who's doing the ARC this year?
Discussion
SpeedYellow said:
St Bart's anchoring was $70 for a 72 foot yacht and they even came out to chase us for the money. If you check into customs in Antigua and anchor in Falmouth or English harbour there is a daily anchorage charge, about $15 a day including trash charges from memory. Lots of the islands have charges unless for some reason they only decide to charge me...?!?!
I wasn't having a go at all yachts not being up to standard, but was pointing out yachts like a beneteau 40.7 cannot be coded for Ocean Sailing with paying guests, but lots of them are doing this at the moment. This is where the risk is coming from rather than Oysters that were built for purpose in the first place.
Also remember MCA rules are updated yearly and continue to get tougher and tougher. Now it is very difficult to be coded for ocean work for more than 4 or 5 people without full watertight compartments in the yacht.
The comment about the charter market was aimed at the market we work in, Adventure sailing and ocean racing. As Rum pointed out the market in the Caribbean is focused on luxury not manual big race yachts, hence for us the market isn't there except for things like the RORC 600.
You know, I absolutely agree about most production craft. They're just not built to Ocean standards. I'm a commercial skipper myself, and have done skippered charters on lots of these plastic fantastics. What really winds me up is the way they are decked out as if they were race-yachts, swept spreaders, twin helms, fine wind instruments etc. etc., but are actually pretty much dogs. A bit like the family car with a spoiler... But worse, the rudders are often undersized and easily overpowered by the rig, the rudderposts flimsy, and hardly attached (one Sunsail B-Oceanis wrecked last season just round the corner from English showed that the rudder was simply glue-bonded to the rudderpost, which extended barely 10 inches down its length...) The keels are often poorly supported internally, etc etc etc. My craft cost roughly the same as a newish Jeanneau of the larger sort, and is 10x the craft that'll ever be! This is why I always advise people I skipper for, if they're not made of money, to buy older very well found craft, and save their cash from a bonfire... I wasn't having a go at all yachts not being up to standard, but was pointing out yachts like a beneteau 40.7 cannot be coded for Ocean Sailing with paying guests, but lots of them are doing this at the moment. This is where the risk is coming from rather than Oysters that were built for purpose in the first place.
Also remember MCA rules are updated yearly and continue to get tougher and tougher. Now it is very difficult to be coded for ocean work for more than 4 or 5 people without full watertight compartments in the yacht.
The comment about the charter market was aimed at the market we work in, Adventure sailing and ocean racing. As Rum pointed out the market in the Caribbean is focused on luxury not manual big race yachts, hence for us the market isn't there except for things like the RORC 600.
As to the anchor fees- St. Barts- well it is hopelessly expensive in general, but then that's the exception, not the rule. And if you anchor out in the bays to the North, you don't get that hassle. English harbour and Falmouth. They don't actually collect from the boats, and out at Galleon there's really no issue, though it's crowded. Come to think of it, I'm pretty sure the charges are mainly for the mooring balls. I certainly don't recall paying much of anything for the hook, and I was there quite a lot. Falmouth's enormous. Never had a problem there. But in any case there's many other anchorages around the island. Green island, for example. Or if you anchor off Jolly Harbour, just beside the roads, it's free. Many spend months there, just hangin' on the hook. And most other islands have little or no such charge, or it is avoidable without too much trouble.
Yes, I can see that chartering an adventure sailer is going to be tough out there. Then again, it's pretty much tough everywhere... from what I've seen. Your craft looks superb! I'll likely be down in the Grenadines when you're out there, but if we cross wakes, I'll invite you aboard for a Dark n' Stormy!
Edited by Almacantar on Tuesday 19th October 12:35
Edited by Almacantar on Tuesday 19th October 12:49
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