Has anybody used Yacht Nightwind?

[monicajay]

I have booked this day-sail for our upcoming port stop in St. Thomas. Reviews on TripAdvisor are great but I never see them recommended here. I did a search and Blue_waters is constantly mentioning them but I can't even figure out if he has actually been on this boat. :rolleyes:

 

At $125 pp for the day it is not cheap, plus we have to get to/fro the Marina at Sapphire. Maybe I'm second guessing myself a bit but I'd feel better with a bit of feedback.

 

Has anybody taken this trip and would you recommend them?

[blue_water]

Monica I recommend YN based on friends who have sailed her multiple times and highly recommend her, we have not yet had the pleasure but have met them and they're nice people. Beautiful boat - enjoy - no worries!

Edited December 29, 2014 by blue_water

[mizLORInj]

Yes.

 

We had a group of 9 so we were over the limit of 6 for our usual daysail (with Captain Pat on Independence) so we went on Yacht Nightwind. It was a fun day and I'd do it again.

 

Edited January 3, 2015 by mizlorinj

[monicajay]

Yes.

 

We had a group of 9 so we were over the limit of 6 for our usual daysail (with Captain Pat on Independence) so we went on Yacht Nightwind. It was a fun day and I'd do it again.

 

 

Good to hear. I was starting to second guess myself but I'll stick with it.

[blue_water]

Good to hear. I was starting to second guess myself but I'll stick with it.

 

No need to second guess as the excellent reviews tell the story. I don't know why you don't see many posts on cc for YN except that most cruisers opt for the cruise line excursion options and don't care to look at private operators? And that is actually perpetuated with folks posting about a few well-known outfits they enjoyed and others just ask about those rather than research those like YN and High Pockets. Although their 9AM - 3:30PM itinerary and the fact thay they can take up to 15 guests makes YN an ideal choice for many cruisers!

 

Just relax and look forward to the daysail, they are highly-regarded by many other people we meet while staying on the island. We're not big snorkelers and so we would choose the Daydreamer to Jost, for example. But we would not hesitate to sail with YN, and would have no concerns about getting back to port on time.

Enjoy!

[kbh2]

I have booked this day-sail for our upcoming port stop in St. Thomas. Reviews on TripAdvisor are great but I never see them recommended here. I did a search and Blue_waters is constantly mentioning them but I can't even figure out if he has actually been on this boat. :rolleyes:

 

At $125 pp for the day it is not cheap, plus we have to get to/fro the Marina at Sapphire. Maybe I'm second guessing myself a bit but I'd feel better with a bit of feedback.

 

Has anybody taken this trip and would you recommend them?

 

Did you end up using Yacht Nightwind? We just booked for March 2016 and wonder if it is a good excursion, I like that it is a smaller group and the reviews look great. Any information would be appreciated!

[TarponJan]

Spent the day on Nightwind earlier this year on our day on St. Thomas. Perfect day sailing, swimming and snorkeling. Good lunch and whatever you want to drink. Well worth the cost.

[Cool Breeze Cruiser]

We also had a great day with Nightwind in November. It was just our group of 8 that day. Correspondence beforehand was excellent.

It is truly sailing though & the ocean was a little rough that day & we were almost sideways in the water for a little while. They told us we could all move to one side if we wanted but at that point it was hard to move. One girl in our group was looking a little green & she is not usually bothered by the ocean.

The food & drinks were great & Rick & Deb made us all feel welcome & Deb did a great job helping a couple of people in our group that were not experienced snorkelers.

 

 

Light breakfast

 

One side was literally inches from the water at times. This pic doesn't quite do it justice.

 

Lunch

 

 

[blue_water]

Yes you are tacking - or zigzagging - to get to your destination, and on a monohull you will lean and have to hold on. We encountered a heavy squall with near horizontal rain and heavy seas enroute to Caneel Bay from Sapphire, and had all we could do just to hang on in the driving rain and wind. But as we approached Honeymoon Beach the weather cleared and it was a beautiful day.

So it can be a bit more of a sailing experience with a monohull, especially in heavier seas, but even that day no one had a problem after getting through the brief storm.

[funinthesun86]

We just returned from another spectacular day on the Nightwind.

 

They were terrific about emailing and setting everything up ahead of time. We followed their recommendation to reserve a taxi through Islandertaxi. He was waiting when we got off our ship. The taxi was $20 pp, paid after he returned us to the ship in the afternoon.

 

There were 15 of us on the Nightwind on Christmas Day. What a wonderful day to spend the holiday!! We enjoyed the food and drinks provided all day, and the interesting conversation from Captain Rick and Firstmate Deb. The weather was very windy and it was a fun ride across the bay.

 

I saw all kinds of fish, turtles, and stingrays while snorkelling at our 2 stops off St. Johns, at Honeymoon Beach and at Christmas Cove.

 

We returned to Sapphire Marina at 3:30 where our taxi was waiting for us. I would highly recommend this trip to anyone who enjoys sailing and snorkelling.

[ljrfrm]

We are booked with them to sail in March. We also are using Islander Taxi for transportation. Thanks for the reviews - makes me feel better about our decision.

[abatl]

Does night wind supply snorkel gear and life vests?

 

 

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[GW248]

Hi blue_water,

 

I'm not really into snorkeling either and am interested in a day trip from STT to JVD. I was looking at Daydreamers website and the JVD trip seems to include snorkeling. Did you do one where there was no snorkeling?

[wantocruisemore]

We just returned from another spectacular day on the Nightwind.

 

They were terrific about emailing and setting everything up ahead of time. We followed their recommendation to reserve a taxi through Islandertaxi. He was waiting when we got off our ship. The taxi was $20 pp, paid after he returned us to the ship in the afternoon.

 

There were 15 of us on the Nightwind on Christmas Day. What a wonderful day to spend the holiday!! We enjoyed the food and drinks provided all day, and the interesting conversation from Captain Rick and Firstmate Deb. The weather was very windy and it was a fun ride across the bay.

 

I saw all kinds of fish, turtles, and stingrays while snorkelling at our 2 stops off St. Johns, at Honeymoon Beach and at Christmas Cove.

 

We returned to Sapphire Marina at 3:30 where our taxi was waiting for us. I would highly recommend this trip to anyone who enjoys sailing and snorkelling.

 

So taxi was $20 per person for the round trip? And how long was the drive from port?

[funinthesun86]

Does night wind supply snorkel gear and life vests?

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums mobile app

 

Yes, all equipment, also including fins.

[funinthesun86]

So taxi was $20 per person for the round trip? And how long was the drive from port?

 

Yes, it was $20 per person round trip. It took about 20 minutes. It was a holiday so traffic was really light. It probably would take longer with traffic.

[BermudaBound2014]

Another vote for nightwind! Great day. First snorkeling spot is canale where many of the St. John snorkel tours stop (crowded) but the second stop at Christmas cove was incredible! Loved capt Rick and his wife who handled all our online questions. Deb the first hand rubbed us wrong but she was quick with drinks and perhaps just having an off day. Go and enjoy-!you'll be safe w capt Rick :)