Hi Reader,

This is Matt Weidert with the Yacht Warriors, and here's what I have for you today:

• Charter bucket list: find out what makes the cut
• To sleep aboard, or not?
• Wild Exuma grounding video, with a twist

What's on my yacht charter bucket list?

With younger kids, and time for only week-long charter trips, it'll be a few years before I reach certain cruising grounds.

Not only that, but these destinations can have:

• More challenging travel and logistics
• Smaller charter fleets
• Perhaps more difficult sailing conditions

Here's the top 3 that make my list:

• French Polynesia: Society Islands
• The Windward One-Way: St. Lucia, St. Vincent & the Grenadines, and Grenada
• The Leeward Loop: Antigua, Barbuda, Guadeloupe, and Montserrat

​Read more about these trips, and find out which places don't make the cut - some might surprise you. Also, please tell me why I'm wrong!

Should you add the sleep aboard option?

I've had a few questions recently about whether the sleep aboard option is worth it, so I wrote about it in detail.

My answer is usually yes - I believe it makes sense, most of the time. Why?

• It can be cheaper than a hotel room
• You can get off the dock earlier on day 1
• It lowers stress levels!
• Kick-start the trip with the marina's amenities

What does the sleep aboard cost? Anywhere from 50-70% of your daily charter fee, or a per person charge such as $75/crew member.

Check out the full article here, where I also mention six scenarios when you might want to skip the sleep aboard.

Wild Exuma grounding video...with a twist

Someone shared this video with me recently. Crazy! Here's what happened.

• A Bali 5.4 chases a monohull under sail, on autopilot, and no one on deck
• It's heading right for an Exuma cay
• The Bali 5.4 crew can't get their attention
• Monohull impacts hard, head-on
• A seemingly scantily clad individual comes on deck, gets the engines running, and motors off the rocks

The video cuts off as the sailboat carries on, and I don't have any details on the aftermath.

But, it certainly highlights the risks of not standing a watch with autopilot running, in a dangerous area full of sandbars, cays, and cuts.

So what's the twist? The Bali 5.4 is the Yepa II which I took out on a bareboat charter in 2021. Towards the end of the video, he prepares to make a distress call and uses "Yepa II" as his call sign.

You can read more about that Exumas trip in case you missed it.

Anchorage of the month: The Pitons, St. Lucia

From the bucket list...I'll get there one day!