You’ve Arrived

In the Caribbean,

Now What?

By David H. Lyman

If you have just arrived in the islands from a long, three- week delivery down New England.  With the intent of  spending the entire winter living on and boat-schooling kids, ut forst tqhre's Thanksgiving and yoiu nhjave to get nback. Whatr do yoiiu do wkith the bosy?

     There will be few additional costs that you won’t incur back home. You’ll need to provision every week and take on water and fuel, but most of the time your boat will be at anchor in some delightful cove, where the swimming is great and the sunsets spectacular. There are customs and immigrations to deal with at each island, but total costs are less than $100 for the season. Water is 10¢ a gallon. Rum is a few bucks a bottle. Food will cost perhaps 20% more in the Caribbean than at home.

Storing Your Boat While Away

If you brought, or sent, your boat to the islands for the winter and need to park it for a few months. Here are the options.

     Hank Schmitt, from SailOPO.com, the crew network, keeps Avocation, his Swan 48, at Bobby’s Mega Yard on the Dutch side of St. Martin for $624 a month. Hauling costs him another $500.

     Jolly Harbor in Antigua charges $550 to haul a modest 40-footer and power wash her. Add in $280 to move and block the boat within the yard. Then add a monthly shortage rate at $15 a foot; that’s $600 a month. The bare minimum is $1500 for one month. There are cheaper places, but not many.

     Why haul and store on the hard? Your boat won’t sink; you can lock her up and walk away for a few months. Costs? More than renting a slip, but if you do the annual bottom paint, you're ahead.

Park in Slip

Another option is to park your boat in a slip at a marina.  According to a recent NGO report, of the 22 islands in the Caribbean, there are 111 marinas with close to 6,000 slips. Should be one somewhere. Yet many are full in season. You need to make reservation, before you arrive.

     A slip can be fine for a few days, perhaps a week, but a month? In-the-water storage at a slip in Jolly Harbor Marina is 85-cents per foot, per day on a monthly contract. A 40-footer then costs $1,000 a month.  Advantages? You can step on and off your boat, no dinghy to deal with. No costs to haul or time spent getting ready to launch. Your boat is already in the water, but in what condition?  A problem with marinas, is while they are all located in nicely protected harbors, those harbors tend to be stagnant, and marine growth is rampant. You get back after a month away to find the bottom and prop are foul, perhaps needing a haul out, a diver, or you spend two or three days on the hook in some clean anchorage scraping off the growth yourself. I’ve done it.

     Haul out,  tied-up in slip, or find a boat sitter.

A Boat Sitter

If you have someone living on your boat, not in a marina, but on the hook in some safe cove where the water is clear, holding ground is good, and a market and WiFi are a short dinghy ride away, your boat is ready when you get back.

     A boat sitter will keep the ship’s systems working, the batteries charged, the bottom clean, and the refrigerator operating, with all that fish you caught and froze on the trip down will be there when you return.

     Last winter, I boat-sat a friend's 54-foot sloop for three months. No money exchanged hands. I paid for the fuel I used and had the boat clean and ready when he returned. I’d do it again. My family flew down for a few weeks and helped me deliver the yacht from Antigua down the island chain to Martinique.

     I’d do again as well.

     How do you find someone to live aboard your boat while you are gone? Friends, a nephew who knows the boat, and one of the crew who helped you deliver the boat. You’ll need someone you can trust, someone who will take care of your boat, re-anchor if necessary, take it to the fuel dock for water, and keep it clean. Boat systems that are in use are better off than those that are left. Having someone who can do your providing, before you arrive, be here with the boat ready to head out is a plus. Any questions? The chap minding your boat will call you,  send you weekly emails or texts.

Island Destinations

With two dozen islands, how do you choose which one?

     If you are flying out after the delivery, then returning in the winter or a few weeks or months of cruising, there are only a few islands with reasonable flights and connections. From the East Coast, the USVI and BVI have excellent connections, as do St. Martin, Antigua, and Granada. From Europe Guadeloupe and Martinique have excellent connections.

If you have someone staying on your boat in your absence, they can deliver your boat to other islands.

     Anchorages suitable for parking your boat on your own hook: Antigua has the most variety: Five Islands Bay, outside Jolly Harbor, Falmouth and English Harbor; Deshaies and The Saints on Guadeloupe; Portsmouth on Dominica; St. Pierre, FortDe France, La Marin and Saint Anne on Martinique; then outside Rodney Bay on St. Lucia, then not until Saint Georges and Prickley Bay on Granada. The reason I did not mention some islands as they lack access to air flights, shopping, Internet and anchorages.

Provisioning

The US and BVI have well stocked super markets, as does St. Martin. It goes without saying, the French islands all have large stores with wine and cheese, pate, and baguettes. In Antigua, Jolly Harbor has the best super market a short walk from the dinghy dock. Granada has farmer stands along the road and three suitable supermarkets in St. Georges, plus a huge outdoor market open daily.

Conclusions

Have I convinced you that spending a winter, or part of a winter on your own boat in the Caribbean is worth the cost and effort? The voyage down and back is a bucket list item for any sailor. My kids, ages 9 and 12 did it both ways and still talk about it today. My daughter was so taken with the experience she graduated from Maine Maritime Academy with a 1600 ton license and has a mate on a 280-foot utility ship (an OSV). My son went off to Solent University in Southampton, UK to study maritime engineering and yacht designs.

     If you were to put your boat on the hard this winter, then charter another boat in the Caribbean for two weeks, the cost would be what you paid to store your boat ashore for the winter. Much more cost effective to charter your own boat.

     If your mate or spouse is not having it, get her a copy of Dragged Aboard: A Cruising Guide for the Reluctant Mate by Don Casey.

     See you in the islands next winter.