TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums US VI and Puerto Rico Ideas on a charter that includes USVI and SVI?

Was wondering if anyone has done both or if would even be feasible in a 2 week period charter?

easy peasy, we go to SVI all the time. do remember when you run out of water your only options are Fajardo and STT.

In two weeks you could easily do both.
You can charter from either Puerto Rico or STT.

We had guests last week that did, St John, St Croix, Vieques, and Culebra on a ten day charter.
Jay

although we love BVI, it is nice to get off the grid and explore.

We just chartered with Sail Caribe out of Fajardo, PR and was very impressed with their service. Graham and Pam were very helpful and even took us to Walgreens for some last minute items we needed prior to casting off. The boat was so well laid out with everything labeled and main/jib sheets all different colors that you could sail it like you really knew the boat the first day. The Spanish Virgins are truly untouched. We went during the busiest time of the year (Christmas) and although there were some other boats it was pretty secluded. Don't miss Culebrita, it was beautiful! You will have 2 pretty big sails into the wind. First from PR to Culebra and then Culebra to St. Thomas.

CG: Which boat did you charter with Sail Caribe? We are looking at their Hunter 45 as we own a Hunter 380

Two weeks should be plenty of time - especially if you are just doing the SVI and USVI. I would recommend Sail Caribe as well. Nice thing about going with them is that you can do the upwind leg from Culebra to the USVI at your leisure and early in the trip. That way you don't face the potential of being forced to sail/motor from the SVIs to the USVIs into confused 10' swells and 30 knot winds because you have to get the boat back to the charter base in the USVIs. You could still be in a position where you have to get from the USVI to PR in those conditions, but I would much rather be facing a downwind run versus an upwind grind in that case.

With that said, there are several on this board who have chartered from CYOA in the USVI and made the trip to the SVI and back just fine. You're just at the mercy of the weather a bit more. Also, important to note that you are required to check in with boarder patrol when traveling back to Puerto Rico from the USVI. We just gave them a call and they took all of our information over the phone. We chartered from Sail Caribe in early December and it was a nice change of pace from the typical BVI charter - though we did spend a few days in the BVIs as well. I actually wish we would have slowed down and explored the SVIs more and maybe skipped the BVI portion of the trip.

Matt

Thanks for the replies. We did the BVI's this January and the crew was looking for something a bit more off the beaten track with some longer sailing days.

My plan was to charter out of St. Thomas, (Sail Caribe does not allow sailing to St. Croix), take a few days in St. John, then on to St. Croix for a 3-4 days, then to Vieques, Culebra and back to St. Thomas. Pretty much the trip Capt'n Jay's guests did.

I just returned from a 7 day trip that included both the US and Spanish VI's. Our intentions were to stay within US jurisdiction to eliminate customs considerations, get in some great sailing and scuba diving, and to visit some places that are a little out of the way. We chartered a Salina 48 cat from CYOA Charters in St. Thomas - GREAT BOAT! I won't bore you with the details, but we visited some very lovely places. Our itineray included Lameshur Bay in St. John, Christiansted in St. Croix, Esperanza on Vieques, Bahia de la Chiva also on Vieques (we ignored the no anchoring warnings after diving to insure no hazards), then on to Culebra and a gorgeous, quiet little anchorage on a bay on the north side of the small island of Culebrita. The sailing on all legs of the trip was spectacular except for the return to St. Thomas - we motored head to wind. We were escorted by dolphins several times during the trip, and caught several small skip jack tuna while trolling as we approached Vieques from St. Croix.

Sounds amazing!!!

maybe we should head to Culebra for a few days before we take you to the airport.

UM.......YES PLEASE!!!!!!!!! OMG!!!!! SO AWESOME!!! <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/circle.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Banana.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Banana.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/band.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/dance.gif" alt="" />

Can you tell I think that's a great idea???

Were you able to eliminate the C&I considerations and requirements upon entering the SVI?

All of our/CYOA's boats have customs decals and C&I can normally be handled with a phone call upon arrival in the SVI's. Clearing back into St Thomas is not required.

Jay

Yes, it's very simple.
We called C&I at Dewey/Culebra on the sail over and they checked us in. (877)-529-6840.
Have everyone's passports handy, they'll want everyone's name, DOB, and passport number.
Last trip there was 8 of us, and it took a while, but it was great checking in by phone... sooooo convenient.

What part of MD are you from Twanger? I'm from Bethesda originally.

Living in Poolesville, MD, since 1990.

From? I was born in Camp LeJuene, NC. :-)

Hurah!

If you go to downwind to the SVI first, then reach to STX and back to St John, you should be able to take better advantage of the trades (as long as theres not too much south in them) and can avoid the upwind slog back from SVI to STT.

This is what we do and caught a 30 lb Wahoo on the way. If you make your last stop Viequez, makes for a better angle back.

We chartered the 2013 Jeanneau 409. The set up was great. Different colored lines for different purposes, no guessing as to what each thing did! Wasn't impressed with her sailing though. I went below in the Hunter and was impressed with the size of the main salon. The forepeak bed was a little small for a forepeak.