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St. Thomas Takes Sail: Wind in the Rigging

Author: Jim Y. Bartlett
Those of us who cut our teeth bareboating in the Caribbean, bareboating before bareboating was cool, have always looked upon opting for "crewed yachts" - rental boats that come complete with captain and cook - as sailing for wimps. After all, where is the sport if you don't skin all your knuckles struggling with an anchor windlass or drop a winch handle overboard or spend a restless night checking the anchor lines to make sure you're not drifting onto the reef?

Well, after a couple of nights aboard Samoa being catered to and cooked for by the young duo of Rob and Olivia, I wish to change my opinion of the crewed yacht experience: It ain't bad.

Bareboating is best reserved for the experienced sailor: The yachts come unprovisioned, and the itinerary is up to you. For those interested in a week or so of "gunkholing" - sailing from island to island in search of pristine anchorages, rollicking beach bars and fantail cookouts - it can be nirvana.

The crewed yacht charter is all that without the work of cooking, cleanups, and hoisting and striking the sails thrice a day. Sitting in the cockpit sipping a Painkiller while someone else worries about the anchor is, I discovered, not a bad thing.

Most of the yacht charters in St. Thomas are of the crewed variety, and there are a half-dozen or so charter brokers operating out of the U.S. Virgins who can arrange a week's voyage on a skippered yacht of virtually any size and configuration. (The bareboat business has centered, for the most part, on Tortola in the British Virgins, an island or two to the east.)

Hal Borns of Admiralty Yacht Charters (he also operates the Admiral's Inn overlooking Charlotte Amalie harbor), arranged for Capt. Rob to meet us on the dock at Red Hook on the East End. He dinghied us out to Samoa, a sleek, 62-foot French-made Dynamique: three double staterooms, each with private head and shower; huge glistening salon; roomy topside cockpit; and all kinds of recreational gear from a windsurfing board to fishing rods. Samoa charters out for US$7,900 a week for four or US$8,900 for six year-round.

We had her for just a couple of nights. Rob motored us over to Caneel Bay on St. John and threw out the hook while Olivia - his girlfriend as well as the mate and cook - began to work her magic in the galley. While Rob is a young English bloke from a seaport town in Devon, Olivia hails from Brittany, and her French heritage was reflected in what she created in the tiny galley down below.

Scallops in a butter and herb sauce,salmon terrine, tuna steaks decorated with a mango and papaya salsa,and, of course, bottle after bottle of wine. Oh, let someone else skin their knuckles!

No matter who's steering the boat and cooking, yacht chartering is a wonderful way to experience the charms of the Caribbean. We leaped off the stern and snorkeled into the beach a hundred yards away. There was no one else about.

That night, following a cholesterol-rich four-course dinner fueled by innumerable Painkillers and wine, the stars covered the sky while the boat gently rocked in the cradle of the sea and wind.

We didn't have the time to really get into the rhythms of the sea - we had to sail to Charlotte Amalie for a photo shoot with Stars & Stripes - or to explore all the harbors of St. Thomas or St. John. But with the freedom of a boat, the power of the wind and the many varied anchorages, beach bars and sights, it was an all-too-brief reminder of just how far away one can get from the modern world aboard a boat.

For more information on yacht charters in the U.S. Virgin Islands, contact:

Admiralty Yacht Vacations, 800-544-0493 (Check their page on the Internet for full listings of the yachts they can hire: http://www.admirals.com.)

Bajor Yacht Charters, 800-524-8292

Crewed Charters, 800-522-3077

Easy Adventures, 800-524-2027

Island Yachts, 800-524-2019

Regency Yacht Vacations, 800-524-7676

Stewart Yacht Charters, 800-432-6118

Posted online 09/01/97.

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