I think I started wanting to do a bareboat charter about 10 years ago.
At that time, I had very little sailing experience, but I had read SO
much about sailing that I felt I could do it. My experience up until
then consisted of occasional Sunfish sailing, and lessons while I was in
the Navy deployed for 6 months in Bermuda (really tough duty...). There
I sailed Oday Daysailers and a 22 foot Ensign, which is a full keel
boat.
Two and one half years ago my wife and I had enough money saved up, and
I had also been pushing for a bareboat vacation, so I decided to
seriously look into getting some formal experience. Eric Johnson's
observation that you don't NEED a bareboat certificate is true. However,
different companies have require different qualifications from their
charterers.
I live in New Hampshire and our obvious choice for our first charter was
the British Virgin Islands (BVI). There are a few chartering outfits
that will allow you to take lessons in the BVI and then charter one of
their boats. I suspect that the instruction is pretty good, as it often
has a national organization like US Sailing, or ASA (American Sailing
Association) behind its curriculum. The usual deal is something like a
week long course costing anywhere from $1500 to $3000, and then they
might take 10% off of your first charter.
Even that was too expensive for us, and that would mean that I would fly
down to the Caribbean for a week (my wife wasn't interested in learning
how to sail then), and then she would join me there. We'd have to get
one of our parents to take care of our 3 year son for the week that we
were both down there, so the complexity of it all made us get rid of
that plan.
One of the charter companies, Trade Winds Yachts, used to have a program
that operated out of Newport, Rhode Island and some other town in
Connecticut. They advertised a sailing class that was the curriculum
from ASA that would get you their Coastal Cruising certificate which
they also call their Bareboat certificate. The cost was $995, and they
would take 10% off your first charter. If you examine the ads in the
sailing magazines, you'll notice that Trade Winds prices are among the
lowest, so we thought we were getting a good deal. They have charter
bases in Tortolla BVI as well as a couple of other places in the
Caribbean. I decided to schedule the course in May, and book the charter
for July.
When I arrived in Newport I discovered that I was the only student in
the class. My instructor was a French man who owned his own 40 foot
Hunter. We spent 5 days sailing around Newport, Block Island, and
Cuttyhunk. The conditions included calm, sunny days, calm foggy days,
and rough foggy days. It was good experience, although the instructor
didn't really follow any curriculum. He also wasn't that good a sailor,
and he was an awful instructor. Anyway, I did everything I was required
to do, and I passed the tests (you must work up to the Bareboat
certificate). I'll tell you that the tests are pretty difficult, so make
sure you know all the "theory" and other written stuff (topics like
where is the secondary filter in the typical marine diesel engine's fuel
system, or what's the correct symbol for marking your estimated position
on a chart.).
In July we took our charter - my wife and another couple - and had a
great time. Our boat was a Beneteau 432. It was not in the greatest
shape, but it was adequate. Sailing in the BVI is so easy compared to
the East coast of the US. The tidal range is about 1 foot, the winds are
out of the east at about 10 - 20 knots ALL THE TIME!!! Day and night!
And, there is never any fog. It was wonderful. Sailing is almost all by
line of sight, and if you're looking to unwind, it's a great place.
But...
...that was 2 years ago, in July of 1996. This last May, we decided to
go again. We chose the same company, Trade Winds Yachts, because their
rates were the absolute lowest, and they included a repeat customer
discount. From the moment our plane left the terminal our vacation was
the vacation from hell. Forget about the plane leaving 2 hours late, and
my wife and now 5 year old son flying standby from San Juan to Tortolla
while I waited for the next flight. By the time I arrived at the boat,
my family, my father-in-law, and a good friend of mine were already
unpacked and enjoying cold drinks in the cockpit. After I said hello,
brought my stuff below, and enjoyed a cool one myself, I started
inspecting the boat. It didn't look that great, but what the heck, as
long as it sails...
Here is a partial (and I mean partial) rundown of things that went wrong
with that boat: The engine died (twice), the mainsail ripped, and when
they brought out a replacement sail, it TOO was ripped, freshwater pump
died (imagine salty bodies, and dirty dishes in a hot anchorage), swim
ladder broke (twice too), bimini leaked in the rain, interior skylights
leaked, deck hatches leaked, refrigerator pump out pump didn't work,
running lights didn't work (they told us that's ok, because we weren't
allowed to sail at night anyway), an antenna at the top of the mast
interfered with the windex, so when sailing downwind it was difficult to
gage the wind direction, the dinghy throttle cable was wired
backwards... I could go on some more, but you get the picture. I'm also
leaving out descriptions of the attitudes of the Trade Winds staff. When
our mainsail ripped, they tried to blame me, implying I was in windy
conditions and should have reefed. Let's just say that at times our
conversations were....... colorful. The bottom line is I wouldn't take
one of their boats on a charter again even if it were free, and I will
tell anyone contemplating using them as a charter company to avoid them
like the plague. Enough said.
Back to chartering, most companies require you to fill out a sailing
resume. If you can show them that you can handle a boat close to the
size you're chartering, then most will let you have it. However, whether
you have a bareboat certificate or not, whether you're Dennis Conner,
they can still say NO, or they can ask you to take them out in the
harbor and show them that you know how to sail, tack, jibe, pick up a
mooring, etc. This may be inconvenient, but look at the whole picture.
If they want you to at least know what you're doing, then they probably
expect that of all their customers, and their boats are likely to be in
better shape. At the end of our first Trade Winds charter, the husband
in the couple that sailed with us was looking at one of their
catamarans. He said that he didn't have much experience, but what would
it take to charter on of their cats? The base manager looked at him and
said, "Have you got a credit card?"
Anyway, if you're willing to take a risk, or if you don't mind "really
roughing it", then I would get experience in a 40 foot sailboat in any
way you can. Most of the charter companies ask in their sailing resumes
if you've ever chartered before. If you have, then they'll probably let
you take one of their boats. One more thing - READ THE FINE PRINT. Our
charter contract had a section in print that one would need a magnifying
glass to read that said we could ask for a different boat within 24
hours of the start of our charter if we felt that our boat wasn't in
good shape. Unfortunately, I had skipped over that section. Another
section said that the charter starts at 3:30 pm. As most of the
anchorages are filled up by 4:00, that didn't leave us mush time to
decide where we wanted to go, but that is a whole 'nother story.
Butch, good luck. Whatever you decide to do I hope it works out. If you
have any questions, let me know.
Andy