Favorite Yachting Bar Competition

Wight Vodka and Scuttlebutt Europe, the continental version of the Scuttlebutt daily blog about sailing, have launched the 2012 World's Favorite Yachting Bar competition but you need to hurry: voting ends Dec. 27.

Winners in previous years were the Peter Cafe Sport in the Azores, the Soggy Dollar in the BVIs (shown left), and IYAC in Newport, Rhode Island.  Ten entries are on the ballot, but the only two in serious bareboat charter areas are the Bitter End Yacht Club in the BVIs and Sint Maarten Yacht Club in Sint Maarten.  

To vote, go to:  www.scuttlebutteurope.com/sailors-bars.html

Super Sunsail Caribbean Deals!

Sunsail has a great deal going for summer Caribbean charters, but the clock is ticking: if you book by February 29, you get 15% off on charters of 5-13 days or 25% off on charters of 14 days or more.  This special is for charters between June and September of 2012 at seven of their Caribbean bases: BVIs, St. Martin, St. Vincent, Antigua, Abacos, Belize and Grenada. 

And here’s an added zinger: if you’re a previous Sunsailor, you get another 5% off.

Choose from 15 different monohulls ranging from the Sunsail Oceanis 323 (2 cabins) up to the Sunsail 473 (4 cabins).  You can check out the details (new bookings only, 5-day minimum, U.S. and Canadian residents only, doesn’t include flights) and availability by clicking here or going to www.sunsail.com .

The CharterSavvy crew likes the islands in the summertime.  In the BVIs, for example, you don’t have the crowds of snowbirds escaping winter slush, and you don’t have to worry about the Christmas winds that can blow 30+ for days.  By June, the tradewinds have clocked around to the southeast at 10-15 knots.  The temperature is in the high 80s (that’s what generators, air conditioning and pina coladas are for!) and the water temp is also in the 80s, so it’s hard to tell which one you’re in (until you take a breath underwater!).