Advice for a couple of new Day Skippers

[Hodders]

Before we had kids (so about 15 years ago), my wife and I used to spend at least a couple of weeks a year sailing with friends on bareboat charters. In total we have about 6 weeks of bareboat charter experience where the sailing was as much part of the holiday as the sunshine.

Now the kids are older we want to be able to take them with us on sailing holidays.

So we have both done DS theory and recently got back from a 5 day course for the DS practical.

The big questions is what would people advise as the next step:

1) Organise a bareboat flotilla so we have help (if we need it) with mooring/reserving berths etc.

2) Just get on with it and book a week somewhere easy - Ionian/BVI etc and take things easy.

We are pretty confident with navigation and the actual sailing bit, handling a strange boat in a busy stern-to harbour with no lazy-lines with a tricky cross wind is where nervousness would set in!

Any advice gratefully received as we are very much aware that DS is very much the first step.

[petermjdavies]

Yes the stern too mooring thing needs practice. We did a charter with some friends in Croatia. They had anchoring and stern to experience. Made life easy.

Of course you could choose to anchor and avoid the hassle and expense.

[JoeRobertJr]

Hi, Hodders, and to the forum!

Docking is for us the most nerve-wracking part of sailing. We took the ASA 118 course on docking, and that was a tremendous help. During our first bareboat charter, we were still quite nervous about the docking, but we did what we learned, and all our docking went smoothly.

Marinas will often send staff out to help you with docking if you call them on your approach and ask for help. But, we prefer to handle things ourselves, and then we control the pace and procedure.

[ChrisJHC]

The hard part about docking is understanding how the boat handles at low speed and while dealing with wind and current.

One practice that can help is, when you charter a boat, find a quiet patch of water with a handy buoy and spend an hour or so manoeuvring around that buoy from all different angles and forwards and backwards.

And, when you do come to docking for real, plan it well ahead and have a backout plan in case things don’t go as expected.
There is no shame in taking a couple of tries to dock.

[Hodders]

The long term aim is the solitude and peace of a quiet anchorage. We're much more a quiet drink after an evening swim than a lively night in a busy bar.

Sailing is a passport to places that other people can't get to. That makes us sound really anti-social! We're not, but if our only mooring was the start and finish with peaceful evenings at anchor in-between we'd be happy.

We did our DS on a Beneteau First 40.7 so a single rudder and no bow thruster. Single rudder gave good steerage astern and the ability to give a short burst of forwards for any quick correction. We did practise stern to moorings on some finger pontoons and played around with powering off the windward stern line to control the bow.

But very aware it's very different when you don't have advice on hand.

Really appreciate all the advice!

[Adelie]

Welcome.

I would suggest updating your profile with your general location and your boat make & model or “Looking” in the "Boat" category. This info shows up under your UserName in every post in the web view. Many questions are boat and/or location dependent and having these tidbits under your UserName saves answering those questions repeatedly. If you need help setting up your profile then click on this link: https://www.cruisersforum.com/forums...ml#post3308797

I would happily help more if the link above is not enough.

[GordMay]

Greetings and welcome aboard the CF, Hodders.

[clippercol]

Hey I am a new skipper so what do I know. But I do know having a big boat hook helps a ton with docking and maneuvering around other boats.
Seems basic because it is. But you can save a collision and guide the boat with a boat hook. Seen it, done it, try it.
Cheers

[LittleWing77]

Originally Posted by Hodders

The long term aim is the solitude and peace of a quiet anchorage. We're much more a quiet drink after an evening swim than a lively night in a busy bar.

Maybe skip the Med at first...?

If you would like a great jumping-off holiday, no docking (mooring balls have been set in all the popular anchorages to save the coral heads) and opportunities for snorkling and G&Ts in the cockpit as the sun sets, I would suggest that you dive into the British Virgin Islands this Winter. Prevailing winds are 10-15 knots SE almost every. single. day. No tides to speak of.

Great place to charter with your Day Skipper and get some uncomplicated practical experience on your own.

Fair winds!
LittleWing77

[Stewie12]

Both of your suggestions sound good to me. BVI waters are pretty calm and a good, place to start. Go for it and enjoy the learning experience but do less than trying to do too much and you will enjoy it more.

[SV.StellaMaris]

My husband and I did out first bareboat charter in the Virgin Islands many many moons (decades) ago. I still remember it as our most enjoyable holiday.

We did one week on a private charter, where the owner skippered the boat and his girlfriend cooked gourmet meals. The second week we did a bare boat charter out of Saint Thomas on our own.

As others have noted, the USVI and BVIs are easy enjoyable places to bareboat. It’s almost all moorings and line of sight navigation, with fair winds and moderate seas.

We found the 1st week with an experienced Captain helped us feel more confident and offered valuable local knowledge. It was actually less expensive than the bareboat charter, and included food, dive instruction, and as much sailing time and instruction as we wanted.

Although we had a lot of small boat experience, our largest boat to that time was a 22’ Bristol. I had also done a week long sailing course in the Chesapeake on a 40’ sailboat. But having a week together on a larger boat and knowing the ares before hand helped build our confidence as a couple.

I don’t know if the company we used for the private charter is still operating. But most of the bareboat companies will provide a captain for as long as you want. Depending on your experience sailing and chartering, they may also require it.

I’m not familiar with the DS course you mentioned. Is it a “Day Sailor” designation? I did my course through Sea Sense. No ASA cert, but a great course all the same. Don’t know if that’s still operating either….feeling a bit old here!
:-)

Love to hear what you decide to do.

[jim King]

As others have mentioned, you can't go wrong in the BVI. Over 100 islands to choose from with nice secluded bays to anchor. Many bays with mooring balls. Constant wind from the east. Most of the charter companies can provide a skipper for the day or as long as you like to build up your confidence. If you have enough experience you won't need to have an ASA 104 or equivalent bareboat license.
In the Med you won't be allowed to charter without your 104 or equivalent. some places like Belize, along with your 104, you will be require to fill out a full resume of your experience sailing the type of boat you will charter.
BVI would be my first choice for you at this point as it will allow you to ease into the sail with little drama either at dock, anchoring, or sailing. Most of the charter companies will even have dock hands that will come out and bring your charter back to dock.
Cheers, and see you on the water.

[goboatingnow]

Originally Posted by jim King

As others have mentioned, you can't go wrong in the BVI. Over 100 islands to choose from with nice secluded bays to anchor. Many bays with mooring balls. Constant wind from the east. Most of the charter companies can provide a skipper for the day or as long as you like to build up your confidence. If you have enough experience you won't need to have an ASA 104 or equivalent bareboat license.

In the Med you won't be allowed to charter without your 104 or equivalent. some places like Belize, along with your 104, you will be require to fill out a full resume of your experience sailing the type of boat you will charter.

BVI would be my first choice for you at this point as it will allow you to ease into the sail with little drama either at dock, anchoring, or sailing. Most of the charter companies will even have dock hands that will come out and bring your charter back to dock.

Cheers, and see you on the water.

No problem chartering in Greece with little experience , I watched a sunsail boat spend 20 minutes trying to chase down its dinghy that a crew had forgotten to tie on. In flat calm water

They give those to anyone

[Goodall_M1]

Originally Posted by Hodders

Before we had kids (so about 15 years ago), my wife and I used to spend at least a couple of weeks a year sailing with friends on bareboat charters. In total we have about 6 weeks of bareboat charter experience where the sailing was as much part of the holiday as the sunshine.

Now the kids are older we want to be able to take them with us on sailing holidays.

So we have both done DS theory and recently got back from a 5 day course for the DS practical.

The big questions is what would people advise as the next step:

1) Organise a bareboat flotilla so we have help (if we need it) with mooring/reserving berths etc.

2) Just get on with it and book a week somewhere easy - Ionian/BVI etc and take things easy.

We are pretty confident with navigation and the actual sailing bit, handling a strange boat in a busy stern-to harbour with no lazy-lines with a tricky cross wind is where nervousness would set in!

Any advice gratefully received as we are very much aware that DS is very much the first step.

When passed my Day Skipper many years ago it basically taught me how little I knew.

Remember that the RYA syllabus says that Day Skipper should teach you enough to handle a boat in waters that you know...

(and then they give you an ICC if you simply send them a photo and their fees, so that you can go out on a charter in waters that you have never seen before)

Even doing the DS practical won't really prepare you for the stress of entering a new harbour and working out how to do a stern-to Mediterranean mooring.

I would recommend looking into doing an Ionian flotilla with Sailing Holidays (www.sailingholidays.com) as their flotilla lead crew will assist you with docking etc. They are used to having inexperienced skippers in their fleets, whereas many other companies will insist on an ICC or Day Skipper practical.

I have done about 29 flotillas with them over the years as I like their back-up and also enjoy the social side.

Take a look at their web-site and watch some of their videos and see if they could be of interest to you.

[Clivevon]

Just go sailing. Any way, any where you fancy. You are unlikely to die, whatever. What you need is more experience. Just go & do it.