Mardi Gras/Tony;
Thanks for all the advice! I like to dive so I don't want to munch on reef fish, but I had read about the potential health hazards - I'm keen on getting blue water fish, but just enough to eat. I also guide charters, so I'm familiar with the gear, they just use it differently down South. That's good to know it can be rented, and it's apparently affordable. Do you know if a sampling of tackle is provided? I know those blue water surface lures aren't cheap and I might save a few bucks by buying some in advance online.

Cody sounds familiar but I'm admittedly terrible with names. We run our business out of Seward, do you know where he works? We have a lot of tour operators in the area. I've actually never sailed in Alaska, in fact I've only really ever gone on one sailing trip, but it was a doozy.

Is anyone familiar with the storage capacity on a Lapari 41 sail cat? My sailboat was an older C&C and under all of the deck seating we had huge storage capacity (I could probably have slept in there on either side). I want to ensure we have provisions in the way of water/libations but I also know that it's not my boat, and the straps, lines, etc to secure the gear I generally have will likely not be available. If I bring a few sets of dive gear, 12 gallons of water, a few cases of beer, etc - will there be storage enough to utilize to keep it from being underfoot? Is a cooler necessary / available at TMM? I can't seem to find any videos/photos of an actual objective owners walkthru of the boat other than those showing the boat for sale.

Breeze - Thank you for the thought - I'm relatively familiar with the laid back nature and timing of Central and South American culture in general, and I assumed as much from the VI. My friend guiding down there referred me to a valuable video to watch on repeat until I learn the local dialect: http://youtu.be/LMr7_zcqXAo (NSFW). It sounds just like the bay islands of Honduras but without the spackling of Spanish.

The crew will be mostly new to the boating idea and I'm sure any extra time spent during orientation will be fine, I'll have plenty to blather on about. That's an excellent idea regarding meals ashore the first night, I'm sure that was on the itinerary anyway; but it's good to reinforce. I like the idea of traveling from Norman Island to Anegada, and then West and South from there. It seems like weather permitting it would allow for fishing on the outside or smooth sailing on the inside, and it looks anyway like the passages through the islands from East to West are all navigable, unlike that shallow coral studded mess we had to deal with in Belize.

I guess the next step is applying for fishing licenses and filling out provisioning lists - though I'd really like to get a grasp on space available before submitting. Are there any forbidden import items through customs? Can I bring (for example) my fillet knife, a few spices, etc? I know in Central America traveling with a knife roll is not always appreciated by the men in uniform. I suppose I can read about that somewhere.

Thanks again!
-Chance.