Anchoring
Avoid anchoring on coral! Firstly, this destroys the reef, and secondly, the anchor either doesn't hold there at all or it can get badly snagged. So look for a sandy bottom. In many areas, mooring buoys are also laid out to protect the coral and seagrass meadows - where the turtles like to graze. These are often subject to a charge. A cashier usually comes by dinghy, sometimes you also have to pay at the beach bar. Important: The basic weights are not always reliable. In the French areas or the British Virgin Islands, the mooring rings are often professional; elsewhere, an old engine block or a fence post is sometimes used instead of a bottom weight.
A brief portrait of Caribbean destinations:
Seamanship
Many areas are poorly buoyed or hardly buoyed at all. Crews must also remember that fairways in the Caribbean are marked the other way round than in Europe: when entering from the sea, the red buoys are to starboard, not the green ones (remember: red, right, return [to harbour]). Another important factor is eyeball navigation, i.e. by sight, which is mainly to do with the often reef-strewn seabed. This is because coral heads need to be avoided when entering secluded bays. The best way to do this is with one or two crew members at the bow. Ideally, they should be equipped with polarised sunglasses, which block out reflections of the sun from the water and provide better visibility. Important: Don't approach a complicated anchorage late in the afternoon against the light, as it will be difficult to see anything. The sun sets very quickly in the Caribbean in the evening. It is advisable to be moored by 4 pm at the latest. The spotters on the bow look for dark spots in the turquoise-coloured water, which usually indicate a reef. If there are still about two metres of water above it, it still shimmers brown-green; if it becomes shallower, the colour changes to brown-yellow.
Protect your deposit
Anyone chartering in the Caribbean will hopefully stumble across the relatively high deposit amounts when signing the contract. Due to the area (and because there are many large charter catamarans), the deposit is often far higher than the European level: 6,000 euros and - depending on the size of the boat - even more are not uncommon. With such financial risks, a crew is well advised to think about deposit insurance in good time. Although this is often offered by the fleet operator itself, it is usually significantly more expensive than with conventional insurers.
Boat Boys
Particularly in the Windward Islands and other parts of the Caribbean, where the local population only has a low income, it is common for the crew to encounter small motorboats with so-called boat boys as they approach a bay, waving wildly and offering their services - for example, guiding those coming in to the free buoy and pulling the lines through, organising shore excursions, selling fruit, fresh bread, T-shirts or homemade jewellery. There is hardly anything that is not on offer. Sometimes several boats compete with each other, which can be confusing for skippers.
Those who make use of these services are occasionally in for a surprise when it comes to remuneration. Some boat boys charge astonishingly high amounts of 10, 20 or more US dollars. The buoy fee is sometimes added to this. Negotiating can help in this case, but it doesn't have to. And the tone can be quite rough. The dealers, on the other hand, are usually very sociable. Tip: Always remain friendly and polite, even if you refuse a service or the dealer is pushy, then there are actually no problems. Tours to diving spots are sometimes offered. Equipment can be hired. Tip: Bring your own masks, fins and snorkel, the existing equipment rarely fits.
Estimate annoying paperwork
For Europeans, the process of clearing in and out is often unfamiliar and surprising. As many of the islands are independent states, a simple change to the neighbouring island just a few miles away usually requires a bit of bureaucracy: clearing out at immigration or passport police and customs, sometimes also in the marina. On the next island, it is essential to call at an official port of entry and go through the same procedures again. Information on the procedure and where the offices are located and when they are open can be found in the area guide and often also in the information folders of the charter companies. In some areas, this can take an hour or two - time that needs to be planned for.
The skipper takes care of registration, taking the crew's boat papers and passports with him and filling out various forms. Meanwhile, the other people on board are not allowed to leave the boat. Such formalities are not necessary between French islands, in the BVIs and the Bahamas. However, if you are only stopping on islands for one or two days, you can clear in and out at the same time! An advantage on French islands:
There, Europeans have the option of simply doing everything at once at certain locations, often shops or marina offices. The skipper simply enters the data himself on a computer. It is helpful to have a complete crew list with names, place of residence, date and place of birth and passport number with you to speed things up.
Do not miss
A beach bar with a rum cocktail and reggae playing in the background is simply part of a Caribbean cruise. The sundowner is half price in many bars at happy hour from 4 or 5 pm! Famous parties are also organised in some areas, such as the full moon parties on Tortola in Trellis Bay or the legendary Sunday steel band and reggae parties with live music and barbecues on Shirley Heights mountain on Antigua. On the French islands of Guadeloupe or Martinique in particular, but also elsewhere, you should visit a rum distillery and take part in a tasting. Here you can experience the differences between rum made from fresh sugar cane juice and rum made from molasses. The islands' tourist boards have the addresses.
Play it safe
It is a topic that is often minimised, but is important for some areas: some parts of the Caribbean are more affected by crime than northern Europeans are used to. It should not be forgotten that the income of locals on some islands is on a par with that of developing countries. You should therefore make it difficult for opportunist thieves, i.e. do not leave valuables in plain sight and lock the boat when you leave it. Very important: Dinghies are by far the most sought-after stolen goods in the Caribbean. For this reason, it is best to lock the dinghy, including engine and fuel tank, to the dock during shore excursions!
Back on board, the dinghy should definitely be moored in the davits overnight and the outboard motor connected. What is more difficult is that there are some places in the Caribbean where yachts at anchor are sometimes broken into and even attacked with crew on board. However, such attacks are very rare. However, there have also been armed robberies in the last two years while the crews were asleep on board.
Hotspots are a few bays on the west side of St Lucia and on the south coast of St Vincent (Kingstown). However, you don't have to avoid islands in general. Tip: check the website of the Caribbean Safety and Security Net (safetyandsecuritynet.org) before setting off. There is an animated map on which recent attacks are archived and their exact location is indicated. You should avoid these. The perpetrators often act locally. Ask the base manager at the start of the trip whether he has any safety tips or advises against certain places. Such tips are often available in the fleet's documentation anyway.
No currency exchange
In parts of the Caribbean (such as St Vincent and the Grenadines, St Lucia, Anguilla and Antigua), the Eastern Caribbean dollar is officially used as a means of payment. Crews can safely ignore this, as almost all services, restaurants and bars in the yachting scene prefer the US dollar or do not accept the Caribbean dollar at all. Therefore, withdraw or change as little of the unloved currency as possible, as it often remains unused. Although card payment is particularly common on American and European-influenced islands and is generally on the rise, you can't rely on it on small islands.
Smartphone trap
Crews used to the harmonised roaming regulations in Europe are often surprised when they hear that this does not apply in large parts of the Caribbean. The independent island states often have high roaming charges, or there is no network at all. The solution is to either ask the charter company for a mobile WiFi hotspot for the boat for a fee or to use the sometimes very slow WiFi in bars or restaurants. The French and Dutch islands are an exception: European roaming law applies there just like at home.
