We are planning to charter a sailboat in Tortola. I am looking for recommendations of charter companies to use or not to use. Also we are considering the flotilla option for the charter. We have never chartered a boat and tought the flotilla may be a good approach for a first charter experience in the BVI. Has anyone had any experience with the flotilla option? Any recommendations on provisioning options... good experiences or bad. Thanks for any help. Bud
BVI Charter Information
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Here's a link to a great BVI forum
We have used Sunsail three times in the BVI's and have been very satisfied. Moorings are good too but more expensive. Spend a couple of hours reading posts and you will learn almost everything there is to know about sailing and chartering in the BVI's. You are going to have a great time. The BVI's is probably the best chartering area in the world especially for first timers. Not sure about flotilla option unless you are planning to go Anegada. The reefs are very tricky and poorly marked. Most charter companies won't allow to go there on your own.
We have used Sunsail three times in the BVI's and have been very satisfied. Moorings are good too but more expensive. Spend a couple of hours reading posts and you will learn almost everything there is to know about sailing and chartering in the BVI's. You are going to have a great time. The BVI's is probably the best chartering area in the world especially for first timers. Not sure about flotilla option unless you are planning to go Anegada. The reefs are very tricky and poorly marked. Most charter companies won't allow to go there on your own.
you don't need a flotilla.....
you can see everywhere you want to go. There is no real "open water" sailing, where you are out of sight of land. You can sail the entire Sir Francis Drake Channel in a day. You want to join the flotilla to Anegada, for the day. It's free, and, it used to leave from The Bitter End in Virgin Gorda 3 times a week. If you want to MAXIMIZE your charter/sailing time, contact Conch Yacht Charters. From June thru October, you can charter 2 weeks for the price of one. We usually go in October, when the hurricane season is winding down. Plus, in the "off season" there aren't a thousand boats to compete with for mooring spaces. Yes, usually, you'll pick up a mooring ball rather than anchor. I don't know what the daily charge is now, but it used to be $10, ask the charter operator, and budget the extra money. You can save a lot of money by provisioning yourself as well.
you can see everywhere you want to go. There is no real "open water" sailing, where you are out of sight of land. You can sail the entire Sir Francis Drake Channel in a day. You want to join the flotilla to Anegada, for the day. It's free, and, it used to leave from The Bitter End in Virgin Gorda 3 times a week. If you want to MAXIMIZE your charter/sailing time, contact Conch Yacht Charters. From June thru October, you can charter 2 weeks for the price of one. We usually go in October, when the hurricane season is winding down. Plus, in the "off season" there aren't a thousand boats to compete with for mooring spaces. Yes, usually, you'll pick up a mooring ball rather than anchor. I don't know what the daily charge is now, but it used to be $10, ask the charter operator, and budget the extra money. You can save a lot of money by provisioning yourself as well.
We just got back from Tortola this week!
Hi! We just returned from chartering a Beneteau 411 with Sunsail out of Tortola. It was beautiful and well worth the trip. We've sailed the Chesapeake for a number of years, we've sailed the San Juans and all of Puget Sounds until last year when we moved the boat to NC. The BVIs reminded us a lot of the San Juan and Gulf Islands in the PNW. The exception being that the water was warm like bath water and that beautiful blue and blue-gree color. Awesome. We had a great experience with Sunsail. We had a few problems with the boat, but nothing of significance. The most notable was that the holding plate refrigeration stopped working after a couple of days, but they quickly dispatched a chase boat and fixed it in no time while we were comparing Pina Coladas between the restaurant at the Bitter End and the bar at Saba Rock. Rough, eh? ;-) We did a lot of the usual places - Virgin Gorda Sound (bitter end/saba rock), the Baths - had a great sail to the other side of Tortola, specifically Cane Garden Bay. We headed over towards Jost Van Dyke, but then ended up heading over behind Frenchman's Cay to Soper's Hole - nice place! Then we sailed over to The Indians (which had the best snorkeling during this trip for us), and The Bight (snorkeling in the Caves - very cool!). After that we did more snorkeling at Cooper Island. Interestingly we saw a number of sea turtles (including up close while snorkeling), which is supposed to be rare right now. Overall it was an awesome experience. We liked the fact that sunsail was not in roadtown proper, although it is a good idea to use a provisioning service instead of doing the taxi-run around to get groceries hassle. We sent in our list of provisions to Bobby's a week before we left and they brought everything to the boat the day we arrived at a very reasonable price - this is the only way to go. We had a total of five people aboard - my wife and I, her parents, and our 21 month old son. He did quite splendidly despite the hot nights. We were surprised to find that our boat even had air conditioning, which made the nights at the dock quite pleasant! The navigation is extremely simple - it's basically all dead reckoning as everything is so close. We took a handheld GPS/chartplotter with only the charts that came with it and ended up using it just for fun and to get a sense of the speed over the ground while screaming around the islands. We almost went over to Anegada, but decided to stay another day in Virgin Gorda sound to let the little boy do more playing/swimming on the beach, not to mention it was an awesome place to be. There were always lots of boats streaming over to Anegada, so even if you aren't part of an "official" flotilla, you would likely be traveling with other boats anyway. My one recommendation would be to consider going in the high season. It was bloody hot down there for us - although part of that was trying to keep the little boy cool - it was challenging. Next time we go, we'll go in the "winter" time. Of course, that's your call... Anyway - go for it. You just can't go wrong. Oh and the mooring balls are $25/night now - and they are *everywhere*. We never even ended up dropping the anchor. matt
Hi! We just returned from chartering a Beneteau 411 with Sunsail out of Tortola. It was beautiful and well worth the trip. We've sailed the Chesapeake for a number of years, we've sailed the San Juans and all of Puget Sounds until last year when we moved the boat to NC. The BVIs reminded us a lot of the San Juan and Gulf Islands in the PNW. The exception being that the water was warm like bath water and that beautiful blue and blue-gree color. Awesome. We had a great experience with Sunsail. We had a few problems with the boat, but nothing of significance. The most notable was that the holding plate refrigeration stopped working after a couple of days, but they quickly dispatched a chase boat and fixed it in no time while we were comparing Pina Coladas between the restaurant at the Bitter End and the bar at Saba Rock. Rough, eh? ;-) We did a lot of the usual places - Virgin Gorda Sound (bitter end/saba rock), the Baths - had a great sail to the other side of Tortola, specifically Cane Garden Bay. We headed over towards Jost Van Dyke, but then ended up heading over behind Frenchman's Cay to Soper's Hole - nice place! Then we sailed over to The Indians (which had the best snorkeling during this trip for us), and The Bight (snorkeling in the Caves - very cool!). After that we did more snorkeling at Cooper Island. Interestingly we saw a number of sea turtles (including up close while snorkeling), which is supposed to be rare right now. Overall it was an awesome experience. We liked the fact that sunsail was not in roadtown proper, although it is a good idea to use a provisioning service instead of doing the taxi-run around to get groceries hassle. We sent in our list of provisions to Bobby's a week before we left and they brought everything to the boat the day we arrived at a very reasonable price - this is the only way to go. We had a total of five people aboard - my wife and I, her parents, and our 21 month old son. He did quite splendidly despite the hot nights. We were surprised to find that our boat even had air conditioning, which made the nights at the dock quite pleasant! The navigation is extremely simple - it's basically all dead reckoning as everything is so close. We took a handheld GPS/chartplotter with only the charts that came with it and ended up using it just for fun and to get a sense of the speed over the ground while screaming around the islands. We almost went over to Anegada, but decided to stay another day in Virgin Gorda sound to let the little boy do more playing/swimming on the beach, not to mention it was an awesome place to be. There were always lots of boats streaming over to Anegada, so even if you aren't part of an "official" flotilla, you would likely be traveling with other boats anyway. My one recommendation would be to consider going in the high season. It was bloody hot down there for us - although part of that was trying to keep the little boy cool - it was challenging. Next time we go, we'll go in the "winter" time. Of course, that's your call... Anyway - go for it. You just can't go wrong. Oh and the mooring balls are $25/night now - and they are *everywhere*. We never even ended up dropping the anchor. matt
Charter
I've had two friends use Moorings [www.moorings.com] for their BVI charters for a total of five trips. We plan on using them next year. Everything I've read about Moorings is quite positive.
I've had two friends use Moorings [www.moorings.com] for their BVI charters for a total of five trips. We plan on using them next year. Everything I've read about Moorings is quite positive.
Another vote for Sunsail
We chartered last spring with Sunsail & found it to be a great experience. The boat was in great shape and the staff could not have been more accomodating. Picked us up at the airport as promises even when our plane was 2 hours late. We provisioned for three days at a store near the Sunsail base. Short shuttle ride. Provisioned for the next 10 days with a stop in Roadtown. The store is two blocks from the marina. Navigation is a snap so the flotilla was not an option for us. If you can try to plan 2 weeks. Gives you time to see and do a lot without feeling pressured.
We chartered last spring with Sunsail & found it to be a great experience. The boat was in great shape and the staff could not have been more accomodating. Picked us up at the airport as promises even when our plane was 2 hours late. We provisioned for three days at a store near the Sunsail base. Short shuttle ride. Provisioned for the next 10 days with a stop in Roadtown. The store is two blocks from the marina. Navigation is a snap so the flotilla was not an option for us. If you can try to plan 2 weeks. Gives you time to see and do a lot without feeling pressured.
Ditto Moorings
We just came back from the BVis. It was our first charter and with a 25% late season discount the Moorings was cheaper than Sunsail. It is a top notch organization. Everything was perfect from the boat to the provisionning. Had a wonderfull time, went to all the places mentioned below, but anchored at night since the moorings are $35 on average.
We just came back from the BVis. It was our first charter and with a 25% late season discount the Moorings was cheaper than Sunsail. It is a top notch organization. Everything was perfect from the boat to the provisionning. Had a wonderfull time, went to all the places mentioned below, but anchored at night since the moorings are $35 on average.
Good Info
We actually leave Wednesday for the Flotilla with Moorings to the BVIs. We looked at all three, Morings, sunsail and TMM and all looked great. We decided to choose the mooring flotilla namely because we hadn't chartered before and haven't been in those waters before (although it sounds like we could have saved a few bucks). Us and the other couple are Chesapeake bay sailors and just chomping at the bit to get down there. I'll post the results and perhaps a pix or two when we get back.
We actually leave Wednesday for the Flotilla with Moorings to the BVIs. We looked at all three, Morings, sunsail and TMM and all looked great. We decided to choose the mooring flotilla namely because we hadn't chartered before and haven't been in those waters before (although it sounds like we could have saved a few bucks). Us and the other couple are Chesapeake bay sailors and just chomping at the bit to get down there. I'll post the results and perhaps a pix or two when we get back.
Footloose???
Has anyone had any experience with Footloose Charters? They seem to be associated with Moorings. Thanks for all the great information in this thread.
Has anyone had any experience with Footloose Charters? They seem to be associated with Moorings. Thanks for all the great information in this thread.
sunsail
Last winter we did a BVI flotilla charter with Sunsail. We've sailed with both Moorings and Sunsail; they're both excellent. If you have sailing experience, you don't NEED the flotilla, but it's nice to have experts showing the best place to eat, anchor, and handle any mechanical problems.
Last winter we did a BVI flotilla charter with Sunsail. We've sailed with both Moorings and Sunsail; they're both excellent. If you have sailing experience, you don't NEED the flotilla, but it's nice to have experts showing the best place to eat, anchor, and handle any mechanical problems.
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