Let our professional captains (skippers) take the helm and guide you to all the best spots in the Grenadines. Whether you’re a new to sailing, wanting to cruise the iconic Grenadines for the first time, or an expert sailor looking for a chance to relax, unwind and let someone else handle everything, a skippered sailing vacation lets you enjoy the islands like a local.

Choose to take a skipper for your entire charter or just a day or two while you get your sea-legs back. Pay a daily rate on top of your boat charter, and decide how long you would like to keep your skipper onboard. All you need to do is provide your skipper with a separate cabin to sleep in and food and drink for each day of your charter. Barefoot even offers provisioning packages to make feeding your skipper easier.

Our experienced hand picked skippers and ASA qualified sailing instructors are eager to share their sailing expertise and knowledge of the Grenadines with you. Choose a skippered charter and sail the Grenadines in style.

Skippered Charters: Questions answered

Our skippers can be added to any of our bareboat charters for your entire trip or just a day two, whichever suits you.

Skippers can come in handy and fulfil a number of different roles and should be considered if you don’t have a sailing certificate or if it’s been a good few years since you were at the helm.

You may have a first mate who just prefers sunbathing to getting fenders ready or has to much on their hands keeping the children occupied.

A skipper can also benefit you if you have been hoisting your own sails for decades and just want a little help and support with some of the more physical aspects of keeping a yacht moving under sail.

What is a Barefoot skipper?

They are hand picked, fully qualified and experienced blue water sailors with a love  the ocean and people, with years of sailing experience and local knowledge of  the Grenadines to share with you. Our skipper will help you benefit from their knowledge of the best places to anchor, eat out and the best times to visit certain places. They can teach you new things about sailing, help you rediscover confidence at the helm, provide an extra pair of hands and handle the heavy lifting for you. Being stress free is priceless. Please note that while our skippers take pride in the presentation of the yacht, they are not cooks, cleaners or maids.

Who is in charge to the yacht and will the skipper allow me to do any sailing?

Our skippers will be officially in charge of taking care of handling the yacht. Though, depending on your level of sailing experience, you can do as much or as little as you like, including taking the helm, providing the skipper feels it is safe to do so.

Where does the skipper sleep?

Skippers are generally  allocated a stern cabin  or another cabin depending upon the layout of the boat.

What/ how do we feed our skipper?

That’s entirely up to you. If you’re planning to pre-order all of your food online then remember to purchase enough to accommodate the skipper.

If you’re planning to provision when you arrive then speak to your skipper when you meet them to find out what they like or don’t like and can or can’t eat.

You may invite your skipper to dinner and they may accept or choose to stay aboard. If there is no food aboard and you do not want your skipper to come with you then you can give them ‘pocket money’ so that they can pop in to their favourite local haunt. They’ll only ever be a phone call away should you need them.

Do Barefoot’s skippers speak English?

Our skippers are of mixed nationalities, but all of them will speak English to a level that means your holiday is not impeded in any way, and the vast majority will speak fluent English and will generally be excellent communicators.

What does the skipper do in the evening?

Again, that’s entirely up to you as every group is different and interacts with with people in different ways. Rest assured our skippers are very professional and are comfortable with meeting new people and adept at reading different social situations. It is your vacation, and our professional skippers respect that and always try to make it the best it can be.

Do we have to tip our skipper?

We do recommend and it is customary that you tip your skipper. A guideline amount would be 15-20% of your skipper’s fee, though as this could encompass quite a range, we leave it at your discretion and ask that you offer the gratuity you think your skipper deserves.