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.

Great to hear someone is sailing - We are booked in the BVI with DYC out of Scrub Island resort - I imagine that base will have a lot more amenities then described for USVI. where is the base located?
I am really looking forward to our trip in May. Been too long. I have used DYC once before and will be on a brand new FP Elba 45! can't wait!

My experience with DYC at Scrub was great. Also had no issues with the boat, a Lagoon 450, which makes most of the difference. Scrub does have good amenities - we didn't do too much exploring of the island, but make sure you save some time for the pool. Can't beat the view and setting. There's also a small store that might help with some forgotten provisioning items.

My last 2 trips with DYC were to the Spanish Virgin Islands and Key West. We had to deal with some material boat issues. My perception now is that they don't maintain their fleet very well.

I'll won't book with them in the future if I can avoid it. I believe they've actually closed the Puerto Rico base since we went last November.

Yeah, we would have been much happier with a base at a place like scrub island.

It did seem like there were a number of minor maintenance issues and they were simply not bothering to fix them due to it being the end of the season. Lack of a stack pack was the first for us and kind of a pain. The sliding door not locking was also annoying and could have been a problem if we ever spent an extended amount of time off the boat - they did have a piece of wood for securing it when we were sleeping but that didn't really help when we left the boat.