How long has it been since you’ve smelled the sea air and piloted your boat to a great destination, maybe jumping in for a swim? Too long! Wouldn’t it be wonderful if you could wave your magic wand and be doing just that?

Well, you can wave your checkbook and do it. Especially if you have three or four other couples who are suffering from boat withdrawal. My husband and I have gone south for some winter sailing in the warm weather five times and I cannot recommend it enough.

If you have been boating for a while and feel pretty confident about your ability to handle your vessel, think about bareboat chartering in the Caribbean. Our go-to spot has been the British Virgin Islands where crime is very low, water is safe to drink, and everywhere is beautiful. If you compare a winter vacation hotel rate with a high-end air-conditioned catamaran divided among 4 couples, it comes out to about $235 per couple per night in high season for a Lagoon 40. With four separate cabins and two heads, you are not on top of each other, and with a catamaran you have a spacious salon next to the cockpit instead of down in a hole. It also includes a dinghy and motor for running in to dine and shop, and linens, completely equipped galley and snorkel gear for all.

There is a GPS, electronics and charts. Speaking of charts, we found another advantage of the British Virgin Islands. Before we left the first time we bought all the charts and poured over them each night. I plotted courses from one island to the other carefully. When we cast off and set out for our first sail I grabbed the chart and then rolled it up again. Every destination was close and easy to see. No more than about an hour’s sail or two if the wind was slow. Never mind. The charting at home kept me looking forward to the trip.

What if you are not a sailor? These catamarans come with an engine, and it is very gas economical. You can put up the sail if you want, but you can actually go all week motoring everywhere. You can get a power cat instead, but it is a bit more expensive.

The water is so clear you will think you must be aground as you look down into 20 feet of water. The guide book that comes with the boat tells you the best places to moor for the night. Music from the steel drums wafts out to your boat on a gentle breeze, and you flip the steaks on the grill as you sip Killer Punch and look at the incredible sunset. For us, each couple took a turn preparing and serving dinner while the others relaxed. The rest of the time we dinghied to a different island each night and ate out.

This setting was the inspiration for Treasure Island with Dead Chest Island perhaps still harboring a bottle of rum. Low season is the least expensive, but the weather is more if-y. Certain times of the year there is a special 10 nights for the price of seven, and we took advantage of that. In winter you wouldn’t need a boat with AC and that would be a saving. If you would feel better going with several other boats on a scheduled itinerary, the Moorings can accommodate you and put you with others. If you’d rather go where the spirit moves you and decide each morning whether to snorkel or explore or shop, try TMM Charters for a professionally run outfit based in Tortola. Whatever business you decide on, be prepared to go out with them for about an hour and show them that you can handle their boat. If you have a captain’s license they may waive this requirement.

If this appeals to you, explore the internet and see what is out there. In any case, it will capture your imagination and give you better images than your boat under wraps.