20 Feb 2023
We were a group of six wanting a taste of sailing a mono hull in US virgin islands
We had a great day with Captain Jay and Rachel
Jay was very accommodating with our cruise ship schedule .
We arrived at Havensight St Thomas with Norwegian Encore .
We had pre-booked Islander Taxi to Red Hook(and back $180 round trip for six) .
We also pre-booked the Ferry tickets from Red Hook to Cruz Bay (and back $100 round trip for six)
Jay’s boat Helios was anchored conveniently in the beautiful bay adjacent to the ferry terminal in St John
Jay greeted us at the beach and dingeyed us to Helios where Rachel his first hand was waiting to serve us drinks and charcuterie for our 12:30 - 3:30 sailing
It was a beautiful day with 15 knot wind
Captain Jay was an excellent captain and told enthusiastic tales of his years boating and sailing in the area.
He let us take the helm if we wanted.
He took us to our choice of snorkelling sites and we swam with a large sea turtle and saw several stingrays
Both he and Rachel were kind and welcoming and we had a great time.
Helios is nice boat with a yawl mast .
She is a little weathered but we still loved her.
Taxi rides were less than 30 minutes each way and the Ferry was about 20 minutes each way. The ferry tickets aren’t for set times and the Ferry comes and goes hourly on the hour.
We left our ship at 11:00 am and got the 12:00 pm Ferry and were on Helios by 12:30 and sailing till 3:30
We just missed the 4:00 return ferry but still had plenty of time to be back before 6:30
Thanks Jay and Rachel !!