Cruising with the Family in BVI

Vacations are a major way families create memories that can be carried around like living, breathing slide shows inside our heads and come alive again in the retelling. A lot of care and consideration is given to the timing, planning and budget for these annual events. Not too surprising, when one family member catches the sailing bug, they would want to share their love of sailing with the family, and it’s usually an easy sell to get them to come along. When asking a family if they would like to go to the caribbean for vacation, it’s not often you hear the response, “No thanks, we’d rather watch Dancing with the Stars.” The budget is often a primary consideration when cruising with a family, as opposed to just a couple, or a single person. When done right, a sailing vacation can cost about the same as many other family vacation ideas.

(Continued from Newsletter)

June is a good month to go to the Caribbean as the kids are out of school, the weather is good and rates are not yet at their peak. . . BVI in particular is arguably the best place to bring kids on a bareboat cruise. The distance between harbors and anchorages is short, there's swimming and snorkeling just about everywhere, and the sailing area is well sheltered from the big ocean waves that are encountered elsewhere.  It's also a place where English is spoken, the currency is the U.S. dollar, and security is not an issue. Be sure to check out our BVI Sailing Vacations Slide show on Picasa for a look at some of our past sailing vacations, and if enough people are interested, we can put together a Group Sailing Vacation for everyone and you can take advantage of group rates. The logistics will be similar to our December BVI trips. We can fly out Thursday evening June 7 or 14 and arrive in Tortola early Friday afternoon to board the boats.  Then we'll sail out Saturday morning to begin the week's bareboat cruise, finishing the following Saturday.  That night we'll stay at the Mariner Inn at the charter base and fly home the next morning in order to get back to the Bay Area Sunday evening.  The cost and what's included will be the same as the December trip. If you are qualified to skipper a boat and you know another family or two that’s interested in coming along, you can all split the cost of chartering the boat. Depending on how many people are coming, this could bring down the per person cost for the vacation even further.

So, what do you think?  If you are interested, please contact me at bob@spinnakersailing.com so I can start putting it together while there is still time.

BVI December 2012

Sailing in the British Virgin Islands is one of the things every sailor must do, and we are happy to help over a dozen people do this every year. We will keep our annual December BVI cruise for all of our new sailing friends and for our experienced sailors who long to return to the warm turquoise water, pristine beaches and wonderful restaurants of the Caribbean. subscribe to this blog for automatic updates. Click Here to go to our website for more information Contact Bob to sign up for this wonderful sailing vacation Fair Winds, SpinnakerMike

St Martin in April 2012

It's time to go to St Martin again, this time in April 19th to April 28th Visit Islands that are protectorates of three different countries and bask in a multi-cultural sailing paradise. Click Here for more information on our website or Contact Bob to sign up now.

2010 Cruising Schedule

We are just putting some finishing touches on our Group Vacation Schedule for 2010 and it promises to be a fun one. We are returning to the Grenadines in June and for the first time we will be visiting Croatia which has had nothing but rave reviews from everyone who has returned from there, and we will keep our annual December BVI cruise for all of our new sailing friends and for our experienced sailors who long to return to the warm turquoise water, pristine beaches and wonderful restaurants of the Caribbean. We are still putting on the finishing touches so check our website often or subscribe to this blog for automatic updates.

St Martin in June, 2009

Bob Diamond will blog from St Martin and internet connection permitting will update us on his trip daily as it happens. Go to St Martin without having to take a day off work. Read this blog daily starting 6/18/09.

St Martin in June, 2009

Our group sailing vacation in St Martin is about to get underway. So far there are 6 boats going on this trip set to depart June 18 and return June 28. The Islands of St Martin, Anguilla, and St Barts are located in the Leeward Antilles and are a well rested and unrushed area of the Caribbean that is very tropical, yet well enough off the beaten path that makes you feel very privileged to be there. The last I heard there was still a cabin available on this trip so anyone wanting to take a well deserved rest from all the problems and epidemics of the world should sign up immediately. A trip like this at these prices may not happen again for... well...ever.

Peter McCormick Edges Towards Leadership

It was a very sunny, but light winded Saturday when Peter McCormick and crew took a decisive lead in race three of Spinnaker Sailing's Winter Race Series and pulled into first place over formerly tied challenger Brett Herr. Brett who is now in second place leads Dave Goecke who is closely following in third place with no races to throw out as Dave started the series after the first race had run. With three more races to go this still is any skippers opportunity so stay tuned for this highly competitive (and kinda fun : ) event to continue.