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Jughead135 · 03-09-2022, 20:23

We've booked with DYC from Compass Point for November. We've got a 41' Beneteau Oceanis monohull, which is to be our first bareboat charter. I probably have more questions than I realize at this point!

I'm wondering if American Yacht Harbor (or any other marina) in Red Hook has transient docks available for short-term tie-offs? Looking to kill two birds with one stone....

The big area we haven't addressed yet in our planning is provisioning. We have a slightly broken schedule: we have the boat for 10 days, but it'll be just my wife & me for the first three. The other two couples joining us have not sailed before, so I'm debating trying to find a dock to pick them up vs. trial-by-dinghy-fire for their first intro to sailing in the Islands!

I wonder if there are any docks in (say) Red Hook / Vessup Bay where we could combine a provisioning run with a pickup? Not looking to spend the night or get any hookups or services--just a couple of hours to hit the market & board our friends. I gather slips can be hard to come by--what about a short-term tie-off? Do any of the provisioners on the island have a deal with the marinas, "come tie off here while you shop"? The idea would be to do a short provisioning for the first three days (just the two of us) beforehand, and get our guests involved in the main provisioning for the next seven days (for all six of us)....

Any & all advice are welcomed by this newbie!!

wingssail · 03-09-2022, 21:15

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jughead135

We've booked with DYC from Compass Point for November. We've got a 41' Beneteau Oceanis monohull, which is to be our first bareboat charter. I probably have more questions than I realize at this point!

I'm wondering if American Yacht Harbor (or any other marina) in Red Hook has transient docks available for short-term tie-offs? Looking to kill two birds with one stone....

The big area we haven't addressed yet in our planning is provisioning. We have a slightly broken schedule: we have the boat for 10 days, but it'll be just my wife & me for the first three. The other two couples joining us have not sailed before, so I'm debating trying to find a dock to pick them up vs. trial-by-dinghy-fire for their first intro to sailing in the Islands!

I wonder if there are any docks in (say) Red Hook / Vessup Bay where we could combine a provisioning run with a pickup? Not looking to spend the night or get any hookups or services--just a couple of hours to hit the market & board our friends. I gather slips can be hard to come by--what about a short-term tie-off? Do any of the provisioners on the island have a deal with the marinas, "come tie off here while you shop"? The idea would be to do a short provisioning for the first three days (just the two of us) beforehand, and get our guests involved in the main provisioning for the next seven days (for all six of us)....

Any & all advice are welcomed by this newbie!!

My first thought is, why not ask DYC at Compass Point, after all, you are their customer? But honestly, you are not going to get all that done in a couple of hours, you'd need four hours at least. Don't ask for two hours and then take four. That's how charter outfits come to hate customers.

Second, anchor out and use the dingy. You meet your other guests at the airport and get their luggage onto the boat by dingy, then got back to shore and go to the market, take a cab back to the dingy dock and haul it out to the boat.

Better yet, Meet them, get them on the boat (by dingy) have cocktails and a nice dinner, sleep there, and do the shopping the next day. They will be tired from travelling anyway.

wholybee · 03-09-2022, 21:18

Red Hook didn't let me dock there short term. I think your answer is no. Red Hook, although a nice spot ashore, is a terrible anchorage. The outer bay is exposed and uncomfortable, and inside / Vessup bay is shallow and packed with mooring balls. Super crowded, you very well might not be able to find a spot to anchor at all. I nearly ran aground because of the lack of maneuvering room and strong trade winds that day. You couldn't pay me to take my boat in there again.

Charlotte Amalie is a bigger tourist spot, with Cruise ships and tourist trap bars and restaurants etc. So it isn't the nicest place to stay a long time, but it is a large bay that is easy to anchor in, and the east side is well protected from the NE winds. The center can get some chop if the wind turns south, but even then I think it is better than Red Hook. And there are several grocery stores an easy walk from the dingy landing areas, one at the marina, and one near the USGC dock.

Jughead135 · 04-09-2022, 20:15

Quote:

Originally Posted by wingssail

My first thought is, why not ask DYC at Compass Point, after all, you are their customer? But honestly, you are not going to get all that done in a couple of hours, you'd need four hours at least. Don't ask for two hours and then take four. That's how charter outfits come to hate customers.

Second, anchor out and use the dingy. You meet your other guests at the airport and get their luggage onto the boat by dingy, then got back to shore and go to the market, take a cab back to the dingy dock and haul it out to the boat.

Better yet, Meet them, get them on the boat (by dingy) have cocktails and a nice dinner, sleep there, and do the shopping the next day. They will be tired from travelling anyway.

Yep, engaging Compass Point to explore options--just covering all my bases by asking here, too. I pulled three hours out of thin air--the idea would be to have our friends do the shopping, then meet us at the dock with the goods. If all goes well, that wouldn't take much time at all <fingers crossed>....

The dinghy answer (with or without cocktails

) is certainly on the table--I'm just trying to figure out how best to ease the landlubbers into the fold....

Thanks!