From beginning sailing to bareboating in the BVI
I just wrapped up a weeklong bareboat charter on a 44’ catamaran in the British Virgin Islands. It was a wonderful trip with my partner and some old friends. We had (mostly) great weather, some excellent sailing, and a lot of beautiful days snorkeling, sunning, and lazing about our deck or the beaches. Everything went so well it’s kind of amazing to think I hadn’t ever really sailed until 2022.
Given my relatively brief time span from zero to bareboat I thought I’d share a bit about my journey for anyone in our community who is thinking about where sailing can take them (literally and figuratively).
It was just 2 years ago that I signed up for my first SEA class - introduction to small boat sailing. I signed up with a vague idea of getting outside more post-covid. Little did I know how much sailing would come to occupy my time and heart. As I got more involved, I started to think about how sailing could be a way to embark on much bigger adventures around the world.
As I got more comfortable with my own sailing, and with encouragement from my new SEA sailing friends Doug Moler and Kurt Sund, I decided to take a bigger leap and signed up for a weeklong ASA series in Baja that included ASA 104- bareboat cruising - the level of certification needed for bareboat sailing charters. I was pleasantly surprised that Kurt joined me on this excursion. It was fun to go through this training together.
Even before I had finished the class, I was asked if I wanted to assist in the next beginning class. I was having a lot of fun, so I figured why not. It was a great experience lending a hand around the dock, assisting other new sailors. From there I started to wonder about next steps.
I signed up for SEA’s keelboat class, got my adventure card, and started taking Tackful out on the Bay. I also started to help organize SEA’s open-sails, offering other members more opportunities to get out on the water with our community.
When we returned from Mexico I began looking around for ways to turn what is a starting point into deeper experience on the water. Once again, I took a leap of faith and joined a shared sailboat partnership with Bettina, a 1973 32’ Ericson in Berkeley. Everyone tells you not to buy a boat it’s just a sinkhole, but I’ve found the opposite to be true. I now have as much sailtime on Bettina as I could realistically want, but we share all the costs and I have an expanded sailing community.
Now it was time to test all the time and effort I’d put into my sailing. I arranged my first bareboat charter on a 45’ monohull out of the same marina in Baja that my ASA course used. Choosing to embark in the same area of the world I had gotten some familiarity with was a smart first step. My wife, her brother and his girlfriend, and I spent a lovely week exploring the coves and beaches of Espiritu Santu.
With this success under my belt, I started planning my next trip (while continuing to build skills on the Bay). At a high school reunion I learned that some old friends were also sailors, and we began to organize a trip to the British Virgin Islands. We decided to book a catamaran for space and comfort, a boat I had no familiarity with. I decided to take a 2-day ASA 114 Cruising Catamaran class to get more comfortable.
All of this planning, training, and experience came together last week as we set out from Tortola. Over 7 days and nights we sailed from island to island. We cut our teeth on some 20+ knot winds; we got comfortable with the sailing characteristics of a big cat; we learned the ropes of tying up to mooring balls (and booking them on time); and we spent hours discovering the rich marine life of the region. It was a great experience and I’m already looking forward to my next excursion.
Looking back on all this, I am so happy I signed up for my first class. It gave me a springboard to so much that is new, exciting, and fun in my life today. I’m also so grateful for the many supportive people I’ve met in the sailing community who have offered friendship, mentorship, and more than a little technical assistance over the last couple of years.
So if you are wondering what you can do with sailing, and how far you can go, I hope my little story helps you see you can do more than you think you can, and you can go further than you ever thought possible.
Kif Scheuer
