Help!! Is this realistic?

[Lostgriz]

Hello,

I am looking toward my 20th wedding anniversary this February. As I have tried to decide on a special trip, I started thinking about sailing. As the thoughts started swirling, I started thinking it would be amazing if I could learn to sail and charter a small 34-36' sailboat in the BVI or West Indies for a week to celebrate our first 20 years of marriage.

So, I have only been on a sailboat a few times and did enjoy it, but I currently have no real sailing experience to speak of. I am an advanced hang glider pilot and actively compete in cross country racing, with 50 to 100 mile tasks being common. While that isn't sailing, I have to believe my experience with understanding weather will be a little bit of a leg up.

So, my question is, is this a realistic idea? What certifications/experience will be required to rent/charter a boat and can I reasonably fulfill those requirements in the time I have? Lastly, I live in Northern Virginia, what is the most cost effective way for me to move forward, if this is feasible?

If anyone among you can point me in the right direction or explain why this is a silly idea, I would be greatly appreciative!

Cheers,

Matt

Also, my wife is very capable and I assume would get some experience as well, but may not be able to commit the time to getting the certifications prior to this trip.

[LTDsailing]

Matt,

Your ideas are not far fetched at all. We run seven and ten day learn to sail trips in the islands of the Grenadines and have people sailing with us all the time in your exact situation. We are an American Sailing Association affiliate sailing school. Our Basic Cruise and Learn courses cover Basic Keelboat (ASA 101), Basic Coastal Cruising (ASA 103) and Bareboat Cruising (ASA 104). By the end of this course you will have had the opportunity to earn all three certifications. These are the certifications that most charter companies are looking for to qualify you to charter a 35 - 45' boat on your own.

Whether you are ready or not is largely up to you. The learning curve is nearly vertical and the most important thing for you to do after a course like this is to get out on the water and practice the skills you have learned. It is important to build you confidence and experience sailing on your own - but the class is a great way to start. It will also give you a good taste of what cruising through the islands is all about.

Take a look at our website and let me know if you have any questions. You can either contact me through CF, our website or email me directly at Chris@LTDsailing.com

Beam winds,

Chris

[skipmac]

Excellent advise and comments from Chris but I will add my two cents.

My experience regarding certifications to charter, the charter company is way more interested in your abilities than the certificates you have. I've never taken a class but the couple of times I've chartered the companies seemed completely satisfied with my qualifications based on the interviews and the questions I asked them about the boat, equipment, etc.

Yes there is a very steep learning curve and how quickly one gets there varies a lot from person to person. A lot will also depend on your dedication to the process and how much time and energy you put into it. I have seen a lot of pilots that took up sailing and most picked up at least the navigation and technical end of it very quickly. There is still the hands on one needs to figure out all the lines, sail handling, boat handling (like docking) that books just can't teach.

[bix85]

Chris and Skipmac both have good information. I never took classes, and I was able to baseboard, but I started with extensive dingy sailing experience. My lack of large boat experience was a concern to the first two charter companies, so I had them provide a captain for the first day on each charter. This worked well. Before I even started the charter search, I read most of Chapman's (browsing much of it, but concentrating on anchoring, docking, navigating, and the "rules of the road".
Classes will probably make the overall effort less (you won't need to figure out what to learn), but will cost more.
The only way to do this before Feb without classes is to find a boat, or boats that will let you help out. A good place to start is crewing on a boat in a regatta. Wednesday seems to be a common day for weekly races (look online for races), and you can just show up and offer to crew in many places.

Sent from my 2PQ93 using Cruisers Sailing Forum mobile app

[SSgtPitt]

Your 20th should definately be memorable, but for the right reasons. Learning to sail, going sailing and actually handling a boat plus all the million things that can and will go wrong is quite different. Pilots take to sailing quickly, their spouses may not enjoy the adrenaline rush when the toilet backs up, the boat leaks a little, the sails flog, the engine won't start, the boat won't stop moving, a breaker or fuse goes, the anchor gets stuck ( up or down ) etc etc. Not all charter boats are in pristine condition. They make their money turning the boat around and getting it back out. ( not being mean, just honest )

How does your spouse feel about sailing and being on a small boat for a week?

Chartering a boat with a crew might make it much more enjoyable and they can anchor / moor the boat in the evenings and leave you and your wife alone on it in the evenings while the crew goes ashore to be with their own families.

For our 25th, we spent a week with Aggressor / Dancer fleet diving the Red Sea. Full crew, 100' boat, seperate suites w heads and showers.......the wife liked it so much she said, "you know, if we had our own boat we could dive wherever we wanted." And here we are.
Just sayin' , if you make it fun and enjoyable the first time, then you can get into the tougher stuff later.

[barnakiel]

Ask someone you do like and who is a keen sailor to join you on your BVI charter.

You will get as much tuition as the fella can bear between drinks.

The plan is good but take 'a sailing instructor' with you. Or hire one locally.

b.

[crankysailor]

ya it is doable.. you sound like a healthy normal not mentally retarded person so you will probably be fine. Since I didn't have any sailing friends or otherwise access to sailing at all I had to go the "training" route.. which means I booked myself an RYA course and really set my head to learn as much as I could and here I am six months later living on my own boat as I write this and so far haven't hit anything ... too hard :big grin:

The first couple of times alone in a Marina WILL be stressful.. mine was plane embarrassing but on my defense I got myself a Contessa which is.. how should I put this?.. a "challenge" going astern. Anyway.. I still didn't hit anything or anybody and a couple of weeks later I am coming into unfamiliar ports like Captain Ron.. so.. yes.. you can learn this and no.. you don't have to have a sailing pedigree or anything.. at least unless the wind picks up... then everything becomes more critical...

So.. put your head down to it.. take a course with a good instructor.. learn learn.. play it safe, charter yourself a smallish boat (definitely under 32ft) and you will be fine

[MarkJ]

Matt,

The idea of an aniversary vacation is to do something nice for your spouse.
I.e what would SHE like as a vacation. Not you.

I think learning to sail on a charter could be the worst romantic vacation in the world.

If sailing is her idea then fine.

But she may just want a week in a resort where she can be pampered all day in a spa and gaze into your eyes all night.

Find out before railroading the poor girl.

[sailpower]

MarkJ is right but even if she likes the idea of being on a boat, she might not like the reality of a bareboat once on board. That would make for a long week and you will be constantly stressed anyway due to your own lack of experience.

In this situation a crewed charter on a larger boat (catamaran?) that pampers you both seems like a better choice.

Let someone else cook, clean, make the drinks and deploy/recover the toys.

[meatservo]

Good answer....

[Lostgriz]

Thank you all for the great feedback and things to consider. I will be looking into your suggestions further. I have been looking at schools locally and will be looking into LTD as well.

True to form, I am jumping right in. been doing lots of reading and actually some boat shopping. After researching some first boat options, I am looking at Catalina MKIII 30's and 310's from the early 2000s. Seems like a pretty good fit for a first boat for our crew.

I will keep you posted.