Charter do's and don't

[upstateny]

Originally Posted by Steven UK

all advice taken, understood and being put into practice. we had a good sail from Norman to Jost yesterday. good wind and some swell. kind of what we needed to get the excitement factor up. the bay on the West end of Jost (by soggy dollar) ...

We die for the SDB burgers and fries.

Have a drink at Foxy's and walk about 100 feet down the beach to Corsairs Beach Bar & Restaurant. Corsairs has some the best food in the BVIs. Make sure you get a reservation. I guarantee you will be glad you did. The owner Vinny is from New Paltz, NY near me.

[nautical62]

Having owned a boat in charter, the big thing that comes to mind to me is the necessity of reporting all problems to the charter company. I think some who charter are afraid to admit problems, but many problems simply won't be caught by the company if not reported, and then the next party or owner is stuck dealing with them as well.


I think there are a lot of situations and areas in which locking a dingy is not easy and not necessary.

One thing I've noticed trading and chartering in the Abacos, is an incredible inconsistency in how depth sounders are set. A 1.5 foot difference there can really matter! I like to snorkel under the boat the first time I'm anchored in shallow water, to verify the accuracy.

Another suggestion for those chartering in the Bahamas is to get the Garmin app and charts ($30) for iPad and iPhone. The Garmin charts which use the explorer chart information is much more accurate and more user friendly than the GPS units coming with many of the boats, something I really wish they'd change there.

For those new to chartering, planning to get your night's anchorage or mooring field early, can resolve a lot of potential issues. (Sun higher, fewer boats, less worry about time constraints, etc.)

[upstateny]

Originally Posted by nautical62

............
One thing I've noticed trading and chartering in the Abacos, is an incredible inconsistency in how depth sounders are set. A 1.5 foot difference there can really matter! .........

Another suggestion for those chartering in the Bahamas is to get the Garmin app and charts ($30) for iPad and iPhone. .......

Yup we like to calibrated depth sounder on the boat ASAP. They are always off by a few feet. I bring a 25 boot thin cord with red marks every 5 feet and black marks every foot inbetween. Tie one of the boat's wrenches to the string and calibrate. Its all good.

As a backup I like the highly rated Navionics Application for iPhone or Android smartphone. Requires multiple cell tower to provide location. Works well in BVIs. ASA gave Navionics there highest smartphone rating. You can turn off CELL data and not use any minutes as long as nobody call you and still get a good GPS location. They do sell a satellite device that plugs into the smartphone for location services outside of cell tower range. Some of the new more expensive handheld GPS have touch screens.

[StuM]

Originally Posted by upstateny

As a backup I like the highly rated Navionics Application for iPhone or Android smartphone. Requires multiple cell tower to provide location. Works well in BVIs. ASA gave Navionics there highest smartphone rating. You can turn off CELL data and not use any minutes as long as nobody call you and still get a good GPS location. They do sell a satellite device that plugs into the smartphone for location services outside of cell tower range. Some of the new more expensive handheld GPS have touch screens.

Navionics on an Android phone or tablet does not require cell towers - just the built in GPS receiver.

I frequently use it hundreds of miles from the nearest phone services.

Best to put the device into Flight mode to save power - otherwise it will keep trying to locate a cellular service and use up the battery. GPS still works in Flight mode.

[SSgtPitt]

Watching the video of "bumper boats", no one seemed to be irate. Is this normal? We don't charter and have only sailed from Pensacola to Corpus Christi, but seeing all those boats cluster Fk'd together seems to be contrary to why we sail. To Get Away.
Wouldn't you get PO'd if some numnutz sailed into you? How do you handle that? It would never occur to me anchor close to anyone.

[denverd0n]

Originally Posted by SSgtPitt

It would never occur to me anchor close to anyone.

Ah, well, you probably haven't sailed in the BVI then, have you? Or any of the other extremely popular chartering destinations.

Personally, I think it is an evolutionary imperative. It's the same reason that cars always bunch up on the highway. Humans evolved to be social animals. Ten thousand years ago we had a much better chance of survival if we stayed close to other humans. Hence, still today, those who are not actually thinking about what they are doing have a natural tendency to want to be near to other people. So, both on the highway and in anchorages, people tend to bunch up, despite the fact that--if you actually exercise a few brain cells--it is immediately apparent that this is not a smart thing to do.

Pick the most out of the way corner, in the most isolated anchorage, and within a few hours it is very likely that someone will come along and anchor practically on top of you. In exactly the same way, you can be driving down the most isolated road in existence, and when you come upon a car going slower than you, they will speed up and stay right next to you for the next couple of miles or so (or, if they are the one going faster, they will slow down to stay next to you).

It is the subconscious hind-brain in action. Sadly, there are way too many people out there who only use their hind-brain, and never actually engage the grey matter.

[a64pilot]

Originally Posted by SSgtPitt

Watching the video of "bumper boats", no one seemed to be irate. Is this normal? We don't charter and have only sailed from Pensacola to Corpus Christi, but seeing all those boats cluster Fk'd together seems to be contrary to why we sail. To Get Away.
Wouldn't you get PO'd if some numnutz sailed into you? How do you handle that? It would never occur to me anchor close to anyone.

I think in the Gulf, we are in a different world, more often than not, there are zero boats near me at anchor. If someone were to anchor near me, I'd mostly likely move

[Saleen411]

Originally Posted by a64pilot

I think in the Gulf, we are in a different world, more often than not, there are zero boats near me at anchor. If someone were to anchor near me, I'd mostly likely move

This has happened to me a lot....have the whole frigging anchorage available, and of course somebody HAS to park right next to me. (HELLOOOOO, there's plenty of mooring balls about 200 meters away} BTW, my sailing friends have NO sympathy since they say it's because of my deck candy. They all say they would do the same thing.

On another occasion in Anegada.....we came back from mopeding around the island to discover a 50' something boat full of horny Danes RAFTED up to our little 38 footer. Excuse was, no more mooring balls available and he was afraid to anchor....wanted to sleep at night. (sigh)

THAT really falls into the "don't category. I couldn't imagine doing such a thing....entering an anchorage and rafting up to just any boat without asking permission.

[JstaRebel]

Originally Posted by Steven UK

I'll be chartering out of the BVI later this year to basically spend some sailing time, so far too much theory and not enough sailing... So one of my priorities is to sail a lot. Maybe even a overnight passage. Question is what is recommended or forbidden by the charter companies in the area? Daytime only, hug the islands? Or anything you want as long as it gets back in one piece...?

Depending on how the Anagada Passage is looking, an overnight sail from BVI to St. Maarten or Anguilla is perfectly doable. Keep in mind that with the usual east winds, coming back will be much easier than going. I'm not sure if this is your first trip, but most bare Boat Charters never leave what we refer to as "The Pond" which is the Sir Francis Drake channel and are content to island hop from Tortola to Norman, Cooper, Trellis Bay, Virgin Gourda, and Jost Van Dyke never really leaving the safety of the pond for the open ocean.

One trip you may consider if you are looking to do an overnight would be to sail over to Water Island off the southwest shore of St. Thomas. Great anchorage, great people, and I'm sure you and your family or friends would enjoy it there. Another fairly safe overnight sail would be to go to Cullebra or Vieques. Cullebra is one of my favorite islands and of course Vieques has "Bio-luminescent Bay" which I think everybody should experience. Google it.
As already mentioned, check where is available with the leasing company before hand.

On to what to do and NOT to do when chartering a bare boat.

DO LIST:
1. make sure you have plenty of provisions.
2. make sure you are comfortable with opertating the vessel and are comfortable with how the systems work. If not, ASK AGAIN..
3. LEAVE CELL PHONES ON THE DOCK. You can use the VHF without issue for emergencies.
4. Bring some games, cards, boardgames, or whatever you like with you to maximize quality family time together and to help others fight off boredom during your sail.
5. DO MAKE SURE that you and your family have a great time..

DON'T LIST:
1. forget to haul in the dinghy when coming in to anchor or moor up and end up fouling the prop and shaft with the dinghy rode.
2. go into unknown anchorages at night. Always head in so you can be safely anchored before it gets dark.
3. Anchor extremely close to other vessels. Even though your boat is a rental, many own their boat and don't fancy some bare boater anchoring right next to them so close that if the wind dies at night and the boats shift around that the bare boater bangs into them.
4. Drop anchor over another boats anchor gear. This is done by bare boaters all of the time nothing pisses off a boater more than having a tangled mess to deal with when hauling anchor.
5. Be disrespectful to locals. The pace down here is much slower than you are probably use to, so if waiting 20 minutes for a hamburger, remember that you aint in Kansas anymore Dorthy.. BE PATIENT..
6. If you are in Trellis Bay or Jost for the full moon party, Don't drink the tea!! Stay with beer or wine.

[a64pilot]

Originally Posted by Saleen411

THAT really falls into the "don't category. I couldn't imagine doing such a thing....entering an anchorage and rafting up to just any boat without asking permission.

Neither could I, but customs are different in other parts of the world.
Took me a little while to get used to having other people sit down to eat at "our" table when we had gone out to eat in Germany.
May be normal behavior in Denmark?

[denverd0n]

Originally Posted by JstaRebel

1. make sure you have plenty of provisions.

All in all, excellent advise. This one, though, I have to say is kind of a "do" and a "don't." That is, do provision enough, but don't over-provision.

I see people going out on a week-long charter that look like they are provisioning for a six-month trek in the wilderness. Especially around the Virgin Islands, you are never very far from a grocery store or a restaurant. You're not going to starve! If you run out of food, there is an excellent probability that you are within an hour of somewhere that you can buy more.

On our first charter we tried to lay out menus and be sure that we had absolutely everything that we needed before we left the dock. We ended up eating more restaurant meals than we had originally planned, didn't eat as much as we expected, and had a lot of food left over at the end. Now we provision light. We make sure to always have a couple of breakfasts and dinners on hand, and at least some snacks for lunch. Other than that we play it by ear. If the pantry is starting to look a little bare then we pick up a bit more at our next stop.

This is probably not the most efficient, nor least expensive, way to provision. Nonetheless, it is better than wasting a lot of money on food that gets left at the end. It also gets us off the boat, out walking around, meeting locals, and so on.

So, do provision enough. Don't provision too much.

[Shrew]

Originally Posted by SSgtPitt

Watching the video of "bumper boats", no one seemed to be irate. Is this normal?

Getting frustrated and angry is like panicking. It serves no practical purpose. Screaming at this guy is NOT going to make things any better. Solve the problem first, choose to address the problem maker after the fact.

In all honesty, people make mistakes.

Originally Posted by SSgtPitt

We don't charter and have only sailed from Pensacola to Corpus Christi, but seeing all those boats cluster Fk'd together seems to be contrary to why we sail. To Get Away.

Some people just like boating and sailing and doing so in beautiful areas. Not everyone desires to be a hermit. Being away from stress of work and life are good enough. If I wanted a perfect isolated life I would be constantly frustrated (see response #1).

Originally Posted by SSgtPitt

Wouldn't you get PO'd if some numnutz sailed into you? How do you handle that?

I address the problem first, then decide whether to address the problem maker. No matter how you imagine that exchange going in your head, the confrontation will not go the way you want or expect. People don't accept blame well. It's just human nature. You will come off like the azzhole in the long run.

Originally Posted by SSgtPitt

It would never occur to me anchor close to anyone.

Sometimes you don't have a choice. The more you anchor tight, the more used to it you get.

You'd be surprised how many nice people you meet in the anchorage this way. I have friends now that we've met through anchoring misadventures. It's just a matter of whether you approach it like your boating (F-it), or like you're still doing the Monday - Friday grind (be a bear about it).

After all, isn't it that mindset that we're really trying to escape?

[Saleen411]

Originally Posted by a64pilot

Neither could I, but customs are different in other parts of the world.
Took me a little while to get used to having other people sit down to eat at "our" table when we had gone out to eat in Germany.
May be normal behavior in Denmark?

Same in many places in Asia too, depending on the type of restaurant. In many cases places are small and tables HAVE to become communal. HOWEVER....some diners WILL still sit at your table even when other vacant tables are available. I've never quite understood this....

Same with this so called "herding" instinct at anchorages or parking lots for that matter. I've never said anything, but I have moved on numerous occasions.

As to the horny Danes....even though I wasn't happy I was tempted to let them stay. Long story short....GF wasn't happy with the ogling and their basic inappropriateness and wanted them gone.

As to the topic at hand...... I'm sure what happened to us was a VERY rare occurrence.....never happened before or since and probably wasn't even worth mentioning except for wanting to shed light on the concept of respecting other people's privacy at anchorages. Something that definitely fits into the "DO" category.

[Stu Jackson]

Originally Posted by denverd0n

It's the same reason that cars always bunch up on the highway.

I think that's simply because people have forgotten (or never learned) how to pass safely. Even on Interstates, the dumbos actually slow down when they're passing, especially a truck!

[contrail]

3. LEAVE CELL PHONES ON THE DOCK. You can use the VHF without issue for emergencies.


Actually, Virgin Islands Search And Rescue (VISAR), the very competent volunteer rescue service in the BVI, don't monitor the VHF. Call 767 (SOS) on your cell phone.

If the USCG gets involved, they will ask if you have a cell phone, too.