British Virgin Islands
Having always wanted to go to Caribbean, I got my wish last March when I went on a PHP cruise to Bahamas. But being on a cruise ship keeps you so far away from everything: the land, the people, the soul of the place. Right about that time I was falling in love with sailing, wanting nothing more than to silently glide along the water propelled only by forces of the nature. I took a sailing class and completed it in June. In December I finally got my wish: myself, my friend Anil, and a colleague from work Brenda flew to British Virgin Islands, picked up our chartered boat. and spent an amazing week sailing around the islands. A longer write up will be forthcoming, but the pictures can be seen now.
17/01/2005 at 2:02 pm Permalink
Wow, pretty cool vacation. How much did it cost? Did you save on lodging by sleeping on the boat the whole time?
I take it it was an introductory sailing class – what all do they teach you? What types of sailing are you qualified to do?
17/01/2005 at 10:47 pm Permalink
We actually got a pretty good rate, something like 25% off, on the 36″ Beneteau sailboat. The total was about $1600 for one week charter, and the prices more than doubled the week after we were there. We always slept on the boat, it’s the only thing that makes sense since the boat is equipped with cabins, and you are already paying for everything. I had no trouble sleeping there, very calm, very peaceful, and you are guaranteed to wake up with the first rays of the sun.
I did indeed take the introductory sailing lessons, Basic Keelboat Sailing and Basic Coastal Cruising, from Spinnaker Sailing in Redwood Shores. I will refer you to their website (http://www.spinnakersailing.com/) for details on the classes. After completing them, I am qualified to charter and skipper up to 27″ boats in contained water, meaning on the Bay. But I can also crew on much larger boats.
17/01/2005 at 11:42 pm Permalink
Nice. What additional education is required to do sails such as Mexico to Hawaii (I know a guy who’s doing exactly that next month – from Cabo)? Are there more advanced sailing levels beyond that? I imagine a bigger boat might be required as well.
18/01/2005 at 9:06 am Permalink
I think Bareboat Chartering, Coastal Navigation, and Advanced Coastal Cruising would be required at the very least. These are the levels that are certified by the American Sailing Association.