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dlatin

Certifiably Surly
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Posts posted by dlatin

  1. Looks like a fantastic time, sucks to hear about the sailing part. Would hope they are at least functional. 

    We had a captain on the boat for about 24 hours the last time we did this and I learned a lot. I bet having a captain for a day would have been a huge benefit and made me more confident. Right now we are just sailing with the headsail downwind. I didn’t want to worry about jibing. 44a58aa42479abaae42e36617947c3b2.jpg
  2. I LOVE the cockpits on those big cats?  How does it sail?  I've heard some of those straight cruising cats don't sail great.  Never sailed one though.

    I’m a relatively new sailer with little experience so I’m probably not the best judge but I will say it doesn’t seem to sail too well. This is my first time really sailing a cat. We’ve had strong wind a couple days so that scared me so we’ve motored a bit. On the flip side, when I sailed a 46’ monohull in the BVIs we only motored once in 10 days and it was for lack of wind. I’ve heard these are not built for sailing and I think that’s right. It sure is comfortable though. Since you are not moving most of the time getting a boat that’s comfortable makes sense. What blows me away is this boat does not have a single cup holder on it. Crazy.

    We stayed 2 nights on this ball in Salt Pond. We did the Ram Head hike yesterday early.

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  3. [mention=2522]dlatin[/mention] how amazing is it? Did you bareboat or are you with a Capitan? 

    Bareboat, first time doing at cat. Thankful to have someone that knows a little about sailing on the boat to help as I try to figure it out. The last time it was just me, wife and 2 young kids and I didn’t ever feel concerned. We had some rough water to start the trip and was sailing in 20 knot winds at times yesterday.

    Here’s yesterday at Maho.516337534636678d27cd84beee6ea3a8.jpg


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  4. Our new place is oriented for sunrises and as I get older I like that more. As a surfer with the traffic these days on the water we will probably end up going out in the mornings. 

    We find evenings are pretty good for surfing because a lot of boats leave and it almost always gets really calm, regardless of how windy it’s been that day. We always talk about getting out early but it never happens. Sunday evenings are great.
  5. Incredible. 

    Maybe you can start another topic on this as I’m very interested to learn more. My wife is very interested in sailing the Bahamas. Our plan in a few years is to move onto a boat and we would likely want to sail those waters. I’d be interested in doing a charter there before we do that. The waters look amazing.
  6. mchookem - I saw on the PR thread you are thinking September for travel. I probably would not recommend USVI then due to hurricane season unless you feel comfortable with your trip insurance. I’m going late July and I’m stressing about it a bit. September is in the heart of hurricane season for that area.

  7. TBH, it is work to get there, which isn't completely relaxing so I get that.  We're really excited they've now added non-stops from DFW which was never an option. The travel end was a BEATING at times.  STT may be more your speed and a daytrip or 2 over to STJ may be more warranted. STT has nice beaches too and the water is stunning, its just a different vibe as has been noted.  Once you get to STJ I think its pretty relaxing but the journey can be long.

  8. 12 minutes ago, mchookem said:

    well... now y'all have me very intrigued, and since i haven't booked airfare yet...i may explore St. John add-ons..🤔

    i feel like the answer is obvious, but just to make sure...you just fly into St. Thomas, catch a taxi to the ferry terminal, then catch a ride to your place on the other end, yeah? that's easy...

     

    For a first time I recommend a jeep on St. John so you can see the whole island, its not big and won't take long but I like the option.  Also, unless you are at the Westin or staying in Cruz Bay you'll need to car to get from your villa to the beaches.  You can Taxi to Red Hook ferry and get your ride in Cruz Bay or you can get a car in STT and take the car ferry.  There are pros and cons to both.  Jeeps in STT are cheaper but if you have problems on island renting in St. John is better.  Also, many rental places let you park at their site in Cruz Bay as parking is pretty limited.  If you go the taxi route while on St. John you are more limited to the beaches you can hit, all of which are amazing but you miss out on Francis and hiking to waterlemon for snorkeling.  I've also fallen in love with Salt Pond, which is on the other side of the island, where I think the best snorkeling is.  If driving isn't your thing, staying at the Westin or in Cruz Bay and taxing to Hawksnest, honeymoon, trunk, cinnamon and Maho work fine.  All of those are about as good a beach as you'll find anywhere.  Maho is known for turtles and rays.  Trunk is the most famous.  Honeymoon is stunning.  My wife's favorite is Hawksnest, its chill.  I like to explore so I alway get a Jeep.  We stayed in Cruz Bay once when we were there for just a couple of days looking at a sail charter business and enjoyed it much more than I thought I would because you could walk to all the bars and restaurants and we took a taxi the day we weren't sailing to Trunk.

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  9. 2 hours ago, mchookem said:

    if it's that easy to get to then we'll probably go more than once 😊

    but really, i didn't want to mess with a car, and nice beachfront access is priority. i'm assuming we can get a taxi or public transport to beach areas if we go over. 

    i'm betting they are both pretty lovely 🙂

    You are right, the actual beach front options are limited in St. John.  They do have the Westin that is right on the water.  We normally rent private villas but you have to drive to the beach, all are pretty close unless you are staying on the Coral Bay side of the island, but even over there, there are some nice beaches.  Driving takes a little getting used to but you are normally going no more than 20 mph so its easy to navigate as there aren't many roads.

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  10. 1 hour ago, VABuckeye said:

    Stay in Cruz Bay and you can taxi or ride the taxi bus to beaches.  St. John is 60% national forest and covered with trails.  St. Thomas is the single most visited cruise ship destination in the world so you get all that comes with that.  Yes, it is easy to get to St. J from Red Hook and quick.

    what he said :)

  11. 20 hours ago, mchookem said:

    ohhhh i'm feeling impulsive lol...

    tripadvisor tells me Secret Harbor Beach Resort is the #1 hotel in St. Thomas...hmmm... 

     

    ETA: so i went with my impulse and @Longhorn94's suggestion...and booked 5 nights in September!

    i booked St. Thomas, not St. John's...read all the above, i think we'll be fine, yeah? we like bars and restaurants and shopping :)

    looks like it's a pretty short ferry from St. Thomas > St. John - am i right that seems feasible for a day trip, if we want to do a beach day on St. John's? 

    i can cancel up to 14 days ahead for no charge, so the risk was minimal. i'll look for airfare separately now. 

    i know nothing about USVI, St. Thomas, or Secret Harbor Beach Resort haha...like i said, tripadvisor says it's finominle, so wtf, you only live once, right? 

    now, can i keep the secret until August?? 😜

    We honeymooned in St. Thomas 20 years ago and did a day sail over to St. John and was blow away.  We took the ferry back on another day and rented a jeep and explored the island and fell even more in love.  It is an easy day trip there and back.  That being said, we've never spent more time in STT than it takes to get from the airport to the ferry to get to St. John since that first trip.  The vibe of St. John is pretty different than STT.

    Note that if you plan to take the ferry and rent a jeep to explore you'll want to get one reserved because I'm reading rentals are in very short supply these days.

     

    We are sailing out of STT in late July for a 10 day sail, probably spending the entire time around STJ.  Here's the boat we rented.

    https://www.virginislandsyachtcharters.com/ndoto

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