Recent sailings on Island Girl?

[Fishndawg]

We've made reservations on the Island Girl for Nov. 08' (Eurodam) and contacted Captain Mike to ask some questions about the trip such as options for snorkel sites, power snorkels, food, drinks, etc. He was very responsive and friendly and we are confident this will be another great day sailing in St Thomas!

[KMBB]

We will be on Island Girl next Wednesday, looking forward to it and I will report back to you all when I return. Hopeing for good weather and a good time. kmbb

[Carnival Game]

KMBB, I'll still look for you at Orient Beach. Hope you have good things to report about Island Girl. Have a good trip!

[KMBB]

Carnival Game---red bandana tied to my chair. Its already packed and ready to go. See you on Thursday. I'll tell you all about our sail---hopefully a good one!!! kmbb

[Netta7]

KMBB and Carnival Game. Thanks for your help. Have a great cruise. I look forward to your reviews when you return.

 

Netta7

[Carnival Game]

Thanks! I'll write back.

[love2cruise2008]

Just sailed on the Island Girl this past Saturday and had a great time. We did the full day tour.

 

Answers to your questions.

 

Food - I thought the food was very good. We had crackers and a very yummy cream cheese dip along with fresh fruit in the mid morning and grilled chicken breast sandwiches (very good quality), fruit and pasta salad in the afternoon. Beer, rum punch, bottled water and canned soda (diet and reg) were available throughout the day. I did request water when I boarded and saw that it was poured from a jug of distilled water. I was asked if I wanted a bottle or cup, since it was only to take a motion sickness pill I was fine with the cup.

 

Bathroom - The bathroom was clean and in good condition for being on a boat. With regards to the flushing toilet, Mike the captain asked that we did not flush the toilet because it requires certain procedures to be taken to prevent ruining the system. As soon as someone used the bathroom he personally flushed it. Hopefully this clarifies the "no flushing" concern others raised. Being a huge germ phobic I must mention I was pleased to find a giant bottle of hand sanitizer available for use.

 

Crew - Just one - Mike the Captain. I had never been sailing and am very prone to motion sickness, I forget to take a pill early in the morning so I was rather sick for the first hour of the trip. Mike was fantastic and adjusted the speed to help ease some of my sickness. He continuously checked on my condition.

 

Our group of six snorkel quite often but never used the seadoos...they are fantastic! They made the trip even better. Mike showed us how to use the equipment and offered to go out with us however since we were all pretty experienced we said it wasn't necessary. We stopped at two snorkel places and also at our request went to honeymoon beach for about 1 hour.

 

Overall the trip was wonderful and I would highly recommend it.

[Cotton Ginny]

Thanks for your review, love2cruise2008. I'll be on Island Girl tomorrow for the half day sail and will post my thoughts when I return.

[Sailor Gal]

love2cruise2008 - THx for the review. Did you see any fish when snorkeling? Did you go to Honeymoon beach or just stop nearby?

[love2cruise2008]

Hi Sailor Gal -

 

We saw fish at both stops. My husband got some great up close pictures. The fish are so use to people they don't seem to swim away when you get close. If you remember bring some bread the fish go crazy for it. On the first stop the reef was closer to the shore and that is where the majority of fish were. We also were lucky enough to see some sea turtles. The boat wreck we snorkeled over at second stop was great too. The water was much deeper there. I saw an interesting school of fish that I have not seen before.

 

We actually went to Honeymoon Beach and stayed for about an hour. The Bones tour was there when we arrived but left shortly after so we practically had the beach to ourselves. The beach had a little bar and snack area and pavilion area (no tables or chairs in the pavilion but nice to escape the sun.) The water was so calm it was like being in a bathtub. I didn't snorkel there so I am not sure how the fish were there but I did see a school or 2 of very small fish. I am pretty sure Honeymoon beach is not one of Mike's tour stops normally but since all of us on the boat were together and wanted to stop there he did.

[KMBB]

We were just on Island Girl also and I have to agree with love2cruise2008, we had a great time and everything was clean and the food was good. We did a full sail and my family loved the seedoos. Any questions just ask, love2cruise2008 explained it pretty good, but if you want to know something else, happy to ansewer all questions. kmbb

[Carnival Game]

KMBB, glad it was good for you.

 

Nice chatting with you on beautiful Orient Beach!

[cminatl]

We were just on Island Girl also and I have to agree with love2cruise2008, we had a great time and everything was clean and the food was good. We did a full sail and my family loved the seedoos. Any questions just ask, love2cruise2008 explained it pretty good, but if you want to know something else, happy to ansewer all questions. kmbb

How many were in the crew when you sailed, anyone other than Capt. Mike? That was one of the questions that I had seen in some earlier posts. Was anyone in the water with you when you were snorkeling?

Thanks for the info.

[KMBB]

cminatl---No, it was just Capt Mike and the four of us. He offer to get in the water and show us around, but my family were just fine with the seedoos and doing everything on their own. He has a daughter who somethimes helps out, but she was having finals this week. It was fine with us, you can always ask him if someone else would be on his sail.

Any other questions just ask--kmbb

 

Carinval Game-nice talking to you also, I think our boys would have gotten along good on the sail and the beach, just not enough time. I really like the beach, didn't want to leave. Plus my one son met a cute girl(AMY) who I think was with your group, who he would have loved to hang out with, She wanted to jet ski or parasail and they did not have enough time to do so. Oh well, another cruise some time in the future(a long time for us though) Nice meeting you, I got a picture of you and your son as you were getting ready to board your ship(just the back side of you guys, but you are in the picture) kmbb

[Cotton Ginny]

Just thought I'd let everyone know that I sailed with Island Girl last Thursday, May 15. Captain Mike met us at Yacht Haven for a quick dinghy ride to Island Girl. The ladder, for those who were curious, is made of wood with the rungs going deep into the water making it very easy to climb on board from both the dinghy and in the water.

 

We chose Island Girl (my second time on her) so we could try the power scooters. Mike didn't have those a few years ago. My friends were not as experienced as I and Mike spent a good amount of time fitting their equipment and making sure they knew how to use it. If we had requested it, he would have gone in the water with us, but we preferred to go on our own. We took a mooring in Turtle Cove and spent half our time on the reefs enjoying the tropical fish and the other half in the deeper water swimming with the turtles. For the most part, we were the only boat in the cove. Jolly Mon came for a bit, but left after us (I've sailed with Jolly Mon, too, and chose Island Girl for the second time this vacation).

 

After our hour long swim, Mike greeted us with beverages and a lovely snack tray with crackers and cheese, apples and oranges.

 

Many have questioned the condition of Island Girl. Let me tell you from firsthand boatowners experience that she is not unlike any other privately owned vessel. If you are expecting a spotless, crewed, million dollar yacht, then this is not the excursion for you. If you go knowing that this 30 year old boat was home to Mike and his family for many years and has spent a long time in the Caribbean sun and water, then you will enjoy your day. I poked downstairs a bit after reading someone else's highly negative review, and other than a net full of stuffed animals, I keep the same amout of gear, charts, books and provisions on my boat. Remember that there is not as much space to store things on a boat as you have in your home, necessitating full shelves and lockers and the appearance of clutter. My friend used the head and there were no issues with flushing. As a Coast Guard registered boat, you are required to carry certain equipment and Island Girl is registered as such and is a safe vessel up to our USCG standards.

 

Mike was kind enough to dinghy us to town for a bit of shopping after our half day excursion.

 

I have no qualms recommending Island Girl to anyone who is looking for an intimate excursion with lots of freedom to do what you want without people looking over your shoulder. Should my cruising or land vacations ever find me in St. Thomas again, I would sail on Island Girl without reservation.

 

Happy to answer any questions.

 

Jeri

[Netta7]

Thanks all. Your comments have been very helpful. I appreciate everyone's willingness to comment and the free flow of dialogue. I hope to sail with Island Girl soon and look forward to posting after my trip. I really want to try the sea scooters.

 

Thanks again,

 

Netta7

[Gammie]

We sailed on Island Girl last September 07 and honestly we didn't even want to go down stairs... we were enjoying our sail with Captain Mike and Patrick.

They were very gracious and interested in helping us. This was the first time that my husband and I had snorkled and we were enjoying the sail, It was just us an one other couple. We did go to a place where one of "THE" cruise excursions was at and we were so glad that we were not on that excursion.

They were like cattle. Only a few could snorkle at a a time and they blew a whistle when their time was up.... We were able to snorkle the entire time with no one telling us to come in so that others could go out. No it is not a luxery yacht, BUT you are not paying a luxery yacht. price. We did have a drink and it was NOT in a plastic cup.. We did not book this outing for the snacks. We ate lunch when we returned to the ship.

Would we sail Island Girl Again...........ABSOLUTELY!!!!!

[ktmac]

We just sailed her on June 9th - half day sail. It was my favorite day of the cruise!

 

Mike and his wife were lovely and the boat was beautiful and in good condition. Toilet worked just fine!

I debated for days which charter to use. We chose Island Girl since as they were very accomodating of our ideal sailing time, and picked us up locally. We met them at noon and were dropped off right at our ship around 3:30pm. I wanted to see sea turtles... and they brought us to a lovely place where we saw at least 5! Saw some fish too - never been too excited about St. Thomas snorkeling as far as the fish go, so this was pretty good. THe turtles were my favorite-they get really close to you!

 

A note about the scooters - I did not book this trip for them at all - didn't think I'd use them. I'm very at ease in the water and could swim for days. However, they were great!! Not too cumbersome, floated well and made for VERY easy snorkling.

 

The trip, by the way, just had me and my boyfriend on it. We lucked out! After the snorkling, we enjoyed good (strong!) rum punch, and were offered other drinks as well. We had fresh fruit, cheese and crackers. Perfect light snack for a half day sail.

 

Again, we would do this trip again in a heartbeat. Enjoyed every minute of it!

 

Kate and John.

[ajd01]

We just went out with Mike on June 10th. There were 4 of us snorkeling on the boat. Mike had Kelly helping him out that day. Kelly was great. He was in the water with us pointing out the sea turtles and stuff. Everything was really nice - including the toilet. I would definitely recommend Island Girl for a relaxed fun time. Be careful of the rum punch....really good and REALLY strong! I hope we can go back some day.

[missbogota]

I just booked the Island Girl for January. Wow...Michael seems so nice! He emails you with all the details and answers all your questions. It is so easy! Paid my deposit through PayPal.

 

Thank you guys for the recommendation!! I can hardly wait!!!