Testing the Waters

Jim Williams and Deborah Stern of the Encinal YC love to sail, as evidenced by their owning the Cal 39 Spindrift and the Islander 28 Dog Days, both of which are kept at Marina Village in Alameda. With both nearing retirement, they’ve been thinking about cruising as a lifestyle, but didn’t want to make the full commitment until they’d tested the waters, so to speak. As such, they arranged to charter a Cyclades 43.3 for six weeks in the British Virgins, and a Sunsail 39.3 in St. Martin for another three weeks. When they bumped into us at Carnival in St. Barth last Tuesday, they were just starting their three-week charter out of St. Martin.

Saying that they’ve had a reasonable time to discover if they liked the lifestyle, we asked them if they knew what they were going to do.

"Buy a cruising boat!" Jim said without hesitation. "Maybe something like a Passport 40." Deborah was clearly in agreement with that concept, but noted that she was interested in keeping his Cal 39. "I love that boat," she said.

The couple was quick to note the difference between chartering in the British Virgins, which are almost completely protected from the open ocean, and the St. Martin-St. Barth area where, except for the lees of the island, you’re exposed to the full force of the trades.

"In the British Virgins, we took it easy and it was very relaxing," said Deborah. "I worked on a novel, while Jim read books. The sailing wasn’t difficult between our favorite destinations, such as Cane Garden Bay, Jost van Dyke, Peter Island and Anegada."

"But as soon as we picked up our boat at St. Martin and headed out of Oyster Pond into the trades on our way to St. Barth," Williams said, picking up the story, "we were into the real stuff, with 25-knot winds on the nose and 10-ft seas. Chartering in the British Virgins is what it would be like if it had been set up and the weather controlled by Disney, while down here it’s the real thing."

As the couple are getting ready to head off to Statia, St. Kitts and Nevis, they’re about to get more of the real thing.

We were pleased to hear that the two were very happy with both charter companies, particularly B.V.I. Yacht Charters in the British Virgins — which manages our cat ‘ti Profligate — and Sunsail in St. Martin. Because they chartered for multiple weeks, Jim and Deborah report they were able to get nice discounts.