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stevo34 said:
Hi all,

Myself and my girlfriend are planning our first trip to the BVIs at the beginning of February, chartering a 34 foot monohull with BVIYC. I’ve been an avid reader of the TTOL forum over the past few months and it’s been a great source of advice and inspiration!

I have a question that I’m hoping to get some opinions on. My girlfriend is a relative newcomer to sailing (she has her ASA101 and has sailed as crew on friends’ boats). While I'm confident in handling the boat short-handed, I’m thinking about hiring a skipper on the first afternoon to make it more relaxing for both of us. Mainly I’m hoping to have a reassuring voice and an extra pair of hands while we practice our routine for picking up a mooring ball, anchoring etc. Would a check-out captain facilitate that kind of afternoon?

A related question is whether hiring a skipper would restrict us on the first night’s anchorage? We’re chartering out of Road Town (with a sleep aboard the night before), and had initially thought we might spend our first night at the Bight on Norman. But I guess that if we want to also practice some boat handling and the skipper needs to be able to get home, this might restrict us to staying nearer the charter base?

cheers
Steve


I'm going to put my two cents in and ignore the derailment of this thread.

In my experience, which now totals seven years in the bareboat business, I have to say a large number of our charter guests would benefit from a skipper for a half or full day. That's not to say they aren't qualified it just that a lot of people go for long periods of time with out sailing. The day of having someone on board to bring you and your crew up to speed will pay dividends in a better trip with less stress. Add in the intangibles like local knowledge, knowledge of the new to you vessel will improve the quality of your trip. Also given the inexperience and apprehension of your spouse making her feel more comfortable will also be a huge bonus.

Think of it like reefing, if you think you need to reef it's probably to late. if you think you might need or want a skipper for a day you probably do.

Enjoy your trip, hire a skipper for the day. I have never had a guest that used a skipper for a day or two come back and say that was a waste of time. They almost always agree after the fact that it was a better trip because of it.
Jay