My wife Judy, Three sons and their wives and myself had a fantastic vacation on our
catamaran cruise aboard Ripple 11-18 January 2025. This was our third catamaran
chartered cruise with our broker over the past 15 years and was by far the
best trip of all!!
Our Ripple crew of three was attentive, knowledgeable and friendly. Captain Mark
has impressive sailing and diving experience and our party of eight quickly trusted
his leadership. He managed his assistant crew members in exemplary manner with
respect and kindness. He demonstrated total commitment to the safety and comfort
of his guests aboard Ripple. For example, without any prompting or requests from
our party, he quietly traveled by dinghy to shore on two mornings to restock beer
for the ship’s bar without additional charge or negative judgment. The scuba diving
opportunity for two of us who are certified divers was expected but the Discover
Diving course under Mark’s tutelage as a PADI Divemaster for our middle son Joe
was unexpected and gave him a wonderful introduction to scuba during three dives
on this trip. He was thrilled to have this opportunity and experience.
First mate and Chef Michael did a phenomenal job in the galley with sumptuous and
satisfying meals for us and he navigated the vegetarian requirements of two of our
daughter in laws without a glitch. He provisioned the charter perfectly according to
our menu preferences and his own extensive experience. Unplanned highlight
culinary experiences include fresh sashimi from fresh caught fish
on an outrigger trawling line and lure as well as fresh baked Sourdough bread
accompanying several meals! Jeanique is a friendly and patient Second Mate and
First Rate Bartender and was extremely attentive to us, never leaving an empty
glass during evening happy hours.
Owner operator Mark Russell maintained an impeccably clean and comfortable yacht
with excellent ventilation with well functioning air conditioning on warm nights and
open hatches and sea breezes in the mornings. Our sailing itinerary was perfect as
we reached from St Thomas and St John USVI, through BVI Norman, Cooper and
Virgin Gorda Islands and out to and back from Anegada then to Jost Van Dyke and
final night on the water off St John. Judy and I agree with our trip highlights being
touring the north shore beaches of Anegada on the Mini Mokes followed by a tasty
lobster dinner and the awesome hike and swim in the Bubbly Pool at Jost.
This family vacation exceeded our expectations and made wonderful lifelong
memories. Even after arriving home the crew of Ripple reached out to us sending
additional photos and trip highlight video. Our broker provided excellent
service and prompt response to any questions we had.
Regards,
Pete and Judy N
- Ripple Charter Guest
Thanks for all the little things you have done to make this vacation so truly special.
The wonderful food, your cheerfulness, the special cocktails and most special - diving, snorkeling and all the curated time where you handled all the details so that all we needed to do was relax. Looking forward to meeting up somewhere in the future.
Arthur
- Ripple Charter Guest
Couldn't have had a better time - great snorkeling plus your selection of quiet beaches, diligence and good humor all the time. A really high bar we'll remember. All your hard work and kindness does not go unnoticed.
Henry
- Ripple Charter Guest
Dear Ripple, Mark and Mike
We couldn't have had a better time anywhere! Thank you for being so kind to me, you both are lovely people. Please visit us if you come to NC - we have a guest room waiting for you.
Happy Sails, Barbara (aka Granny)
- Ripple Charter Guest