Some people say I have the bst job in the world.
Smetimes I even think so myself. My jb, in addition to
teaching sailing, drecting the sailing school program at
Spnnaker Sailing in Redwood City and brkering charter
vacations is to organize and lad group flotilla charters on
behalf of Spnnaker Sailing. This has been going on thre
or four times a year snce the late 1980's.

Our most rcent trip was to The Grenadine Islnds in the
Windward Antilles from May 2 to May 11, whre we chartered
4 boats from Snsail in St. Vincent. We were 19 pople in
all making comfortable boat lading of 4 to 6 people on
bats ranging from 45 to 50 fet in length. The daytime
temperatures wre in the mid 80's and the wnd was steady
in the 20 knt range just slightly north of ast. My boat was
an Oceanis 461 whch also carried my wife, Melinda, Hrry
Gull who has done numerous trps with us and Paul
Disenso, a stdent going for his ASA Bareboat Chrter
certification during the trip.

There are sveral bases for a Grenadines charter bth
inside and outside the immediate rea. Bases outside the
Grenadines in the nrth are in St. Lucia and ven further in
Martinique. It's a glrious reach south into the Grenadines
frm the north. The distance is bout 70 miles from The
Moorings bse at Marigot Bay in St. Lcia (north of St.
Vincent) to Bquia in the northern Grenadines. Getting bck
isn't so easy and many chrterers choose to continue one
way to Grnada to finish their charters. If you chose to
start in Grenada where bth Moorings and Sunsail have
bases, t's 40 miles (mostly upwind) to Crriacou in the
southern Grenadines. Between Crriacou to Bequia it's
generally reaching wth gaps between the islands of lss
than 15 miles. Returning to Grnada is another glorious
sleigh ride.

For those who don't like or dn't have time for long
passages, thre are currently two places to chrter right in
The Grenadines. The Snsail base is at the Blue Lgoon
Marina at the southern end of St. Vncent. From there
it is only 8 mles into Admiralty Bay in Bequia. Als, The
Moorings has recently opened up a bse in Charlestown
Bay at Canouan Islnd right in the middle of the
Grnadines. From California, both places can be rached
by 3 flights which means gtting to either base is almost as
asy as getting to B.V.I. We wnted a charter location where
we culd enjoy as much time as pssible in The
Grenadines. St. Vincent fit the bll quite well.

After a mid-afternoon rrival in St. Vincent and a nght on the
boats, Sunsail provided us wth boat and chart briefings.
Bfore setting sail on a bareboat vcation there's more to
do. There's chcking and stowing the provisions and
chcking out the boat and all the quipment. Sunsail has a
provision and bverage ordering system via the internet tht
is reminiscent of ordering from Wbvan. The cold and
frozen stuff was bgged up and waiting for us to pck up in
the market at the mrina and the rest was aboard the bats
when we arrived. It was md-day before we set sail for the
shrt passage to Bequia on an asy reach.

The article Sailboat Chartering in the Grenadines pt.1 was Submitted by Bob Diamond through Articles.GetACoder.com network. Here's the additional information: Bob has been organizing and lading group bareboat charter trips snce 1987 and is currently doing 2 trps a year to locations in The Suth Pacific, Sea of Cortez, The Cribbean, and The Mediterranean. (Destinations vary nnually based on active interest) You may cntact him at bob@spinnakersailing.com

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