.
Good morning, it's Matt with the Yacht Warriors, your sailing trip partner in crime.
Here's what I have for you today:
If you missed it, a Sunsail catamaran lost its mooring ball and wrecked on Dead Chest Island last month. I did a full write up here and include some lessons learned. Two updates since I posted it:
Since this mishap occurred, there have been four other incidents in the British Virgin Islands!
Is this trend going to continue? Or is social media making it easier to share info about these incidents?
Your guess is as good as mine, but it does highlight the inexperience of some charterers. I'm also curious which charter companies are frequently involved - are they doing a good job qualifying the experience of their guests?
As I hear about these incidents, I'm going to collect them here in a database. You can also use the form to submit your own if you witness one. Let's see what we learn.
I joined several Facebook groups about chartering in the BVIs. Since then, the groups have nearly doubled in size! Here's a link to one of them. It now has over 11k members.
What's to like:
What's not to like:
I would argue less popular charter destinations such as the Exuma, Bahamas would benefit more from FB groups since there is less information available.
So, I started two of them! Feel free to join these very small (but growing!) communities. Come share your experience or ask a question.
š Exuma Bahamas
š¢ Spanish Virgin Islandsā
I'm also a huge fan of TravelTalkOnline - a great forum with very knowledgeable participants.
There are frequent questions from beginners about sailing to Anegada and whether or not to include it as part of a BVI sailing itinerary. My view - absolutely! This post has everything you need to know - how to get there and what to do:
AKA Punta Arenas - makes for a perfect first or last night stop for a trip to the Spanish Virgin Islands. The sunsets here over the Puerto Rico mainland are š¤.
If you enjoyed the newsletter, I'd appreciate if you could share it with others who do the boat trip thing! Here's a link you can use. Thanks!!
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Sailing Vacations
āµ Ready to take the trip of a lifetime? I write a twice monthly, free newsletter with planning ideas for your next yacht charter trip: insider destination guides, sailing itineraries, and the latest news.
Hi Reader, Before we hoist sails on today's journey, let's navigate through a couple of recent news items: Last week the Baths bore witness to a charter grounding on the rocks amidst Red Flag conditions. This incident mirrors the lee shore grounding of the Hillbilly a few weeks ago. Takeaways: monitor weather resources vigilantly, respect Red Flag warnings, and steer clear of anchorages that test fate (lee shores). There have been recent reports of multiple stolen dinghies at JVD, BVI. Raise...
Hi Reader, Reports are in: the BVI is buzzing with activity, reaching its peak around the Easter weekend. As the Yacht Warriors crew gears up for our BVI next adventure next month aboard a Lagoon 51, Iām hopeful the crowds will thin a bit. Meanwhile, I kicked off the provisioning for our journey, stowing away those essential hot sauces that no sailing trip can do without. Matouk's and Marie Sharp's are my two favorite hot sauces Safety update: recent groundings in BVI A quick note on safety,...
Hi Reader, We just returned from an amazing land-based trip to St. Thomas for Spring Break. We stayed on the north shore, close to Magens Bay, and enjoyed wonderful vistas stretching all the way to the palm tree-lined shore of White Bay, Jost Van Dyke. Though our sea legs took a brief hiatus, our spirit for exploration remained as we ventured into locales beloved by bareboat charter crews. Here are the pearls of wisdom we unearthed during our visit that might help you on your next USVI or BVI...