The wife and I ('90 & '91) are full-time liveaboards on our 44' catamaran. We are currently in the Windward islands. Looking to see if there are any others in the Caribbean. I started an Aggie Cruisers group on Noforeignland if you know of anyone.

Just want to say I'm jealous. My BF has the dream of retiring and getting a live aboard to do The Great Loop. I'm totally on board (pun intended) with it, but his retirement date is just a little earlier than mine.

Do you have a Facebook or Instagram where you share posts/photos?

I'm in the Caribbean 2-3 times per year.

TXTransplant said:

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Just want to say I'm jealous. My BF has the dream of retiring and getting a live aboard to do The Great Loop. I'm totally on board (pun intended) with it, but his retirement date is just a little earlier than mine.

Do you have a Facebook or Instagram where you share posts/photos?

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https://www.facebook.com/share/1CXT2JAY5U/?mibextid=wwXIfr

PlanoAg98 said:

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I'm in the Caribbean 2-3 times per year.

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Do you charter or keep a boat down here? Where do you normally go? Are you on Noforeignland?

Quote:

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Do you charter or keep a boat down here? Where do you normally go? Are you on Noforeignland?

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I just vacation and scuba dive down there.

That's a great life FDT. I'd like to do that for a year or two but the grandkid pull is too strong so we compromise by bareboat chartering catamarans a couple times per year. We are currently in Greece about to take a cat out. Next Caribbean trip is in November at BVI's

What was your experience leading up to bareboat chartering? I've done some lessons out of Kemah, but it feels like a big jump going from that to running a boat solo around the BVIs.

Ogre, what lessons? ASA? If so, did you get as far as 104 and 114? Also how many sailing hours do you have? That will help me better answer your question. For me, I've run coastal bay boats my whole life and am comfortable on the water and at night. That helped. But I always wanted to go fast and sailboats were boring. But suddenly a cruising cat option of a mobile condo on the water appealed to me. The charter bases are not going to rent you a boat without a decent resume.

ASA 101, 103, 104. Then 2 half day charters on a ~32 ft monohull. Kind of stalled out after that.

Gotcha. You are right, that would be a big jump. One thought is to contact Jason at Outbound Sailing in the Austin area. Let him know your resume, and see if he would let you sign up for an adventure cruise in the Caribbean to take ASA 114. You spend a week learning to run a catamaran and would get your 114, which itself is easy. Most important is learning and processing thru running a cat down there. Then, you would be "alumni" of Outbound, and if you still weren't completely confident yet you could then go on alumni cruises to build more confidence before you head out. Also, at that point your resume would be enough to rent a boat. Side note, if you are married, you can bring your spouse on these trips and there is down time daily so it is also kind of a vacation built in to the trip.

Ogre09 said:

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What was your experience leading up to bareboat chartering? I've done some lessons out of Kemah, but it feels like a big jump going from that to running a boat solo around the BVIs.

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For me, it was ASA 103 & 104 down in Kemah. Then bought a Catalina 30 for about $14k. Played around on it a few times. We charted with the Moorings in the BVIs, a 38' monohull with just my wife and I. Between saying I had taken the classes and owned my own boat, they didn't blink an eye. The BVIs are really easy. It's all mooring balls now, very few places to anchor. You'll be on a ball everywhere.

It is true FDT that BVi's have a lot of mooring balls. But with Boatyball changes it still takes strategy during the busier times. I think a lot of people must pay the really high fee to advance reserve a ball ahead of the 7 AM usual time. Places like Cooper and Jost in front of Foxys are already filled by the time they open. We have adapted some and actually have done a little more anchoring to avoid all that mess. Showing up about noon at the more popular first come first serve spots also helps. All in all any spot you get has something to offer though.
I would love to run a boat in the windwards but haven't. I bet you are having a great time there. My group is getting on a cat tomorrow in Rhodes Greece. Should be enjoyable.

fishnvet said:

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It is true FDT that BVi's have a lot of mooring balls. But with Boatyball changes it still takes strategy during the busier times. I think a lot of people must pay the really high fee to advance reserve a ball ahead of the 7 AM usual time. Places like Cooper and Jost in front of Foxys are already filled by the time they open. We have adapted some and actually have done a little more anchoring to avoid all that mess. Showing up about noon at the more popular first come first serve spots also helps. All in all any spot you get has something to offer though.
I would love to run a boat in the windwards but haven't. I bet you are having a great time there. My group is getting on a cat tomorrow in Rhodes Greece. Should be enjoyable.

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I read somewhere that the clock the Boatyball uses is about 10 seconds ahead of the us naval observatory clock. And it's true. I was able to request a ball just seconds before by clock hit 7:00am. I haven't tried yet with their new system to keep multiple people from a boat all trying for a ball at the same time.

We chartered a similar boat in the San Blas Islands last fall. I spent the summer of 2018 in Fiji and I think the Caribbean is is better.