My parents' 50th wedding anniv, is in January 2007. We all have a tickets to Puerto Rico because initially we were going on a RCL Cruise. My dad just got Norovirus on a Princess Cruise in Alaska and is skeptical. Can't blame him!! We would love to charter a boat with a skipper, as none of us know how to sail. Where do we begin to look. We aren't looking for extravagance. Also how do we find out about owners' time? Do they offer skippers also? We would love to hit the BVI, but are totally open. Thanks

Margarita,

BVI is the perfect area to sail for the novice. A lot to, but short easy sails. BVI has many great skippers. Your options are to go fully crewed with skipper and cook or just skipper alone. About 75% of the crewed boats are catamarans, which provide more space and comfort than monohulls.

What you need to figure out is how many people - aka number of cabins needed.
Cook or no cook.
Cat or monohull
Smoking skipper on non smoking

There are many brokerages that deal with boat. I think the best in BVI is www.bareboatsbvi.com. The owner is based in BVI and she personally knows all the boats and crews she books.

You can also price things directly via the charter companies.
www.moorings.com
www.sunsail.com
www.horizonyachtcharters.com

There is also a more active BVI forum at www.traveltalkonline.com

There are also owners with direct websites
www.sailingthecaribbean.com
www.caribbean-spirit.com
www.angelinacat.com
are just a sample. Hopefully your head won't explode with all the information.

Keep in mind that parts of January are peak season and priced accordingly.

Thank-you so much for all the info. I just printed your message and now have to begine my homework. We know for a fact there are 8 of us going, we will be needing 4 cabins. Absolutely a non-smoking skipper. I guess we would have to then just compare cook or no cook, cat or monohull. I think we would be steering towards a cat since it has more space. Again, thank-you for you very useful info. We are arriving in Puerto Rico on January 13th and staying through the 21st. Is that considered peak. What kind of prices do you think we are looking at?

The period of time you will be chartering is a shoulder season, during the high season.Rates area highest during the Hoildays, drop around Jan. 3rd and go up again around Jan. 21st.
Using the Moorings for a pricing example, They have two classes of yachts, the Exclusive line and the Value line.Exclusive Yatchs are newer and therefore more $$$. The Value Yachts are older boats and less $$$. There is an average difference of around $100 per day for the size boats you are considering.
I don't think the '07 price lists are out yet, but a 4700, 4 cabin cat would be between $1200 to $1300 per day = $7200 to $9600 for a 7 day charter. A skipper in the BVI is around 160 per day. A cook is around 140 per day. Againg these are most likly not current rates, but it will give you a general idea of costs.
Another option is to go through Ed Hamilton & Co. 800-621-7855. They are a great option for 1st timers and there is no cost for the service.
Good Luck.