Hi Shipmates: from Barefoot Offshore Sailing School, here are some great sailing songs to celebrate the beginning of 2022, from our Lead Instructor and Coordinator, Rob McLean
You can find the links to the 2022 Sailing Songs music compilation from Rob’s website here.
We hope you enjoyed happy celebrations with family and friends, virtually or in person, and may we all have a healthy and productive year in 2022.
Air Canada is resuming direct Toronto – St. Vincent (airport codes YYZ-SVD) on Mondays as of November 1, 2021.
We recognize that for many, a Monday may be a bit early in the week for coming to St. Vincent for a course starting on a Sunday, but it provides a convenient way to return home by staying over an extra day or so after your course.
For travelling to SVG from Canada, the best option in the short-term may be flying first to Barbados (BGI), then connecting to St. Vincent on Intercaribbean Airways (https://www.intercaribbean.com). Starting in November 2021, AC is flying to Barbados 5 days a week including Friday and Saturday, and is flying daily as of December, 2021
Virgin Atlantic has announced that it will launch direct flights from London Heathrow to St Vincent from June 2021.
The twice-weekly service will mark the first direct flight from Europe to the Caribbean island, and will be operated by an A330-300 aircraft with 31 Upper Class, 48 Premium and 185 Economy seats.
Tickets will go on sale on November 24, 2020.
The airline describes the Caribbean nation as fitting for those looking for a luxury break, eco adventure, scuba diving or sailing voyage thanks to its ‘yacht-filled harbours, chic private isles, coral reefs and dramatic volcanic landscapes. Explore and discover St Vincent and the 32 islands that make up the breath-taking Grenadines.
Covid-19 regulations per Nov 20’th 2020:
St Vincent and the Grenadines is currently exempt from the FCO’s advice against all non-essential international travel, meaning that travellers are not required to quarantine upon return to the UK.
Those travelling from the UK to St Vincent and the Grenadines must, however, present a negative PCR test taken by a certified or accredited laboratory within five days of arrival. They will also be retested on arrival and must quarantine for five days in a tourism authority approved hotel*
Note; *You can apply for doing this 5 day quarantine onboard a yacht prior your charter (if you are familiar with yachts/Yacht equipment)- and it must be done in a secure quarantine area approved by the Government of St Vincent and the Grenadines. The yacht will then have to be ready before arrival with provisioning and supplies, so there will be no contact with other people than your travel friends/companions until you are released from quarantine.
Martin d’Amours and Isabelle Giasson became the first students to receive their Sail Canada Cruising Catamaran Endorsement. This Endorsement for Intermediate to Advanced Cruising on a Catamaran was developed in 2018 by Sail Canada, BOSS and Wavelength Sailing School right here in the Grenadines.
BOSS offers Sail Canada Courses in SVG partnering with Wavelength Sailing School from Canada for the last two years. The course was on a Fountaine Pajot 42 and lasted 7 days.
Martin and Isabelle have an interesting story. Entrepreneurs and outdoor enthusiasts, they fell in love with Sailing in their Basic course and decided to buy a new Catamaran to sail the world. After extensive research on specifications and several visits to boat shows around the world, they decided on a Nautitech Open 40 which is on order for delivery in La Rochelle, France in July. You can read more about their plans at https://oxalisborealis.com