Louis, Sorry to hear about your issues with the Moorings. Our Sunsail sleep aboard began on July 4th and our boat was ready, with provisions stowed, at 5:00 pm, an hour before normal boarding time. We had a 7:00 am boat briefing the next day and despite a relatively brief wait for our SUPs, linens and a minor repair to a lazarette, were ready to shove off by 9:00, after loading up on French Deli goodies. I'll admit, service at the base was a little slow and they were engaged in major dock renovations, but we didn't experience any of the issues that you did. I can only attribute the differences to the random nature of these things.

I agree that hoisting with lazy jacks is a pain in the !#$&. One thing I do is hoist the top batten past the lazy jacks while I'm motoring, just to get it started. As George suggested, it helps to loosen the main sheets and the vang, then we try to synchronize hoisting with the subtle back and forth swings of the boom. Sometimes I'll gently steer the bow from side to side, trying to get the wind to push the battens off the jacks. That usually does the trick.

I learned from my last charter that the reefing lines aren't always fully shaken out, so we release the clutches, pull some line through and even head up to the mast (before we set out) and create even more slack. The single line reefing systems are convenient, but sometimes the block inside the boom sticks, so it helps to create as much slack as possible.

As you discovered, Beneteaus with a main sheet arch don't have travelers. I suppose they're trying to simplify things, but when one's accustomed to having a traveler it can make things more challenging. The idea with those is to adjust your angle of attack with the main sheet and then use the boom vang to control twist. So, instead of hauling the sheet in tight (reducing twist) and then easing the traveler to open the head of the sail, you ease the sheet to open the head and then haul down on the vang to reduce twist.

I echo your comments about Leverick. First of all, Rebecca, the new GM, is fabulous and treated us royally. We were there for the Friday night BBQ and it was spectacular. We rented a car and drove to the Baths on Saturday. You're right, the devastation was startling, but the people were amazing. We spoke with one person who claims to have hidden in a water tank while IRMA blew his house away. Let's just say we were happy to spend our money there in support of the economy.

Other great stops for us were two nights at Scrub (during the depleted Beryl), a great time at Jost (Soggy Dollar in the afternoon and then Corsairs for dinner). I will say that Vinnie and Kenny were working really hard at Corsairs. The new building is coming along nicely (definitely more "bomb proofed") and Pizza Dave was cranking out great pizza and wings. The Voodoo Juice was great, as always. Parenthetically, I've read some complaints from people about Vinnie raising his prices. Honestly, after what they've been through and what it's taken to get back on their feet, I wasn't bothered a bit. They certainly make up for it with caring and attentive service.

Our last night was in Great Harbor, Peter Island and the Willie T. They need to sink some more mooring balls, in my opinion, but overall, it's a nice anchorage. Although they don't have nice reefs, the variety of fish along the shoreline was actually quite beautiful, so I would definitely recommend snorkeling there. The Willie T is....well....the Willie T, just a bit larger than the original. The service was great and the crowd was typical. I'll leave it to others to decide whether it's their form of entertainment. One thing though, they don't have a dinghy dock. What they have done is tie up a small barge next to it. It's a bit challenging getting onto the Wille T, via the barge. In the daytime it's not too bad, but at night, when most of the patrons have had far too much to drink, I imagine it becomes downright dangerous. Hopefully, they'll get it worked out soon.

Anyway, already planning our next trip.

Cheers,

PJ