Posted By: xrayman67
Trip report 1: Sunsail Flotilla - 05/26/2017 03:30 PM
Trip report: Sunsail Flotilla
Friday May 5: Wheels up at 5:30 am. ECP to ATL. Flight from Atlanta to STT ahead of time. Arrive in STT at 12:30pm. We take a taxi to ferry terminal and get tickets for the Native Son already at the dock. We (my wife Kim and I) grab a drink at the bar to start our vacation and get on board. We arrived in Road Town after a quick stop at the west end. Customs takes approx. 25 min. and exit the building to get a taxi. We saw a guy holding a Sunsail sign, I speak to him and he has our names on the list for transport to the marina. This was a welcome surprise, as I did not prearrange this with Sunsail. We arrive at Sunsail marina and check in at about 4PM. We told they will hold our bags until our boat is ready, go enjoy yourselves and we will call you when you can board. We grabbed some lunch and our first painkillers at the bar and before we were even served, they call and say the boat is ready. The painkillers there are amazing, three types of rum and a Myers Dark rum float. Anyway, off to our boat for the week, a Sunsail 38 two cabin mono named Infinity and Beyond. A very well equipped boat that my wife and I felt very comfortable on for the week. The provisioning crew arrived shortly after we boarded (we used Sunsail provisioning), and we were happy with our choices. After the long day of travelling, we turned in for the night early, anxious for the next day to start.
Saturday May 6: We awake to a beautiful day. I start the coffee and our chechout staff,Suzanne, arrives promptly at 7:30am to do the boat checkout. Suzanne was very thorough with the boat systems and equipment. As a nice touch, she even made sure my phone connected via Bluetooth to the stereo for our tunes. Once finished, we were off to the briefing, where we met our flotilla captain and engineer, Don and Kraig. Don went over our planned itinerary.
Day 1: VGYH
Day 2: Saba Rock
Day 3: Anegada
Day 4: Marina Cay
Day 5: Cane Garden Bay
Day 6: Free day to choose
Day 7: back to base by 11am
I was excited to see Anegada on the itinerary and my wife was too. She said was like,”Did you know we were going there?” Well, it was a pleasant surprise. Don said the weather looked ideal for the trip, and that he liked to take his clients there, because once you sail there, charter companies are more apt to let you sail there again.
After the briefing we walk over to Rite way to finish our provisioning, and then back to the boat. We got off the dock at about 1pm and the Sunsail staff were more than helpful in assisting.
The winds were ideal at about 12 knots, and after safely exiting the harbor, we raised our mainsail and started sailing close hauled toward Virgin Gorda. After getting the hang of handling the boat, I unfurled the genoa. I have to say, this boat really was a joy to sail. As we approached the harbor, we took in the genoa and lowered the main. I hailed Don on the radio to let him know we were approaching the harbor. Don and Kraig were right on the dock ready to assist. We a little coaching from Don, I backed right in to let a slip with no problems. We relaxed for a while, then took advantage of the showers and headed off to dinner at the Rock. Kim and I had a nice salad and shared a pizza. The food was delicious.
This was a group dinner where we got to meet everyone on our flotilla. I have to say, everyone were so nice. There were seven boats on our flotilla, not including the lead boat. Five groups were from England, one from Germany and Kim and I from the States.
Friday May 5: Wheels up at 5:30 am. ECP to ATL. Flight from Atlanta to STT ahead of time. Arrive in STT at 12:30pm. We take a taxi to ferry terminal and get tickets for the Native Son already at the dock. We (my wife Kim and I) grab a drink at the bar to start our vacation and get on board. We arrived in Road Town after a quick stop at the west end. Customs takes approx. 25 min. and exit the building to get a taxi. We saw a guy holding a Sunsail sign, I speak to him and he has our names on the list for transport to the marina. This was a welcome surprise, as I did not prearrange this with Sunsail. We arrive at Sunsail marina and check in at about 4PM. We told they will hold our bags until our boat is ready, go enjoy yourselves and we will call you when you can board. We grabbed some lunch and our first painkillers at the bar and before we were even served, they call and say the boat is ready. The painkillers there are amazing, three types of rum and a Myers Dark rum float. Anyway, off to our boat for the week, a Sunsail 38 two cabin mono named Infinity and Beyond. A very well equipped boat that my wife and I felt very comfortable on for the week. The provisioning crew arrived shortly after we boarded (we used Sunsail provisioning), and we were happy with our choices. After the long day of travelling, we turned in for the night early, anxious for the next day to start.
Saturday May 6: We awake to a beautiful day. I start the coffee and our chechout staff,Suzanne, arrives promptly at 7:30am to do the boat checkout. Suzanne was very thorough with the boat systems and equipment. As a nice touch, she even made sure my phone connected via Bluetooth to the stereo for our tunes. Once finished, we were off to the briefing, where we met our flotilla captain and engineer, Don and Kraig. Don went over our planned itinerary.
Day 1: VGYH
Day 2: Saba Rock
Day 3: Anegada
Day 4: Marina Cay
Day 5: Cane Garden Bay
Day 6: Free day to choose
Day 7: back to base by 11am
I was excited to see Anegada on the itinerary and my wife was too. She said was like,”Did you know we were going there?” Well, it was a pleasant surprise. Don said the weather looked ideal for the trip, and that he liked to take his clients there, because once you sail there, charter companies are more apt to let you sail there again.
After the briefing we walk over to Rite way to finish our provisioning, and then back to the boat. We got off the dock at about 1pm and the Sunsail staff were more than helpful in assisting.
The winds were ideal at about 12 knots, and after safely exiting the harbor, we raised our mainsail and started sailing close hauled toward Virgin Gorda. After getting the hang of handling the boat, I unfurled the genoa. I have to say, this boat really was a joy to sail. As we approached the harbor, we took in the genoa and lowered the main. I hailed Don on the radio to let him know we were approaching the harbor. Don and Kraig were right on the dock ready to assist. We a little coaching from Don, I backed right in to let a slip with no problems. We relaxed for a while, then took advantage of the showers and headed off to dinner at the Rock. Kim and I had a nice salad and shared a pizza. The food was delicious.
This was a group dinner where we got to meet everyone on our flotilla. I have to say, everyone were so nice. There were seven boats on our flotilla, not including the lead boat. Five groups were from England, one from Germany and Kim and I from the States.