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s/v 'Faith' · 14-11-2011, 16:58

I am hoping someone here can help me out.

I have gotten myself in a bit of a bind, my mother and aunt travel somewhere every year... this year they are relying on me to charter a boat and take them sailing in the Virgin Islands.

I am a licensed USCG Master, with cruising experience (and references) so I would not think any charter company would have trouble with my business... I am looking for a boat to accomidate 2 women (with their own space) and my wife and I.... probably 40+' mono or a Cat.

Looking for about 3 weeks, sometime around May of 2012... most quotes I am getting back are MUCH higher then I expected (8k and up!).

Any suggestions?

Maybe someone has a boat they wanted delivered to the VI, and would not mind letting me use it for a couple weeks on arrival?

Thanks for any and all help you can provide.

knotnow · 14-11-2011, 17:14

Where in the VI's. US or British. May should not be a problem

s/v 'Faith' · 14-11-2011, 17:51

Quote:

Originally Posted by knotnow

Where in the VI's. US or British. May should not be a problem

Frankly not really concerned, have been to St. Croix, St. Thomas, St. Johns.... I am looking for a 'user friendly' few weeks of island hopping that might approximate something like what I have experienced in my travels.

I would love to find a boat that needed to get down there, and work out something with the owner or charter company.

Thanks for the reply, I appreciate any and all help anyone can offer.

knotnow · 14-11-2011, 18:11

Quote:

Originally Posted by s/v 'Faith'

Frankly not really concerned, have been to St. Croix, St. Thomas, St. Johns.... I am looking for a 'user friendly' few weeks of island hopping that might approximate something like what I have experienced in my travels.

I would love to find a boat that needed to get down there, and work out something with the owner or charter company.

Thanks for the reply, I appreciate any and all help anyone can offer.

Ya betcha,

Delivering a yacht/boat in return for backside usage is a great way to go. The problem this year seams to be there are a whole lot of “qualified skippers”??? giving their time a way so that limits your bargaining power.

I would suggest you contact Conch Charter’s on Tortola. For a second tier Charter Company they have it together more than All first tiers that I have experience with. And have picked up delivery boats from a few.

bstreep · 16-11-2011, 13:28

Try BVI Yacht Charters, Tortola. We love them, and have recommended them to many others. They have a B 40 for $2450 a week. For 3 weeks, you should be able to get a pretty decent discount - down to about $6K, I'd guess.

Vasco · 16-11-2011, 13:53

Go with a second tier company such as Conch Charters. Rates should be lower in May as the peak season goes till March, also you can get quite a discount for three weeks. Remember the price is negotiable!

s/v Breakaway · 18-11-2011, 14:49

Try Pro Valor Charters, too. It's in Tortola, BVI. I keep my boat there, and they seem very nice and have a good selection of boats.

http://www.provalorcharters.com

solafson · 03-07-2014, 13:23

Breakaway, is your boat still with Pro Valor? Which one is it?

Steve

s/v Breakaway · 16-07-2014, 10:41

solafson,

No, Provalor gave up one of their two docks last fall thereby eliminating their extra spaces, so I moved to Sea Cow Bay.

SailBeat · 11-11-2014, 03:31

Have a look here if you want to compare all the yachts available in the bvis

SAILBEAT - Yacht Listings

captainjay · 11-11-2014, 03:45

I am part of the management team at the largest bareboat company in St Thomas. Honestly unless you rent an old boat you aren't going to do much better than $8000 for three weeks. May is season C which is the third lowest rate we have. The smallest least expensive boat we charter is a two year old Hunter 36 that time of year it runs $2800 a week. Charters longer than ten days get a ten % discount.

Our rates are competitive with any of the first tier companies. Conch might be able to do a little better but you will be on a much older boat. It is possible you might find an owner that is phasing out of a first tier company that wants to deliver his or her boat back to the US before hurricane season and work something out but that's a long shot. Most boats don't leave until June or July.

Also business is good this year so far and bookings are strong. If you want three weeks on the same boat in row you definitely need to book sooner rather than later. I would be surprised if we any boats in our fleet that have an open three weeks in row for the year.

Jay