Not having grown up around yachts, it took a while before I understood what a “bareboat” was. There are many types of boats, and for a landlubber like me identifying them wasn’t easy. There were schooners, yawls, catamarans, trimarans, ketches and cutters, and I did my best to learn which was which. But a bareboat? How many masts and what kind of sails did a bareboat have?
I found out in due course that a bareboat is a charter yacht. Stevens yachts had a large fleet of boats as well as C.S.Y, and I was soon able to identify them when they sailed into Admiralty Bay. A charter boat with a skipper was called a charter yacht, a charter boat with no skipper was a bareboat. It usually became obvious which yachts had skippers when it came time to drop the anchor, those bareboat crews provided us with some pretty fine entertainment!
There used to be a reef between the Pizzeria and the Green Boley, and we called it “Bareboat Reef”. Geoff Wallace from the Fig Tree had placed a buoy to mark the spot but it had been carried away by a storm surge. Sailors familiar with Admiralty Bay avoided Bareboat Reef, but without the marker in place newcomers hit it on a pretty regular basis. Just before sunset people would congregate in front of the Pizzeria or the Green Boley and wait for two things – the green flash and a bareboat getting its hull scraped!
From my kitchen I could always tell when a yacht hit the reef, the commotion would have me hustling out to watch the action. For some reason the French were usually the victims, perhaps because they always anchored as close to shore as possible. The French bareboats were always overflowing with people, I was often amazed by the numbers that could fit on the deck of a small sailboat. Those enjoying sunset drinks ashore would wait to see how the tourists handled the situation, often calling out advice from their observation perches. Water Taxis would race to the rescue, and usually the bareboat was pulled or pushed off the reef. Sometimes the Bareboat crews simply dropped the anchor on top of the reef, which would have everyone watching the action howling with mirth.
Steven’s Yachts out of St. Lucia had a charter boat called Redhead IV, and it was captained by a man named Derrick. Derrick and his wife Marie spent a lot of time in Admiralty Bay, and Mac and I spent many hours swapping funny bareboat stories with them.
One day the VHF radio in the kitchen started to squawk, “May Day! May Day!” on channel 16. Everyone used VHF radios back then, and when a May Day call was heard the whole Island stopped what they were doing to listen. On this occasion the May Day call was coming from a Stevens Yacht, and the “Captain” sounded stressed. “May Day! May Day” This is the yacht Indulgence! We are stranded on a reef, I repeat we are stranded on a reef!” Derrick, who was anchored in Admiralty Bay, immediately answered the call. “Yacht Indulgence, this is Stevens Yacht Redhead IV, what is your location, I repeat what is your location?” There was a long pause, then the Bareboat replied, “I’m not sure, it looks like a reef, I repeat it looks like a reef”. Derrick (very patiently) said, “Indulgence, where in the Caribbean is the reef? I repeat, where in the Caribbean is the reef?” There was another long pause, then the bareboat replied, “Close to Mustique, I repeat close to Mustique”. By this time all ears were tuned into the conversation between the two boats and people were starting to chuckle. Derrick said, “Yacht Indulgence, are you taking on water? I repeat are you taking on water?” After yet another long pause the bareboat “Captain” said, “No, we did that yesterday in St. Vincent. I repeat, we did that yesterday in St. Vincent”.
It took a while before I could pick myself up off the floor, and peals of laughter could be heard throughout the Island. Yup, those bareboats provided us with free and fun entertainment on a regular basis!