All these sailing tours - the ones that are like 60 bucks for 3 hours or 80 for a 5 hour lunch tour...are any of them actually "sailing" or are they just powerboats with a sail on top for the look?

I am looking for somewhere that my wife and I can go on a boat that is actually sailing using wind power. Don't even care about snorkeling or anything...just a quiet ride on the water.

Thanks!

We used small cats a while ago and we sailed quite a bit. It's a small boat and not many people. We all said we'd like to sail a little and he took us up to the west coast to the cement factory and back. Very nice.

Peace, Greenie

Most of the "sailing" trips on Barbados are on catamarans under sail with power being used in and out of anchorage only. I have used Cool Runnings several times and always found them to be very good and they have 3 different sized cats for varying numbers of people. There are several other of assorted sizes, prices, etc. Silver Moon is small and more luxurious with a price to suit. You might find some useful information here:

http://www.destinationcaribbean.net/...mp;parentid=19

When we visit Barbados - we LOVE going on the Catamaran Cruises with Rubaiyat. Eddie and his crew are THE BEST!!! And go for the 5 hour cruise. Even if you don't want to snorkel - the 50 ft catamaran is very comfortable and you with thoroughly enjoy the rid. You get free drinks and an OUTSTANDING lunch onboard. They come pick you up at your hotel and drop you off at the marina in Bridgetown. Then shuttle you back to your hotel at the end of the cruise. Here's the website so you can check it out.....
http://www.rubaiyatcatamarancruises.com/. ENJOY!

We rented Wasn't Me from Captain Ron for a day during our October 2007 trip . We had two couples and it was so much nicer than sharing with a boatload full of people you don't know. It was a catamaran and actually sailed. The website is barbadosahoy.com. They provided lunch, open bar, great caribbean music and snorkling.

As an update, we ended up going with "Small Cats" as we wanted a smaller boat. Ended up with 10 people on the boat, and really preferred the size and having a trampoline to lay on instead of a huge walk-around deck. Certainly wouldn't be for everyone as it wasn't really the party environment like some of the bigger boats had, but I liked not feeling like a head of cattle (as it seemed like some others were being shuffled around like a herd, in and out of the snorkel areas).

Of the time we were traveling, I would say 50/50 split of sailing or under power, so I would have preferred to sail more, but there was enough at least.