Visitors

We are exciting that you are thinking about coming to see us on SandStar. Be prepared to unwind and relax while you are here. The cruising lifestyle is a much slower pace than what you are used to in the states. We have learned over the last few months that it is a bit different living on a boat than living on land so we wanted to put together all of the information in this document to help answer questions and give you an idea of what to expect when you are here. Hopefully this will help you have an awesome trip.  More than likely we will not know what kind of supplies/facilities to expect at the place you will be meeting us because we are not there yet. This is just based on what we have seen so far.

Passports

You will need a passport to travel to us. Make sure to plan accordingly to apply if you do not already have one. It can take up to 6 weeks to get a passport. If you already have one, check the expiration date. We think the rule is that if it is within 6 months of expiration you will have to renew it. You will want to double check this.

Home Base vs SandStar

When you come to see us you will be most comfortable having a home base. You will still have plenty of time to hang out on the boat but a nice hot shower, comfortable bed and a regular toliet will be wonderful at the end of the day. Living on a boat 24 hours a day is an acquired taste.  If you are meeting us somewhere we have been for a little while we will have recommendations based on location and what we have learned from others. Give us a call and we can talk about options. 

Luggage

Soft-sided duffel bag luggage is best. We can store fairly big duffel bags on the boat (we have ones that are 90L in size and they fit great). It can even have wheels as long as it has at least three soft sides when empty. Sometimes if duffels have wheels, the bottom side will be firm. That is not a problem, we can store that type of duffel. We won’t be able store regular luggage or firm-sided duffels. Anything that has shaped sides when it is empty will not fit on the boat.  

Packing List  

This is one of the most important sections. We are usually on an island that has limited resources so it is hard to get a supply that you might have left at home.

-    Bathing Suits – Most important article of clothing to bring. You will probably be in the water multiple times a day so bring more than one suit. Don’t forget swim shirts, rash guards and cover-ups. There is a big chance you will be in your bathing suit most of the day.

-  Sunscreen – Equally important to bathing suits. You will be outside a lot! You will need lots of good sunscreen. Usually we do not have access to good sunscreen on the islands so you will need to bring all that you will need during your stay.  Please bring lotion sunscreen instead of spray sunscreen. The spray stains the finish on the boat. If you want to bring a bottle or two of spray, you can use spray sunscreen at the beach and on land.

- Bug Spray – since it has been winter we have not needed this much but when we do need it we really need a lot. Bring your favorite bug spray for no-see-ums and mosquitos.

-  Sunglasses – The water is brilliant and bright. It hurts your eyes not to have sunglasses.

- Shorts/T-shirts/Tanks/Hats – For clothing think light and casual. If you have easy dry clothing that is good too. You will not need anything fancy. You will be in the islands!

-  Light long sleeve shirt (Optional) – sometimes it is a bit chilly in the early morning if we decide to go underway. It will not be used much so you will not need more than one.

- Light rain jacket (Optional) – we hope we have fantastic weather while you are here but just in case if you would like to bring a light rain jacket that works too.

-  Shoes – It is a good vacation when you will probably be barefoot most of the time. You will be barefoot the whole time you are on the boat. Soles of shoes will create many hours of cleaning the fiberglass if worn on the boat.  All you will need is a pair of flip flops and a pair of walking shoes. The best kind of walking shoes are amphibious shoes/sandals such as Keens but an old pair of tennis shoes will work too. If we go hiking they may get dirty/wet so don’t bring a nice new pair of tennis shoes.

- Waterproof Bag – Your items may get wet while on the dinghy or at the beach. The best waterproof bags can be easily found on Amazon. They will have a rolling top that you fasten after you roll it. We have a large one and have rarely used it. We use our smaller one almost every day for wallets, cameras and phones. For transporting beach towels and such we have plenty of beach bags on board.

- Snorkel Gear – Bring your masks and snorkels. We hope that you will use them often when you are here. Fins are optional. Snorkeling is pretty shallow in the Bahamas so we rarely use our fins.

-  Seasickness Medicine – We are pretty particular about weather when we are going from place to place so hopefully this will not be needed. But medicine is always good to have on hand just in case.

- Hair Accessories – If you have long hair you might want to make sure to bring lots of ponytail holders or anything else you prefer to use to tie it back. It can be windy out here!

- Books – Bring lots of them! Even if you rarely find time to read while you are at home you will definitely find some good reading time while you are here. We have lots of comfy reading spots on the boat including a nice hammock. If you want to bring an electronic reader, the Kindle PaperWhite is the one that works best in the sun. A reading app on anything other than a PaperWhite Kindle will be almost impossible to read in the sunshine.  Good paperbacks always work and if you finish them and do not want to take them home they can be donated to a book exchange on the island.

- Cash – Cash is king in the islands. The smaller the island the less chance you will be able to use your credit card. You will definitely want cash to pay locals for anything such as vegetables, fish/lobster, breads.  If you use your credit card in a restaurant they may charge you a service fee to cover their credit card fees. We have even been in grocery stores where the credit card machine was not working. We have learned to always be prepared with cash. Bahamian dollars are equal to US dollars and they can be spent interchangeably so you do not need to worry about converting money. The bigger islands have ATM machines but I have seen where they may not work. Also, don’t forget to set your travel notification with your banks and credit cards.

The Big Favor - Sandlin Supplies and Snail Mail

-       A big favor that we ask is that you help us get some supplies from the states. We keep a running list on the boat of things that are needed that we have not been able to find.  This may require a checked bag at the airport. We can have things shipped to your house before your trip and most of the items should be fairly small. There may be a little list of things that will be easier with a run to Publix or Walgreens and we will pay you back when you get here. One item that is always on the list is good ground coffee (medium roast, regular flavor). You will want to unbox all of the packages and pack them within your clothes. Some items may need to be unpackaged all together and put in a zip lock. For example, the kids are in need of sharpies and we cannot find them anywhere! That kind of packaging can be a little large. It will be easier to just open the package and put the sharpies in a zip lock bag to bring them. We will let you know what packages to expect and if there is anything else we need help with when we start planning. 

-       We may have a few items of mail that needs transport. I can send this from our mail service in Green Cove Springs called St. Brendans before you leave.  Also, the kids have friends that want to send letters to them. We are hoping it will be ok if we give them your address to them so they can send any letters before you leave. If you live in St. Pete you may find a few letters address to the kids at your front door if they decide to drop them off.

Provisioning and Cooking

We are very happy to have you on board to enjoy this fun adventure. One of the things we ask of our guests is to help with the cost of provisioning food and alcohol and also help with the cooking. Food and alcohol is about double the cost of what you will find in the states. We have a small kitchen and even a smaller amount of pots and pans so our meals tend to be pretty simple. We can work out a menu to figure out what will be cooked and who will be cooking it when you get here and make a run to the store. Fingers crossed we will hope to find a way to get some local seafood too! If we cannot provision together we will work it out to settle up while you are here.

Power & Water

This is where you will see a big difference from what you are used to on land.  We live off of the grid on the boat. We make our own electricity and water every day. We have to think about things we never had to before when there was an unlimited supply. Here are some common questions that come up around power and water.

-       Can I bring small electronics?

You will be able to charge your phones/tablets/camera. No problem. You may have to pay attention to the time of day it is plugged in and charging. This is easier to understand when you are here.

-       Can I bring my hair dryer or flat iron? 

Things like hairdryers and flat irons take up a tremendous amount of energy (who knew!). It is best to leave anything for your hair that needs to be plugged in at home. More than likely if you plugged it into the boat it would ruin it (See the Electricity 220v section).

-       How do we get drinking water?

We make all of our drinking water. We have a filter system on board so we do not need to buy bottled water. Yeah!!  We will have plenty of water to drink.

-       How does showering work on the boat?

This is also very different from land. There are two different kinds of showers on the boat. The one we use the most is the one where you sit on stairs on the back of the boat with soap and shampoo in your bathing suit with the freshwater hose. There may or may not be hot water.  It is easy, quick and refreshing. Remember the part when I mention we make our own water? That effects the frequency to take a regular shower in the bathroom. A regular shower on the boat is similar to a Navy shower where you turn off the water while you wash and only have it on to rinse. With 6-10 people on board we may have to stagger our showers so it does not deplete the water supply. This may sound daunting but it is much easier when you are here.

The Loo

This is another topic that we get a few questions about. There are a lot of different types of toilets on boats so it is a good question to ask. First, we have plenty of toilets (4) and they are all electric. We will show you how they work when you get here.  The tricky part comes with the toilet paper since only waste goes into the toilet.  Not as big of a deal for the guys but for the gals it is a bigger issue. Each bathroom will have a zip lock bag for used toilet paper. We dispose of the bag as needed and start with a new one. As gross as this sounds it is much better than dealing with a clogged holding tank -  Trust me on this one!

Electricity 220V

SandStar is a European boat. This means that we have 220v outlets. Check all of your electronics that you are bringing make sure the device or charger can handle the 220v. Usually this is marked with a range such as 100v-240v. The outlets are European but we have adapters for US plugs. You do not need to bring any adapters.

Connectivity

This is another big question and one that we did not understand until we got here. Luckily we can pass along our learnings to you so you can have everything you need to be connected. We do not have internet on the boat…..but there are a few ways to get it.  

1.   Current US Carrier - Check with your cell carrier to find out if they have a good international plan designed for a vacation to see if any of their plans will work. This is the easiest way.

2.  Get a local SIM card (BTC is the carrier in the Bahamas) – We have an unlocked phone you can use while you are here as a hotspot for your devices. You will just need to buy a local SIM card for it. You can get a BTC SIM card before you leave the states from a company called Mr. SIM Card (mrsimcard.com). I am not sure of the details on how this works but they are a US company and you can call them and walk through the steps. If you need data only make sure to call them instead of using the website.  The phone we have needs a nano size SIM card.

You can also get a SIM card when you get here but one thing we have learned is that some BTC offices are not always open on the islands. If you are meeting us in a bigger island your chances are pretty good. If it is a smaller one, there is a chance the BTC office may not be open. You will have a choice of prepaid plan options. Take a look before you leave to see what will work. You can see the plans on the Mr. Sim Card site or the BTC site. We usually just get a data only plan but I know they have combo plans too.

Here is the phone’s IMEI number that you will need if you get a card from Mr. Sim Card is: 357224077907355

3.  Public WiFi - About 50% of the restaurants have wifi so you should be able to get a little internet if you do not want to do option 1 or 2.

4.  The Crazy Option – it is totally optional to disconnect from the rest of the world while you are here if you do not want to worry about the options above. It is actually pretty nice to do this.  

We see land but how do we get there???

Think of SandStar as our house. We will move from island to island on SandStar but once we are anchored we will need get to land. Our “car” is our dinghy. The only tricky part about our dinghy is getting in and out of it from the boat and docks. You will have to balance and step over the inflatable side of the dinghy to get in. To get back on the boat you will have to balance and step from a moving surface onto the back of the boat. We try to hold it steady the best we can but it will still be moving a bit.

Things to do

Feel free to do some research and figure out if there is anything you would like to do while you are here. If you really want to try a kitesurfing lesson. Plan to do it! We may not go and that is ok and if only a few people want to do it the others can stay on the boat. We are very flexible when it comes to this.