Captain Dave

Captain Dave

About Me

David Warren is the Official Blogger for Davida Yacht Charters,
a company that puts yachts and people together for their
Vacation of a Lifetime.
He has his 100 Ton Masters Limited Canadian Coast Guard Captain’s licence and has made his home on the ocean since 1995. He is a certified American Sailing Association Instructor, and has logged more than 25,000 miles at sea.

Davida Yacht Charters
5304 Yacht Haven Grande
suite 104
St. Thomas, USVI, 00802
Phone (340)344-5813
info@saildavida.com
www.saildavida.com

PS
Call anytime to discuss your vacation of a lifetime.
We offer our services at no cost to you, the customer.
Phone (340) 344-5813

Saturday, July 31, 2010

Chartering, the Better Way

(Note: The following article was kindly provided to us by our very good friend, Pam Juryn, ex-commodore of The World Cruising Club, and founder of Harbourside Sailing School in Toronto).

Think about this:
You know that the British Virgin Islands are the most perfect cruising grounds in the world. You know that getting there can be a pain, but worth it. You are a sailor and want to take your girlfriend, family, or group of friends cruising there this winter, so what next? Most people think only of “bareboating”, or renting a boat that will sleep everyone, flying there and taking off. Okay, but you will find that there is more to it than that!

You fly to San Juan, and take the shuttle to Beef Island. You are there! If your luggage didn’t make it, you know it will be on the next shuttle an hour later, so you wander down the road, cross to the beach, order beer and sit under a palm tree for an hour. Not too shabby, but then comes getting a taxi to your boat which costs – ouch!
You are shown to your boat, and there it is – your bare boat – bare! Depending on the time of day, you either settle down to enjoy the heat, or go to the local store to start provisioning. Remember, all the food you are used to had to come by plane, so the prices are high, but what did you expect? You forget about some of the little luxuries you had planned on. Buying booze, you know, is going to cost, and it does.

Did you study the cruising guide before you came? Do you know where you want to go first? How long will that take? Boy, that’s a big wind! Hopefully you chose a harbour for the night that is not too far away. It will take you a couple of days to get used to this. Where was that good place to snorkel again? Better tie to a mooring ball at night so you don’t have to worry about your anchor dragging. I know, more money!

Okay, there is another way. Bare boating is not the only, or even the best way to cruise the British Virgin Islands. How about a crewed yacht? Don’t want to share your holiday with people you don’t know? That is an advantage, actually, as they KNOW the best places, they KNOW the secret anchorages, they know the best restaurants, and the best snorkeling, and they really like having people enjoy the islands with them.

Not only that, they fix things that go wrong, they can help with everything from showing you the best snorkeling to making sure there is a cold beer when you want one, to doing the dishes, and providing you with anything your heart desires.

This was brought home to me once when my friends Dave and Ida Warren were using their lovely Beneteau 51 for crewed charters, and I was down with a friend, and we bare boated because Dave & Ida were busy that week. Well, it turned out their charter fell through, so in our bare boat we followed them over to Peter Island, Great Harbour, where bare boaters were not allowed to anchor as the holding is so difficult. They invited us to dinner, which was marvelous as usual.

After dinner we were sitting in the cockpit on a perfect night, with the wind blowing gently, feeling that life was just about perfect, and I said as much, and then said, “the only thing that would make it more perfect would be some brandy”. Dave disappeared down below and a few minutes later handed my some Courvoisier in a brandy snifter. I couldn’t believe it! How perfect can you get?

If you are planning to go cruising in the British Virgin Islands, think about doing a “crewed” charter. It is the MOST luxurious way to go! It is a little bit more expensive than bare boating, but very much worth it!

Tuesday, July 27, 2010

The Baths

There are many things in the beautiful British Virgin Islands that are wonders to behold, but, when it comes to the things one ‘must see’, The Baths is pretty much at the top of our list.
I can remember the first time Ida and I walked through the trails there. I couldn’t help thinking that this must be part of a movie set for Indiana Jones.

The Baths is at the south end of the Island of Virgin Gorda. The best way to describe this site might be to ask you to imagine a bunch of boulders, some the size of an average house, piled precariously atop one another… as though they just kind of fell out of the sky. Just how they all got there is something of a matter of conjecture. I envisioned this huge volcanic eruption, with these boulders being shot up several miles in the sky, then all coming tumbling down in a big heap. I like that because it sounds so exciting! But the most popular theory is that molten rock, known as magma, solidified and was pushed up through the earth’s surface, leaving these large, broken pieces of granite all along the water’s edge.

The hiking trail, which wanders through and around these monoliths, takes you through several tidal pools of water, between your ankles and knees in depth. And at the end of the trail you walk out onto Devil’s beach… a beach the likes of which you will never see again, because it’s entirely surrounded by these gigantic rocks. On a good day, you will find many families frolicking in the incredibly clear turquoise water there.

Like so many other sites in these islands, there is more than one version of why it came to be named ‘The Baths’. One has to do with the slave trade back in the 17 and 1800s.

Large groups of blacks were being continuously shipped across the ocean from Africa to the Americas. As one can imagine, this trip was incredibly hard… in fact, there was so much sickness on the passage that many died on the way. It’s a part of our history, that today, is so hard for us to contemplate. Of course, those that did survive the ordeal were in great need of a good cleansing. These poor souls were there to be sold as slaves, and so, in order to fetch the best price for them, one of the things their captors did was to take them there for a ‘Bath’.

Well, that’s only one version, but, whatever you believe, believe this: If you don’t visit The Baths on your vacation there, then you will miss out on something very big!

Saturday, July 24, 2010

Scary Creatures of The Sea

When people think about swimming in the sea, quite often, one of the first things they'll ask about is what they should be 'afraid of'.
I used to have lots of fun with that one.
I would reply with something like, "Not much... but do keep an eye out for 'Snapp'n Jack'..."
"Who's 'Snapp'n Jack?" they would warily ask.
"Oh, he's an 8-foot barracuda with a real bad attitude", I'd reply.
OK, so what's the real story?
Well, here it is:
In our 11 years of chartering, there  have been very few swimming injuries on our boat, and all of them minor in nature. And not one, I repeat NOT ONE, due to any creature of the sea biting someone.
On the other hand, of course, as with any other sport, one does need to be 'in the present'... and constantly mindful of the things around them. So before you even put a toe in the water, check with your captain, or, if you have no captain, then check the local boating guides as to what you may need to watch out for. Things like Sea Urchins, Fire Coral and Jelly Fish, to name a few.
Most of these don't add up to much, but we had one delightful couple aboard some years ago that decided to go off snorkelling before I'd had a chance to do my usual briefing. The young lady had seen a small cluster of sea urchins in the shallow water, and, realizing that her hubby was getting far too close to them, quickly made her way over and pushed him away. Good move. However, in doing so, she lost her balance and at down on a stand of fire coral. OUCH!!!
By the time she got back on board, she was crying with the pain. Ida laid her face down on the settee and administered her first aid (alcohol and hydrogen peroxide...in generous quantities!) while the poor girl blubbered through her tears, "That was like someone putting a blowtorch to my _ss!!!"
Yes, she knew about sea urchins, and now I think, she'll always remember Fire Coral.

Tuesday, July 13, 2010

More on Haiti

We are all well aware of the terrible devastation inflicted upon Haiti by the severe earthquake in mid- January. It is still a very sad situation… and it will take many years for these poor, but very proud people, to fully recover.
In order to help ensure a reasonable quality of life for these people, and especially the future of the Haitian children, most of whom cannot read or write, The Good Samaritan Foundation of Haiti have been working with the Rotary Club of Tortola to provide many of the basics, and are in the process of building a new school there. This school will cost a total of about $140,000. We are still in need of further funding.
Michael Beans, originally from Michigan, is a local musician in The BVI. He is the driving force behind the 11 year old Foundation, and puts it very succinctly in his YouTube video… “You cannot teach an empty belly”. (See www.youtube.com/user/HaitiSchoolApeal)
In June of this year, Michael, along with TGSFH director, Pamela Solman and Tortola Rotarian, Stephen Cooper, made another of their trips to Haiti. The main purpose of their trip was to break ground for a new school to provide education for more of the children. But they also took the first steps to initiate micro loans that will enable locals to start new businesses. They even introduced tooth brushing to the school children.
Please consider making a donation, be it large or small, to:
The Rotary Club of Tortola
PO Box 10
Road Town, Tortola, BVI
www.thegoodsamaritanofhaiti.com
Let’s all open up our hearts!
Supported by: Davida Yacht Charters info@saildavida.com Phone: (340) 344-5813

To All of Our Good Friends

Hi!

David & Ida here... from the beautiful Virgin Islands!

Hope everyone there is happy and healthy.

Believe it or not, we are in our 11th season of chartering, and we've gotten to know many of the boats and thier crews very well. So we are well positioned to begin our new charter yacht brokerage business, Davida Yacht Charters.

Don't worry though... we are still here for you should you wish to come sailing with us again. However, if you would like a larger yacht or maybe a catamaran, we can make sure you get the yacht that fits you to a 'T'.


Best regards,
David & Ida