Some people say I have the best job in the world. Sometimes I even think so myself. My job, in addition to teaching sailing, directing the sailing school program at Spinnaker Sailing in Redwood City and brokering charter vacations is to organize and lead group flotilla charters on behalf of Spinnaker Sailing. This has been going on three or four times a year since the late 1980's.

Our most recent trip was to The Grenadine Islands in the Windward Antilles from May 2 to May 11, where we chartered 4 boats from Sunsail in St. Vincent. We were 19 people in all making comfortable boat loading of 4 to 6 people on boats ranging from 45 to 50 feet in length. The daytime temperatures were in the mid 80's and the wind was steady in the 20 knot range just slightly north of east. My boat was an Oceanis 461 which also carried my wife, Melinda, Harry Gull who has done numerous trips with us and Paul Disenso, a student going for his ASA Bareboat Charter certification during the trip.

There are several bases for a Grenadines charter both inside and outside the immediate area. Bases outside the Grenadines in the north are in St. Lucia and even further in Martinique. It's a glorious reach south into the Grenadines from the north. The distance is about 70 miles from The Moorings base at Marigot Bay in St. Lucia (north of St. Vincent) to Bequia in the northern Grenadines. Getting back isn't so easy and many charterers choose to continue one way to Grenada to finish their charters. If you choose to start in Grenada where both Moorings and Sunsail have bases, it's 40 miles (mostly upwind) to Carriacou in the southern Grenadines. Between Carriacou to Bequia it's generally reaching with gaps between the islands of less than 15 miles. Returning to Grenada is another glorious sleigh ride.

For those who don't like or don't have time for long passages, there are currently two places to charter right in The Grenadines. The Sunsail base is at the Blue Lagoon Marina at the southern end of St. Vincent. From there it is only 8 miles into Admiralty Bay in Bequia. Also, The Moorings has recently opened up a base in Charlestown Bay at Canouan Island right in the middle of the Grenadines. From California, both places can be reached by 3 flights which means getting to either base is almost as easy as getting to B.V.I. We wanted a charter location where we could enjoy as much time as possible in The Grenadines. St. Vincent fit the bill quite well.

After a mid-afternoon arrival in St. Vincent and a night on the boats, Sunsail provided us with boat and chart briefings. Before setting sail on a bareboat vacation there's more to do. There's checking and stowing the provisions and checking out the boat and all the equipment. Sunsail has a provision and beverage ordering system via the internet that is reminiscent of ordering from Webvan. The cold and frozen stuff was bagged up and waiting for us to pick up in the market at the marina and the rest was aboard the boats when we arrived. It was mid-day before we set sail for the short passage to Bequia on an easy reach.