After a nightmare of planning changes, from flying Boston to San Juan to Tortola, then flying Boston to San Juan to St Thomas and Finally ending up flying Boston to St. Thomas, not to mention only booking the boat 4 days prior to our trip, we finally made it and had a great trip!

Flying direct to St Thomas, we had a morning arrival at 11am. Got to Compass point around noon. If we were to do it over, I'd arrive at 5pm. DYC starts boarding at 5pm and there is absolutely nothing at the base area. Waiting for hours with a 6 year old isn't fun. But we survived and were able to board around 3pm. Took a dinghy over to the Food Mart and got our provisions. Next morning we debriefed and we were on our way.

We were on a Lagoon 450S. Had all the usual stuff, plus a generator, A/C and water maker. Even had a washer/dryer combo unit! Boat was 2 years old and overall in decent condition. Little more wear and tear then I'd expect from a 2 year old boat, but the major systems were all good aside from issues we had with the main sail. Got stuck about 70% of the way up the mast. Couldn't figure out the cause - reefing lines seemed loose, although they did not move all that easily when we pulled them in. Best we could tell it was due to the turnbuckle at the top of the sail twisting a few times. Didn't spend a whole lot of time on it due to the seas being a bit rough and us being more out in the open. Aside from this, we had no other issues.

Boat was an owners version with 3 cabins. Ton's of storage. There were only 4 of us so we had a lot more storage then needed. It had a fridge and freezer inside plus a drawer fridge outside under the helm which we used for drinks. Lots of places to sit both forward and aft.

Our trip ended on a Saturday and we spent Friday night at Hawks nest on St. John and left around 7:30 in the morning. Made it back around 8:30. Took a bit to get on the fuel dock. Only one boat ahead of us but they must have just started. We waited, fueled up and then went to dock, but there were no spots available. Got some help from DYC staff who came on board and brought us in and we rafted up to another boat. I'd suggest getting in closer to 8 to give yourself more time. We had a taxi set for 10:15 and were at it by 10:25 given the various delays.

Overall, we were very happy with DYC and the boat. The base left a lot to be desired with it just being an office with nothing else to do there. I guess we were spoiled with all our years with Moorings having such a fantastic base. The 5pm start also leaves something to be desired with so many direct flights arriving in the morning. If we were to do it over, I'd try to arrive late or take a cab some place else where we could relax a bit and then go to the base later. Tough to do with luggage though.

Departure was easy, had our cab waiting for us and we were off to the airport. I was once again reminded why we don't like flying out of St. Thomas. They really need to expand for the number of passengers they have, especially on a Saturday.