First timers BVI- advice needed

[Shoyrtt]

Originally Posted by KristinP2

Thank you all in advance for your advice. My husband and I and 2 teen daughters have put a deposit down on a Marine Max 443 Catamaran for a week adventure in BVI first week of August this summer. It’s my husbands dream trip as he did this trip as a kid. We have had a 29ft boat for 2 summers on Long Island Sound. I am very nervous about the trip. I have many concerns. Is it reasonable for him to make the leap to a totally different much larger boat? We are not experienced boaters. I did think maybe we could hire a captain for thr first day to get the hang of it?Aside from of course the possibility of a hurricane.. is the weather fairly easy to navigate? Also, we are being give advice that it will be no problem for my 13 yr old who gets motion sick to sleep in the cabin at night?? We will be docking at night. I would love first impression thoughts.

We did the BVI trip with Marine Max back in November of 2021 on the 44' Aquila. The only concern that I have is with your statement "We are not experienced boaters." I would suggest that you take a class or two before your trip to learn about safety and navigation and the handling of this boat using the twin engines. It is much different than a 29' single engine boat. Here is a thread that covered our trip that I posted on the Club Sea Ray website that gives lots of details.
https://www.clubsearay.com/index.php...ahamas.105942/

[Shoyrtt]

Originally Posted by KristinP2

Thank you all in advance for your advice. My husband and I and 2 teen daughters have put a deposit down on a Marine Max 443 Catamaran for a week adventure in BVI first week of August this summer. It’s my husbands dream trip as he did this trip as a kid. We have had a 29ft boat for 2 summers on Long Island Sound. I am very nervous about the trip. I have many concerns. Is it reasonable for him to make the leap to a totally different much larger boat? We are not experienced boaters. I did think maybe we could hire a captain for thr first day to get the hang of it?Aside from of course the possibility of a hurricane.. is the weather fairly easy to navigate? Also, we are being give advice that it will be no problem for my 13 yr old who gets motion sick to sleep in the cabin at night?? We will be docking at night. I would love first impression thoughts.

Now let me try and answer your individual questions:
1. Marine Max will have a captain go out with you for a few hours if you are not comfortable with the boat and to show you the systems. The offered this to us but we declined. I had a little over 200 hours driving our 45' Sea Ray back in 2021 and 30 years before that with ski boats.
2. The weather for us wasn't much of a problem, but you should get the Windy app which will give you a fairly accurate forecast. You can also check the US National Weather Service for the USVI as a secondary source.
3. As far as navigation, make sure you can use the GPS/Chartplotter to chart your course each day and make it through the shallow area just outside of Anegada.
4. You will maybe dock in a slip once the entire trip when you visit the Scrub Island Resort. The rest of the time you will be on a mooring.
5. The sea sick 13 year old will probably have their sea legs after a couple of days. My suggestion is to have your teenager on the flybridge while traveling. Once you get to your destination and get tied up, the seas are generally calm and sleeping shouldn't be a problem. It is getting sea sick in the first place that you want to try and avoid.