I recently search within my library of saved articles from Sail Magazine looking for those that might be beneficial to those that bareboat charter, particularly, first timers. These articles address dingy handling, MOB retrieval, safe anchoring, and provisioning. They are summarized below with links to the actual Sail Magazine article.
Dingy Seamanship by Fay Mark (August 2009)
Here’s an overview of basic dingy handling and considerations. It’s rather basic, but, for those like myself that don’t often use a dingy except when bareboat chartering, it’s a nice primer.
Summer Sailing – Safe Anchoring: The Exit Strategy by Jan Irons (August 2009)
As the tag line states “Prepare your moves before happy hour begins”. This article is for those of us that want to be extra careful and have a good plan in case we need to abandon an anchorage before morning rolls around. It doesn’t happen often, but, I have had to “escape” a poorly selected anchorage while bareboating.
MOB Retrieval by John Connolly (March 2007)
Most charter boats have a low transoms that make getting in and out of the water relatively easy. But, it’s not a bad idea to review other techniques for getting someone who has fallen overboard back into the boat. This article presents a few practical methods.
Reef Your Bareboat Budget by Jan Hein (July 2009)
Just another advocate of doing your own bareboat provisioning rather than paying the charter company to do it for you. This is something we’ve always enjoyed doing on our bareboat charters, however, when possible, we have ordered drinking water from the charter company The article expresses Jan’s thinking and also provides some good shops on Tortola.
Other Bareboating Advice: Before Departing Provisions Living Aboard Sailing Stuff
