First in a line of questions......beach towels

Hi all,

My family of 4 (two adults, two teenagers) have chartered a bareboat in June and I'll have some questions over the coming months.

We've chartered in the BVI years ago, and many times out of St. Martin.

Now my question of the week. Is there somewhere near the Sunsail base (walking) to buy beach towels? I'm afraid luggage room will be limited, and I really don't want to pay to check a bag of beach towels (although it might be cheaper).

Thanks for the advice.

ODB

Best advice?

NO beach towels.

They only bring sand on to the boat. Most beaches will have chairs and in June it will be warm enough so that you'll dry off the minute you get out of the water with not much chance of a chill. Rinse off with the shower on the back of the transom before getting back on board and use the towels provided on the boat.

Here's what we use. We swear by them. They fold to the size of a napkin, drys super fast, and dry you very fast. I agree with Bridget, no sand on the boat.

http://www.amazon.com/Sunland-Microfiber...ber+beach+towel

Yes - if you're going to bring anything, those are the ones to bring!

Sorry to say but Micro fiber towels collect fine particles of sand although not as much as terry cloth but enough to mess up the cockpit.

they never leave the boat

Sunsail provides two sets of towels. We use one set for showering and the other for rinsing off after swimming. Gotta make sure you really shake them good if you use them on a beach.

Well if it's for on deck then it makes sense.
I assumed it was for beach use from reading the Whiskey swiggers comment

Thanks for the effort, but I've chartered many times. I'm fine with beach towels on the boat after a day at the beach. It's not my first rodeo.

I've considered the parasheet which is the option if I bring from home.

Is there a store within walking distance of Wickham's Cay II that sells beach towels?

Voyage Charters now provides really nice Beach towels but as said, I never let them go to the Beach, even a tiny bit of sand somehow always ends up on your sheets and all over the boat.
They are great for drying off and lounging on the trampolines but not allowed on the Beach on my watch.

You can get them at Bolo's on Wickham's Cay.

http://bolos.cbt.cc/index.html

Lots of great ideas... Just remember anything that will bring sand back to the boat will be your enemy. Less is more may be another thing to remember.

We always bring beach towels. We don't go to the beach except for Anegada though. We use them for drying off after swimming off the boat and snorkeling. We hang them off the lifelines to dry...no sand issues for us. YMMV

I believe there is a boutique right in the Sunsail/Moorings complex that sells beach towels and beach wear.

Thanks Mike and John....just the info I was looking for.

The towel discussion came up while we were planning our summer sail with family newbies. "What do we do about beach chairs and beach towels?" Newbies to sailing really have no idea and ask a lot of fun questions that really can't be answered without being there and experiencing. I don't want to be the towel Nazi or the angry Captain.

We bring our Eagle Creek XL microfiber towels for drying off after showers. They pack small and have a real towel feel, rather than feeling like an absorbent rubber sheet. No problem fitting two in my carryon duffel with two weeks of clothes. One hassle with the Eagle Creek towels is that light blue is the only color option. I add colored zip ties to each one to keep them straight. My daughter's like their's and will bring them. We skip the traditional cotton towels since they never really dry and get that mildew smell. The newbies are good for a week with the cotton towels. I can hold back the extra cotton towels in case we need them.

Decent travel wash cloths are something I'm still seeking. The Lunatec wash cloths are good for scrubbing on the transom, but have zero absorbency. They do seem to last forever with not much more than a rinse. The Rick Steves soft micrifiber wash cloths absorb a bit, but take a couple of hours to dry and need to be washed after a week or so.

What about the beach? Trying to keep kids' towels from getting sandy is hard. We'll just try and do our best. A big beach bag and some towel discipline on the back of the boat will help. I'm afraid with a big family group we'll look like a laundry with all the towels on the life lines.

Some sand on the boat is inevitable. We're going to try and keep the kids confined to a "monkey room" space and let the Lord of the Flies provide discipline in the monkey room. I imagine the one who causes the first set of sandy sheets will get a beat down from the other youngsters.

I'm willing to enforce sand discipline with my girls, and I don't have the because they get it. Trying to do that with a big family group that includes active adolescent boys is a battle lost before I fight it. Towels in the beach bag is the containment plan.

Now, about those beach chairs... how about Cow Wreck Beach?

Cheers, RickG

The towel and suntan oil fairy may need to make a quiet visit the the first night...

Supa Value upstairs shop near the roundabout Cheaper and closer than Bolo. (Supa correct spelling)

I bring beach towels just so that I can tell whose towel is whose on the boat. Anyone have a good way to (temporarily) mark the boat towels so everyone knows which one is theirs?

Conch seems to give each cabin their own colors.

I bring 3 beat up old thin beach towels. They dry faster and I don't care if they come home or not. I buy the cheap ones at the swap meet in Hawaii when I go, use them through the year on our boat then choose the rattiest to take with us. I use one to sit on over the cushions and one each for Tim and I to dry off on the transom. I use my boat towel only for final showers of the day. If I buy too much stuff the beach towels can become cleaning rags for Guavaberry or the Charter company.

Thanks all for the info on buying towels.

We brought the microfiber towels which I really liked. They took up no space in the luggage and dried really fast...BUT, we never brought them to shore. Never really needed them on shore either. I would either get the microfiber towels or not worry about bringing the towels in luggage.

I cut up small strips of fabric from old clothing.....about four to six of each color for however many people on board. Everyone pins their 'tabs' on their towels.....and on their napkins (cuts down on paper napkins) so there is no confusion on whose towel it is.

does someone have cooties?

How about using a magic marker and writng a small 1, 2 etc

Charter company might not like towels being permanently marked like that.
The 6" colored strips I use are readily visible........don't forget to bring along a bunch of safety pins.
No cooties, Sail2wind, just a desire to use one's own towel rather than a shared one.

Always tons of beach towels here at CRC..