sailing boat

sandygay · #1 03-29-2008, 12:53 PM

Hi,
My husband , i and our little boy have work in haïti for some months. My Husband is a very good sailler (he cross the atlantic by hisself) and we would like to know if there is possibility to rent a sailing baot for 2 weeks in DR. We juste need the baot without the skeeper....

I'm sorry for my english and hope some one will understand me and respond

Skippy1 · #2 03-29-2008, 02:25 PM

unless you are really experienced in the waters off the Dominican coast dont do it.

I think you might find it difficult to charter one without some qualifications like a Yachtmaster certificate.

The Haitian connection may not help you either........I would expect the owner would want some serious security that you were not going to use it to traffic people to the USA in it....lol

Ringo · #3 03-29-2008, 07:02 PM

My Husband is a very good sailler (he cross the atlantic by hisself)

Sounds like he knows how to sail Skippy.

I have not sailed the water of Haiti. I know that DR1 has many that are experienced in this area and can advise on where to anchore or ports of call. Most good sailors know how to read a chart.

Google for charter boats or perhaps some on DR1 will point you to a boat charter/rental service.

Regards, Ringo

Ringo · #4 03-29-2008, 07:41 PM

I was just thinking about this and had a laugh to myself. A few decades ago..

While sailing out Nantucket on my Uncles 60' sailing yacht with the Capt. of the Q.E. II on board. My Uncle asks the Capt if he would like to take the helm. The Capt. looks at my Uncle with a slight smile and raised eyebrows and responds; "I would have no idea of how to sail your boat any more then you mine."

True story, Ringo

Chris · #5 03-29-2008, 10:03 PM

sandygay, I do not know of any bareboat chartering companies where you can rent a sail boat in the Dominican Republic. In the Bahamas, in Puerto Rico and in the US and British Virgins you can get bareboats for charter.

Perhaps you need to fly to one of those islands and sail there. The charts around the Dominican Republic are not the best. You need a lot of local knowledge to make your way around - talk to many sailors before you go out in a sailboat here. It is not deep water sailing and the conditions are sometimes not predictable. Also, the sailing around the Dominican Republic is not always a pleasure. There are other islands where the sailing is much better.

Skippy1, how will one get experienced if you don't go out and sail?

pelaut · #6 03-30-2008, 08:49 AM

Sailing accross the Atlantic can be done by small styrene coffee cups. All a boat needs is a handkerchief sized jib up and it will get to the Leeward Islands from Spain. I've crossed different seas in different boats, including the Atlantic, single-handed for decades, and I can tell you the trick is never sailing -- it's leaving harbors, coastal navigation, entering harbors, anchoring, ropework, repairs of all kinds.
The QEII captain had it right -- sailing experience per se prepares you to sit back and coast with the wind. Big effing deal!!
You wouldn't get to rent my boat on the DR coast.

Skippy1 · #7 03-30-2008, 09:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chris

sandygay, I do not know of any bareboat chartering companies where you can rent a sail boat in the Dominican Republic. In the Bahamas, in Puerto Rico and in the US and British Virgins you can get bareboats for charter.

Perhaps you need to fly to one of those islands and sail there. The charts around the Dominican Republic are not the best. You need a lot of local knowledge to make your way around - talk to many sailors before you go out in a sailboat here. It is not deep water sailing and the conditions are sometimes not predictable. Also, the sailing around the Dominican Republic is not always a pleasure. There are other islands where the sailing is much better.

Skippy1, how will one get experienced if you don't go out and sail?

My advice was not to sail bare boat charter especially if its the first time here. I think you alluded to this yourself. I wholely concur with you.
I have sailed the Caribbean many times my first trip when I was 15 and I am now well over 50. Owned a 56ft ketch for 11 years sailling out of Portsmouth UK , British Virgin Islands and Grand Cayman mostly. I had the best navigation equipment I could afford and still I would not want to sail off the Dominican coast without someone on board who knew the waters.

Deep water sailing is comparatively easy but avoiding the reefs and submerged rocks here is another. You are right the Charts for this area are not as good as for the majority of the Caribbean islands.

As for the Captain of the QE 2 which one? I have had the priviledge to know 3 of them in my time maybe we have a link that could be interesting.

Skippy

Hillbilly · #8 03-30-2008, 11:14 AM

Is this a case of 6 Steps??? You know, the fact that none of us are more than six steps from knowing anyone on the planet??
As for the Captain of the QE 2 which one? I have had the privilege to know 3 of them in my time maybe we have a link that could be interesting.

I laughed at his comments....

Oh my Ringo you do cruise with such nice folks.....

I used to drool over my copies of Yachting, dreaming of the day.....like Car and Driver and Road and Track (or Rodent Track as my mother used to call it!)....so I drive a VW once again....Ho hum....a little Walter Minty moment...

HB

Texas Bill · #9 03-30-2008, 11:55 AM

sandgay;

There is only ONE chart of Hispaniola that I know of and it is a publication circa 1950's from NOAA. Nota at all up to date.
The portion covering a couple of the Ports, three each in the DR and Haiti, which are severly out of date.
My sincere adviseto you is DON'T EVEN TRY TO SAIL THE WATERS OF HISPANIOLA without a LOCAL, experienced captain doing the navigating and boat handling.
You won't find many of these types experienced in SAIL. They'll tell you they are , but don't believe them. On top ofthet, any boating offshore of Haiti is subject to being boarded by pirate types.
Just a word to the wise and cautious.

Texas Bill

Chris · #10 03-30-2008, 12:40 PM

TexasBill, for information, there are some updates and some sailing guides.
His 017 Hispaniola Chart
And this is more or less the state of digitization of nautical charts for the area - with emphasis on the nearshore shallow regions. So, there is better and updated data available. http://poseidon.uprm.edu/RepDom/Hispa_all.pdf

I'll stick to what I said .. talk to many sailors before you go sailing around Hispaniola. If we are dealing with an experienced sailor, they will know what to do. Also, a fairly good description of the conditions and how to tackle them in The Gentlemen's Guide - more North Coast focused. There are some new South Coast Maps and Sailing Guides.