Due to personal circumstances I'm looking to get travel insurance that would cover sailing trips and RYA courses mainly within the UK in casr of illness, bereavement or more serious family emergencies. I don't want to solely rely on the goodwill of some operator, given that most 1 or 2 week itineraries are usually fairly pricey in the UK.

We see crewed charter boats for like $20k in USVI and Bahamas but don't have anyone to share this. Does anyone know of any one that does that by cabin (share with strangers,) all inclusive, cook, sites, for a week?
Thanks for any ideas :)

Saw a BVI recommendation on Reddit for Festiva, mid January, looked great, $4k week, share 4 cabin boat with strangers, all inclusive.
But this is really weird, plane tickets for two from RDU are $2600 mid Jan to BVI, <$800 USVI, Bahamas (direct flights, 4 airlines, American Air has BVI monopoly. Cheap RDU-MIA flights so I checked MIA-BVI (EIS) $4000 for two mid Jan.!! 5x cost to CA, WA, which are a lot farther.
I emailed Festiva if they have USVI, haven't heard back, didn't see that online.

Appreciate any insight here. I'm sober and don't want to have a difficult time keeping it that way while on a weeklong sailing course.

I'm trying to figure out if certain companies or locations lend themselves to drinking moreso than others. I'm primarily considering the Caribbean.

For instance, I have never been to BVI, but have been told there is a lot of partying that goes on there on the boats. So, stands to reason that people signing up for a weeklong liveaboard course may be hard drinking?

I heard from a friend hat there was some partying that took place on a Sailing Virgins course in the BVI. But I don't know if that's the result of the BVI, Sailing Virgins or sailing culture in general.

I'm looking for pretty serious coursework with the potential for some adventure and dining on shore as well. Ideally, there would be no drinking on board, but that may be unrealistic. I can handle being around alcohol but being around a bunch of drunks all week will be very difficult.

Thanks for any help.

Hello I'm looking for a book(s) recommendation to help me cross a knowledge gap I have

I have my basic cruising license and have been sailing dinghies since I was a baby, however I've never done ocean/overnight sailing. I chartered a boat with a skipper for a week in the carribean and I want to use this as my jumping point to start feeling comfortable being my own ocean skipper. I'll follow his planned route too, so no route planning for me.

My goal is I try to do everything I can, but then the hired skipper can cover whatever I don't know yet.

Is there a good overall ocean cruising recommendation? Reading maps, doing ocean stuff (I dont know what topics I'm oblivious to...). I looked around and there were an overwhelming number of books. :(

Thanks reddit!

Searched all over the internet for videos and detailed how-to guides on lifting the outboard motor with a halyard.

YES, I already have a lifting harness. Just need to know the best/safest (maybe singlehanded if that’s possible) method to lift the motor on&off the dinghy using the main halyard.

Almost everything online is just about how to use an outboard lift crane which I do not have and probably can’t afford.

A video or pics would be a massive help, please share your thoughts and experiences with this.

For context my motor is ~70lb Johnson 15hp and I’ve only recently begun having issues with lifting it to the dock (super low tides & fixed dock), looking for some advice and tips

Thank you

If you’re annoyed by my question please just move along with your life and don’t be mad

Hey friends! Hoping to take about 7-8 friends island hopping in Croatia in July for a week. Need captain, chef, (and maybe 3rd?)

Any suggestions? Wondering who is the best of the best for this? Budget is between 70k-100k Thank you! 🙏

Hi everyone,

My partner and I are planning to travel from Nicaragua to Jamaica in mid-June and are keen to make the journey by sailboat if possible. We're looking for alternatives to flying to minimise airmiles and on top of that, there’s no straightforward flying route between the two, which makes sailing an even more appealing option for us.

We know there are no commercial sailing routes between these destinations, so we're reaching out to see if anyone in this community might be making a similar trip or knows someone who could help facilitate this journey? Obviously, we'd be happy to contribute to costs and assist on board in any way we can. Also any tips, advice, or recommendations are also very welcome! Thanks in advance!

Offering up info on chartering itineraries and analysis/calculators for common sailing issues. No advertising on it, so hope people find useful: nautilys.com

Hello sub, I have never sailed before, planning to do a catamaran over 4-6 stops, preferably in Italy or Greece. I have attempted to contact many charter companies I never get a response, my group will be approx 6-8 pax, all newbies. Appreciate your help.

is there a good day of the week to visit the ventura yacht club. i was thinking about heading up there tomorrow. should i wait for the weekend?

Had I been a superhero, my name would have been "Captain Estimate". My secret superpower would be in knowing how long anything's gonna take ⏰️ and how much anything's gonna cost 💰. His tagline? "No delays, no overruns!"... but he'd still need a GoFundMe, Patreon, and Ko-Fi to pay for anything.

#boatprojects #boatyardlife #captain #diy #diyboatprojects #refit #haveprojectswilltravel #yachtcare

Hi All, my friends and i will be sailing from Miami to Brazil at the end of February. If anyone will be sailing through the west indies and is interested in meeting up to sail together. Reach Out ! Thanks! (Please no pirates)

We have a crew of 4, and will slowly traverse the west indies, eventually going to brazil.

Hi all! I just recently purchased a new to me 33 foot boat with a 6’5 draft and would like to know if anyone has some advice on hidden little Anchorage’s around Nova Scotia or the northumberland straight that would be worth visiting for the night! Thanks in advance!

Hi,

I've been sailing for 3 years, mostly on weekends on J/80s in Dublin both as crew and as the skipper. I got my RYA Competent Crew cert 2 years ago, and my Day Skipper / ICC last year. Since then, I've only been on one weeklong sail as crew with a friend who is a more experienced skipper, in Croatia.

I'm considering doing a flotilla sail in Greece next year (Corfu, with Sunsail or Nautilus) with my parents (in their 50s, no prior sailing experience), and my sister (who's going to do a Competent Crew course before, but otherwise has no experience).

Based on the sail in Croatia, this seems doable assuming there's people in the flotilla around to help, but then again, nothing went wrong then so maybe I'm underestimating the risk. Can someone here convince me whether this is a good / bad idea?

Thanks!

Hi folks!

Briefly: 20+ years ago, I owned and sailed a 24 foot Neptune out of Dana Point in California. I moved to a landlocked state, and didn't sail for a long time and skills CERTAINLY atrophed. About two years ago, I started taking lessons again on my local reservoire. My wife and I did an 8 day cruise to get ASA 101-104 certified in the BVI last year. In November, we did 4 days with an instructor in California as a refresher, and are headed to the bvi next month for our first bareboate experience on a 38' mono.

The recent 4 day refresher was very helpful and we are feeling relatively confident. At least, more so then we were before :)

Any words of wisdom as we prepare for our 8 day experience next month? We are over the top excited, but not without a fair amount of nerves :)

Picture is just to color your feed :)

https://preview.redd.it/8fzln6cuy25e1.png?width=547&format=png&auto=webp&s=7af4824366782adee3d1def610f35fdf6ed72b9d

Hello,

I am currently facing the age old question of what am I doing with my life.. So I am seriously thinking about the possibility of taking time off from everything to sail the East coast of the USA and Canada next summer. I work as a mate on a coastal tugboat and have three years experience doing that, as well as four years of maritime academy training of which some has been spent aboard sail vessels. Personally, I have experience on smaller Hobie Cats but I feel lacking in the rigging and maintaining of a larger sailboat 25'+.

If it were just motoring I would be confident but setting and maintaining the sails and rigging seems like a daunting task to me at this point. That, and the fact it is now December in Maine makes it difficult to find someone with their boat still rigged to show me things.

In the six months I have would you think I would be able to learn enough to be ready for this? I would like to, if I do end up doing this, begin my journey north in June (starting in southern Maine). I would think a 30'-35' vessel would suffice, and prefer a full keel with protected rudder.

If this is not the proper forum please let me know, I apologize in advance.

Can anybody recommend a cheap moisture meter for diy moisture checks?

I’ve bareboated in the BVI a half dozen times, I’m looking to charter a boat this January and wondered who has the best condition boats these days. I def won’t use Sunsail/Moorings. Pls share recent experiences!

Hey All,

Do folks have any advice about how to evaluate boats and boat manufacturers from the perspective of how easy it would be to sell the boat a few years down the line?

If I manage to pull of the feat of actually going cruising, it would probably be by quitting my job for a few years, buying a boat, and then coming back home to work again so I can retire one day...a sabbatical approach.

One major headache I can foresee with that strategy is being stuck with a boat that's really difficult to sell.

With that in mind...any tips not just for evaluating boats, but also for planning a trip so that it's as easy as possible to sell the boat at the finish line...e.g. specific locations where selling is easy, or other considerations and so on?

Thanks!

So, we’re sailing south down the Baja coast, having left Isla de Cedros this morning. Coming into Cedros, we had what is presenting as a seized engine. We were fortunate enough to have another sailboat come to our rescue with a tow into harbor. After a day at the island rafted with our new friends, trying to diagnose/repair the issue, we have decided our only option is to continue south under sail to Cabo. Our only pressing issue at the moment is electric/power, as the engine/alternator was our generator.

Posting this with the hope that we might find someone along the way who has a generator that would be willing to help with putting a charge into the batteries. Our next closest anticipated landfall would likely be Magdalena Bay. We’re capable of navigating old school and have plenty of water and provisions, would just be nice to be able to keep in touch with family along the way.

Let us know, fair winds and following seas!

Saw this absolutely Bristol boat today. Can’t place if it’s a crealock 34 or not. Cutter rig, double ended. She has a tiller which the 34 does not.

The idea of sailing over a week or two as a passenger on a sailboat intrigues me and after searching the web/reddit I am coming up short. Is this a thing? There must be operators who offer these experiences?

I should first say that I'm a relatively new captain. I grew up as a kid on sailboats, we even lived on one for the first year of my life. My first adult experience was as crew on a trip from Grenada up to Mayreau and back some years ago. More recently, I got my bareboat ICC license in Croatia a couple years ago and my partner got a crew certification (we know it's not an official cert but she has similar experience to me, just didn't take the test). I am generally pretty comfortable on the water. We will have crew with zero experience.

Our general plan is to motor east from Fajardo to Culebra, tool around there, then down to Vieques and back up to Fajardo over the course of a week in early June of next year.

I mention my experience level because I've seen people warned against this area for total beginners but we are not TOTAL beginners. Should we still pick easier waters? Where would you recommend that isn't jam packed but still has its share of beach bars and restaurants?

Alternately, if this sounds like a great idea to you, what should we know about the area? What should we be sure to see/go to/do?

Hopefully someone here may have some answers for me regarding how one would go about buying a foreign flagged vessel. I’ve fallen in love with a Van De Stadt sailboat that is Dutch flagged and moored in Curaçao, and am seriously considering buying it. I have only ever bought a boat in US waters as a US citizen. What challenges does buying a foreign flagged vessel in a different country pose? Has anyone dealt with scenario before? Would I just pay the seller and then have to pay a tax in curaçao? Would I pay an import tax when I return to the US with the boat as well? Any input or shared knowledge on the subject is appreciated! Happy sailing!

Cruising f4om Carriacou to Grenada, I ran i to a problem...

After finding my bilge full of water, the hunt began. 3 hojrs later I found that the fresh water tank had a leak...

It had been "fixed" previously, but with a material that is rigit. However, the connection between the 2 side tanks is quite flexible...

As the boat bou ces around up and down whilst cruising, the water goes over damaged area and obviously ends up in the bilge..

How do you suggest I fix it, and what product should I use. Tanks hold 120litres (32gal) of water, butt can now only fill ip to damaged area...about 45litres

Any input appreciated. Obviously anuthi g that sets rock hard wont work o the flexible semi-hard plastic