On St. Thomas most of the boat business centers around the Red Hook and Yacht Haven marinas.

The 50-foot Yacht Nightwind, Sapphire Marina (tel. 340/775-4110), offers full-day sails to St. John and the outer islands. The $100 price includes continental breakfast, champagne buffet lunch, and an open bar aboard. You're also given free snorkeling equipment and instruction.

New Horizons, 6501 Red Hook Plaza, Suite 16, Red Hook (tel. 340/775-1171), offers wind-borne excursions amid the cays and reefs of the Virgin Islands. The two-masted, 65-foot sloop has circumnavigated the globe and has been used as a design prototype for other boats. Owned and operated by Canadian Tim Krygsveld, it contains a hot-water shower, serves a specialty drink called a "New Horizons Nooner" (with a melon-liqueur base), and carries a complete line of snorkeling equipment for adults and children. A full-day excursion, with an Italian buffet lunch and an open bar, costs $100 per person ($50 for children ages 2-12). Excursions depart daily, weather permitting, from the Sapphire Beach Resort and Marina. Call ahead for reservations and information.

New Horizons has another vessel, New Horizons II, a 44-foot custom-made speedboat that takes you on a full-day trip to some of the most scenic highlights of the British Virgin Islands, costing $120 for adults or $95 for children ages 2 to 12.

You can avoid the crowds by sailing aboard the Fantasy, 6700 Sapphire Village, no. 253 (tel. 340/775-5652; fax 340/775-6256), which departs from the American Yacht Harbor at Red Hook at 9:30am daily. It takes a maximum of six passengers to St. John and nearby islands for swimming, snorkeling, beachcombing, and trolling. Snorkel gear with expert instruction is provided, as is a champagne lunch; an underwater camera is available. The full-day trip costs $110 per person for adults, $100 for children. A half-day sail, morning or afternoon, lasts 3 hours and costs $80 for adults, $75 for children.

American Yacht Harbor, Red Hook (tel. 800/736-7294 or 340/775-6454), offers both bareboat and fully crewed charters. It leaves from a colorful yacht-filled harbor set against a backdrop of Heritage Gade, a reproduction of a Caribbean village. The harbor is home to numerous boat companies, including day-trippers, fishing boats, and sailing charters like Nauti Nymph Powerboat Rentals. There are also four restaurants on the property, serving everything from Continental to Caribbean cuisine. Another reliable outfitter is Charteryacht League, at Flagship (tel. 800/524-2061 or 340/774-3944).

Sailors may want to check out the Yachtsman's Guide to the Virgin Islands, available at major marine outlets, at bookstores, through catalog merchandisers, or direct from Tropic Isle Publishers, P.O. Box 610938, North Miami, FL 33261-0938 (tel. 877/923-9653; www.yachtsmansguide.com). This annual guide, which costs $15.95, is supplemented by sketch charts, photographs, and landfall sketches and charts showing harbors and harbor entrances, anchorages, channels, and landmarks, plus information on preparations necessary for cruising the islands.