If you’ve notified us of your flight details and arrival time, we’ll be happy to send a taxi to meet you at St Vincent’s Argyle International Airport. The ride to our base takes about 25 minutes and costs $6US ($15EC) per person (minimum 4 person charge). Someone will be here to meet you at our marina and settle you into your shore accommodation or aboard the yacht (sleep-aboards available only if guests arrive before 7.00 p.m.).
Welcome to Barefoot Offshore Sailing School
BAREFOOT OFFSHORE SAILING SCHOOL St Vincent’s premier only sailing school and most active in the Eastern Caribbean, is owned and operated by the Barnard family who have been sailing the waters of the Grenadines for 3 generations. This background gives us the distinct and unusual advantage of insight and local knowledge that most charter companies, no matter how experienced, simply cannot offer.
Barefoot Offshore Sailing School is not a large organization. We don’t have a hundred yachts in our fleet (we’ve actually limited our bareboat fleet size to 25 yachts), we don’t have 60-page glossy brochures and you won’t see our full-page colour advertisements in all the yachting magazines. The fact is that most of our guests hear about us by word of mouth, or are repeat customers who have already sailed with us or are people who have been recommended to us by others.
We insist on a highly personalised service – and many of our guests are surprised to discover that such a “small” charter outfit offers facilities normally associated with so-called “premium companies” – including a waterfront restaurant and bar, small boutique hotel, water-sports equipment centre, full-service sail loft and canvas shop, engineering workshop, boutique, provisioning service, taxi service and free Wi-Fi throughout our property.
Our full-service charter base, just a 25-minute drive from St Vincent’s Argyle International Airport, is at Blue Lagoon, the best protected harbour on St Vincent’s south coast. Bequia, northernmost of the Grenadines, is just 5 miles over the water and the islands of Battowia, Baliceaux and Mustique are visible from the surrounding hills.
Meet the B.O.S.S Team
Barefoot Yacht Charters and BOSS is owned and run by yachtsmen, one of whom is a former America’s Cup sailor whose family has lived here in St Vincent & The Grenadines for many generations.
Our team, some of whom have been with us for many years, are not only certified American Sailing Association Instructors, but also people who know the islands intimately and are able to get along with folks of all ages and from all walks of life.
Jimmy Slater
I was born in Guyana and after working in the diamond and mineral mining industry there, came to live in St Vincent and the Grenadines 20 years ago – and in these beautiful cruising grounds, I’ve been able to spend time living my passion for sailing.
After many years skippering charter yachts of many sizes for different companies here, I decided to hook up with B.O.S.S. which is the most prominent sailing school in this region, and, after passing my ASA Instructor qualifications, I became a full-time Instructor with them.
Other than sailing, I love music and art – I paint, tattoo and create local artworks by hand.
Chris May
After sailing on Lasers and 420s, I really got hooked the first time I sailed on a keelboat, a 40’ Cheoy Lee that my Navy ROTC unit rescued from a Customs storage yard after seizure. No self-tailing winches, no electronics, kerosene stove, but my oh my was the sailing sweet. I did my first offshore trip on Majestic and went on to command the Sailing Company before getting my commission and moving on to much larger ships. After leaving active duty as navigator on USS Nassau (LHA 4), I took groups on bareboat charters in the Caribbean, some of whom are now my best friends.
After several short summers racing on Lake Michigan, I decided to move to the Caribbean where my time on the water wouldn’t be limited to a few months, and scuba diving doesn’t require a drysuit. Now I live on my sailboat Troubadour, where I have time to practice my guitar and ukulele when I’m not teaching sailing.
Phillip Morris
I learned to Sail in England and have been sailing on and off most of my life. When I came to Kingston over 25 years ago I began sailing regularly, originally in a DS 17 then an O’Day 25 and over the past 12 years in a CS 30 “Wavelength”. Although I considered myself an experienced sailor I took the CYA Basic Intermediate and Advanced cruising courses and through them gained a lot more experience and confidence in my sailing abilities. I corrected a few bad habits that I had acquired too!
I have always enjoyed teaching, so I decided to pass on my passion of sailing to others by becoming an Instructor in 2001. I am an NCCP Coach and a registered Sail Canada Instructor for PCOC, Basic, Intermediate and Advanced Cruising, Coastal Navigation and Maritime Radio Certificate.
I am also an IYT instructor certified to certify students to International Certificate of Competency (ICC) and International Bare boat Skipper. In 2017, following the partnership with Barefoot Offshore Sailing School in St. Vincent and the Grenadines, I certified as an American Sailing Association ASA Instructor for 101, 103, 104, 105 and 114 (Catamaran).
In 2010 I completed certification as a Sail Canada Senior Cruising Instructor Evaluator able to certify instructors to Advanced level and I regularly enjoy conducting instructor clinics.
I am also a member of the Canadian Power & Sail Squadron and have successfully completed a number of advanced courses including the Instructor course, Weather and Advanced Piloting Junior Navigation and Global Navigation (Offshore) courses. I volunteer as an Instructor for Power Squadron courses including Seamanship Sail. I have been on the executive for many years for Collins Bay Yacht Club.
I now teach around 11 live aboard courses annually and have taught over 180 courses and instructor clinics to more than 500 students in boats up to 50’on the waters of Lake Ontario, Lake Huron and in the Caribbean. I look forward to seeing you on the water and hope I can pass on my passion for sailing!
Sail Canada (CYA) Instructor #18564
Rob McLean
Rob McLean started sailing at the age of 4 and has 6 decades of sailing and boating experience. Since 1982 he has accumulated more than12,000 miles of cruising experience on the Great Lakes, the Pacific and Atlantic coasts of North America, the Caribbean, and the Gulf of Mexico.
While his professional career continues, Rob enjoys spending a month or two each year transmitting his passion for sailing to others. He combines expertise in modern marine electronics with a love of classic rigs and traditional techniques. His approach to instruction puts a priority on safety and learning proper manoeuvres, combined with calm patience as students acquire new skills, while keeping the learning process light-hearted, since sailing is as much about having fun as mastery of nautical competencies. He subscribes to the Arabic proverb that a day spent sailing is not counted against one’s allotted lifespan! There is no better place to experience this than SVG.
Rob is certified as a monohull and catamaran Sail Canada and ASA Cruising and Coastal Navigation instructor, as a Sail Canada power boating instructor, and examines candidates for the Canadian Pleasure Craft Operator Card and Maritime radio certification. As a Sail Canada Instructor Evaluator he participates in training new instructors, and contributes to the ongoing development of the Sail Canada system as a member of various working groups and committees. In collaboration with Wavelength Sailing of Kingston Ontario, Rob co-founded LearnToCruiseOnline.ca, which offers online navigation, ashore knowledge, and maritime radio courses.