Welcome
To Barrington-Hall Crewed Yacht Charters Worldwide
GUESTS COMMENTS
No You Can
Great hospitality, Great fun and lots of laughs. The meals Chris & Kelly made are awesome! I hate to leave Paradise and go back to the real world.
Carrie Hayden
Detroit Michigan
Senior VP Perry Johnson and Associates
2/18/10 to 2/23/10
Can
The boat, the dive sites, drinks, dishes you just can't beat seeing the Virgin islands this way and you can't see it all in such a short period of time.... Soo we will have to come back soon. Thanks for everything. The right people can make or break a good vacation. Yall make it the best! Hope we will be seeing you again shortly.
D.D. & Jon
Charlotte, NC
2/16/10 to 2/19/10
Unforgettable week!
My husband, two teenage sons, and I had a wonderful week on this boat. Chris & Kelly took us to many coves that only the insiders know about.
So many water adventures (snorkel, scuba, inner tubing, kayaking, fishing) each an adventure on it's own.
And the FOOD! FABULOUS; every meal served with skill and devotion.
Thank you, both, for an unforgettable week!
Gloria, Sam, Jordan, & Ben
If I have a complaint its only the several lbs I gained from the wonderful food!!!
We are back on land and the weather didn't hold us back! First of all we would like to thank you for everything you did for us. You matched us up with the perfect crew on the Verna Breeze, and the taxi company was prompt each way and very professional. I have to tell you I wasn't expecting an island taxi company to be on time :) . It was a really nice wedding present to have the private company to rely on down there. Apparently Chris drives Kenny Chesney around when he's in the islands. I felt like a star myself! Thanks also for tinkering behind the scenes with our airline tickets and alerting Chris and Kelly of our late arrival. Despite the change of itinerary, things ran pretty smoothly (MIA- yuck!). We really appreciate your assistance. Chris and Kelly presented us with your map on the last day. What a great surprise!! Thank you so much again for treating us like royalty! This was truly a trip of a lifetime and we have something really nice to commemorate it on the wall. Incredible. We are so fortunate.
Chris and Kelly were very friendly, energetic, fun, and knowledgeable about every area we visited. They are great sailors and we felt very at ease with their abilities and obvious experience. It was incredibly nice of them to tack on a day, at a nominal fee, to the trip as a result of our travel woes on the first day. This addition allowed us to visit Anegada which Justin was dying to see. Also, they went to great lengths to find protected, calm places for us to anchor so that we could have comfortable meals and a good night sleep.
They made gourmet meals every day. On several occasions Chris went diving to catch us our dinner or hung lines off the back of the boat to catch fish during our voyages. They made us Lobster (& lobster benedict!), Conch, Snapper, Tuna, and Mackerel. If it wasn't caught fresh from the sea, it was still just as indulgent; Filet mignon, pork tenderloin the list goes on. Every single meal was insanely fresh, homemade and 5 star, served with linens and a full accompaniment of local hot sauce in which Justin indulged daily. At the lobster night, they presented us with a bottle of champagne to celebrate our honeymoon- a really nice touch. The food schedule was very relaxed, all meals were on our time. If we slept in, we had a late bkfst, if we got back to the boat late from activities, dinner was served after warm showers even if it was well into the evening. If I have a complaint its only the several lbs I gained from the wonderful food!!! In addition to the food, the boat served as a hotel with evening bed turn-downs, ample hot water, air conditioning- which was a lifesaver on rainy steamy nights, toiletries, movies, TV in our cabin, internet, and ipod hook ups with stereo throughout. Our cabin and bathroom were also very private.
As first timers to the VI, they provided us with tons of options for things to do. Chris was our personal tour guide each time we got off the boat. He ferried us everywhere on the dinghy including during the pouring white-out rain with no complaints- never asked us to wait for the weather to die down or suggested we stay on the boat. If he wasn't with us, he kept in touch with us via the portable radio or scooted by on the dinghy intermittently to make sure we were doing well. He helped us keep in touch with the taxi and the fishing guide via his internet and BVI phone. He helped us with reservations for dinner and a special spa day I booked at the Bitter End.
Both Chris and Kelly encouraged us to take advantage of the activities each place had to offer. They took us to both the popular tourist places and also the local ones so we could mingle with the natives. They had tons of toys on the boat that they didn't mind breaking them out on our whims- kayaks, snorkel gear, hammocks, floats, movies, games, you name it. When it rained, they offered us their rain gear. We told them we had never sailed, so I think they made it a point to open the sails every time possible so that we could experience it. Chris took us on a snorkel outing at least 3 different places and he also took me on 2 dives. He helped Justin with local fishing intel, and showed him how to prepare conch. One particularly wet night, they introduced us to their iteration of dominos that was hysterical. At Anegada, Justin's fishing trip was cancelled due to winds, so we decided to tour the island. Chris and Kelly treated us to a guided tour. Honestly, I really only expected them to point us to the car rental place, but instead, they drove us around so that we could sightsee while trying all the local libations!! It was one of my favorite memories, many laughs. On the last day, Kelly took me on a mission in St John to find a Christmas ornament for my vacation collection. They also presented us with a digital picture frame pre-filled with all the of pictures they took of us on their camera during the week. The pictures included some amazing underwater shots of the coral reefs and one or two if us jumping off the Willy T! Pictures are forthcoming, tons of downloading to do!
As new cruisers, we really didn't know what to expect, especially as far as additional out of pocket expenses we might incur. Honestly, we did not have any necessary, unexpected costs over the charter price. In the event you are asked by more first-timers, I will provide a list of a few things we paid for out of pocket at our discretion: dive gear rented at Red Hook, 1 dinner out (not as good as Kelly's cooking!!), spa treatment, bar drinks (only the rounds on shore that they didn't treat us to;), souvenirs.
We did not meet the other charter Sublime, however, I believe we did pass them at one point and Chris and Kelly spoke with them briefly on the radio.
Places we stayed (pause while I glance at the map!):
Red Hook, St T
East End, Tortola (it always rains in Tortola!)
New Found Bay, St J
Privateer Bay, Norman Is.
Great Harbor, Peter Is.
Cooper Is. *Cooper Is. Beach Club
south Virgin Gorda *the Caves
North Sound, Virgin Gorda *Bitter End Yacht Club
Anegada *Anegada Reef Hotel
Great Harbor, JVD *Foxys
Cruz Bay, St J
I'm sure I have left something out of this email. They really did wait on us hand and foot and I regret if I didn't remember everything they did for us in this email. I discussed it with Justin and neither of us have any negative feedback or areas in which they could improve the service or quality.
Thanks again so much for suggesting this trip to us, before we contacted you, I was looking into Sandals Resorts. Laughable in retrospect compared to this trip, despite being comparable in price. Thanks again for treating us like kings. We feel very blessed to have had this experience. I would also be happy to provide any recommendations over email, facebook, or phone if someone is on the fence about chartering in general or with Chris and Kelly, or about the VIs.
Many many thanks and love,
Missy& Justin
We would highly recommend Verna Breeze!!!!
Chris & Kelly
We knew going into this trip that the right crew was essential. Bottom line - Chris and Kelly were GREAT and really helped make our trip special. We were very pleased with them and would sail with them again - additionally we would highly recommend them.
Very casual, fun people
They quickly adjusted to our activity level and were very flexible.
We felt comfortable voicing our opinions about activity, music, when to sail, etc...
They were perceptive and picked up on things about us quickly. An example would be after our first hour of sailing they gathered we did not like to be around crowds. Therefore all the places we anchored in were quiet and they tried to pick the best spots. A simple example, but very cool and we appreciated their attentiveness.
I felt like there were honest with us when we asked their opinions on things. This was helpful when making decisions on when to dive and what to do. We were not disappointed with their advice.
Kelly is very easy to talk with from the start and is friendly and fun. We stayed up too late one night laughing and having fun while the men retired.
Chris was also friendly and we really liked him. He was very cool, fun and has the best laugh. Chris and Kelly compliment each other well.
Chris went diving with us on our certification check out dives. I really appreciated this because he didn't have to go, but choose to tag along and take pictures of us both days diving. Those pictures are the best souvenir I could ask for. It also helped us get comfortable with Chris when we would dive with him later. Chris was very encouraging, safe and cool to have around under water.
They gave us CD's with ALL the pictures they took, a beautiful map with our sailing route charted, and our food menu written out (a personal request). It was a thoughtful way to end our trip and I love having those gifts with me as souvenirs.
I was pleased with their communication before the trip (informative emails, personal phone call...) during the trip, and after the trip (they followed up with us and made sure we made it back safely).
Boat: Verna Breeze
This was my first time on a sailboat, so I don't know if I am the best to review it, but I will mention the things I appreciated.
Overall the boat seemed really nice and well maintained.
It was clean and seemed quite spacious compared to others we looked at and I enjoyed the "extra" space.
I really liked the comfy feel and was so glad we went chartered verses bareboat.
We LOVED the AC and they were so cool about having it on - in fact a couple times we had them turn it off which made me laugh :-)
As you recall, I am not a huge cat person and was a little concerned about that aspect of the charter; but the cats were fine. They never bothered me and were actually quite amusing.
I loved the outdoor hot shower they had on the back of the boat. I used that often.
They had nice little touches throughout the boat like: a bag of shampoo and conditioner by the outside shower, the coolest quick drying towels available, cold accessible drinks ALWAYS, nice utensils and dinnerware (something I notice).
I liked the big deck on the front of the boat - gave you so much room to lay around and chill.
The two hammocks were great.
What the boat had to offer was great and we didn't even do 1/2 the stuff. I kayaked in a wind storm which was comical, and we fished once (and caught something).
The dingy ROCKED!!! It was such a comfortable and cool little boat. We took that thing to so many places and were able to see how VALUABLE it was to have a fast, new and powerful dingy in the BVI. I loved riding in it and Chris even let me drive it which was cool.
They had good scuba gear. We purchased our own in CA, but Jeff's mask was giving him trouble. They ended up having a mask that fit him well and Jeff and I both used their fins.
Overall you get the sense that Chris and Kelly don't skimp on things. They have quality stuff in every category (food, scuba gear, alcohol, dinnerware, dingy...). It is a nice experience and it leaves a good impression.
Food and Drinks:
HOLY COW! The food was WONDERFUL. It is amazing what Kelly can do in that little kitchen and she worked her butt off. We loved the quality of food and were impressed with the presentation and elegance of each meal. It definitely exceeded our expectations and was a highlight. I love eating tasty food!
It was so nice to not have to worry about cooking, cleaning or finding a restaurant - We had no desire to eat or drink away from the boat because the food and drink was so good ON the boat.
Chris was great on the grill and cooked things perfectly.
The Drinks were tasty and enjoyed often!!! Again, I like that they use quality ingredients and top-shelf liquor. You could taste the difference and I appreciated it. I still think about the toasted coconut on the pina coladas or the fresh grated nutmeg on the bushwackers ;) Yum!
We knew the week would be special when we saw the name \"Verna Breeze\"
The Letke Family 1/25/2011 to 2/2/2012
Chris & Kelly
We knew the week would be special when we saw the name "Verna Breeze" because of you both we truly enjoyed everything (from the amazing food to the snorkeling & swimming) but especially hanging out with you! The laughs and the good times will be memories but the little daily things.Thank you for sharing your home & your friendship! :) Merry Christmas & HAPPY NEW YEAR - HERE'S TO 2012!
Love
The Letke Family
Eric, Carrie, Emily 12, & Tommy 9
Ann Arbor Mi. GO BLUE!
You have been amazing.... Scratch that you are amazing & we enjoyed the food, snorkeling, playing games, and jumping off the boat... You guys are wonderful & invited to our house whenever.
Thanks for everything
Much Love
Emily!
Barrington Hall Yacht Charters & Sales - 2805 E Oakland Park Blvd, Ste 397, Fort Lauderdale, FL, 33306, U.S.A - 1-800-478-2029 / 954-720-0475 - info@bhcyachts.com
