Hi all! I am looking into getting a bareboat charting course and all the courses needed before that. The reason i am getting these is that I want to do a charter in the Caribbean next year for my honeymoon and have no open water experience, only icw and inland experience. I live in nc but am willing to travel to do it. I was looking at www.charlestonsailingschool.com and they seem good. Its a 5 day live aboard course. Does anyone have experience with them or others like them you could recommend? Thanks!
bareboat charting course
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Probably not Required
My experience chartering in the Caribbean (BVI) says that your experience is probably plenty in order to charter one of their boats. The BVI is a relatively benign place to sail. I mean that in a good way - the sailing can be exciting, but the distances are all line-of-sight, you can just about navigate depth-wise by the color of the water, and the popular anchorages are plentiful and well described in both the guidebooks, and in the materials that the charter company will give you. The charter company's checkout will include them taking a look at your sailing resume listing your experience, and if you've handled a boat of reasonably similar size and have a credit card, you'll probably pass just fine. Again, don't get me wrong - If you want to take a 5 day bareboat chartering class - Go For It! It's probably a lot of fun and you will surely learn things and can always say you've done it. I'm just saying it might not be a hard prerequisite to chartering in the BVI. Good Luck! Tim Brogan April IV C350 #68 Seattle
My experience chartering in the Caribbean (BVI) says that your experience is probably plenty in order to charter one of their boats. The BVI is a relatively benign place to sail. I mean that in a good way - the sailing can be exciting, but the distances are all line-of-sight, you can just about navigate depth-wise by the color of the water, and the popular anchorages are plentiful and well described in both the guidebooks, and in the materials that the charter company will give you. The charter company's checkout will include them taking a look at your sailing resume listing your experience, and if you've handled a boat of reasonably similar size and have a credit card, you'll probably pass just fine. Again, don't get me wrong - If you want to take a 5 day bareboat chartering class - Go For It! It's probably a lot of fun and you will surely learn things and can always say you've done it. I'm just saying it might not be a hard prerequisite to chartering in the BVI. Good Luck! Tim Brogan April IV C350 #68 Seattle
Chartering is Easy
I found that if you have experience on a boat of about the same size as you want to charter you should not have a problem. My experience prior to chartering in the BVI was limited to Lake Erie. Most of my experience was on a H31 but we had not problem chartering a 40 foot boat. We chartered with Sunsail and I strongly recommend them. Good company, helpful staff and their baots were in very good shape. You will love the BVI. We are heading back in the spring. Capt. Chuck Dickhut S/V Obsession Catalina 320 #114
I found that if you have experience on a boat of about the same size as you want to charter you should not have a problem. My experience prior to chartering in the BVI was limited to Lake Erie. Most of my experience was on a H31 but we had not problem chartering a 40 foot boat. We chartered with Sunsail and I strongly recommend them. Good company, helpful staff and their baots were in very good shape. You will love the BVI. We are heading back in the spring. Capt. Chuck Dickhut S/V Obsession Catalina 320 #114
What they really want in a Charterer
Caribbean chartering in the BVI is not exactly what you might call "open water" b/c most of what you're doing is travelling a few miles a day in and around islands looking for a place to anchor or moor before everybody shows up before you. (I suggest getting there by 2:00 pm). Of the several charters that I've done in various places, the company basically wants you to know what to turn off and on in the correct order on the boat, and whether you can approach a dock to fuel without hitting it (hard). (But in the Carribean you don't have to do even that.) A couple of places wanted to know if I knew the difference between a jibe and a tack, and if I knew what those little ++'s on a chart meant. BEO
Caribbean chartering in the BVI is not exactly what you might call "open water" b/c most of what you're doing is travelling a few miles a day in and around islands looking for a place to anchor or moor before everybody shows up before you. (I suggest getting there by 2:00 pm). Of the several charters that I've done in various places, the company basically wants you to know what to turn off and on in the correct order on the boat, and whether you can approach a dock to fuel without hitting it (hard). (But in the Carribean you don't have to do even that.) A couple of places wanted to know if I knew the difference between a jibe and a tack, and if I knew what those little ++'s on a chart meant. BEO
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