House Sitting Experiences: Boat Sitting in The Caribbean

I had promised my family that I would go back home for Christmas. Until we got an email with the Subject line, ‘This is a long shot, but I need a boat sitter!’

Usually, we find all our house sits using house-sitting websites. But we sometimes get emails from homeowners (or boat owners). This immediately caught my attention; I have always wanted a boat sit!

I replied right away. Shortly after, we jumped on a Skype call and talked about this boat-sitting job in the Caribbean. The boat would be sat for 4 – 5 months. I’m looking after a cat and a 38-foot catamaran in Tyrell Bay, Carriacou Island, Grenada, in the West Indies!

Read on to learn how to start boat-sitting in the Caribbean!

Getting to The House Sit in Grenada

Britt was preparing to return to Australia for Christmas and to house-sit in Melbourne. However, I couldn’t miss out on a unique opportunity that had come my way.

I had always dreamed of living on a boat and exploring the Caribbean, so this was a perfect chance. I told my family I wouldn’t be home for Christmas due to an unexpected commitment. After some discussion, they agreed that I should seize this boat-sitting adventure.

On November 14th, we finished our last house sit in Athens, Greece and said our goodbyes. While Britt flew back to Australia for a few months, I embarked on a journey to the Caribbean.

The trip from Greece to Grenada was quite the adventure—three flights, two boat rides, and one bus ride later, I finally arrived on Carriacou Island.

Where is Carriacou Grenada in the Caribbean?

I bet some of you are wondering where Carriacou, Grenada, is. That was one of the first thoughts I had. Carriacou is the largest island in the Grenadian Grenadines and sits around 30km North of the main island of Grenada.

It has a population of around 8,000 and is relatively small at around 30km square. Carriacou is a hotspot for cruisers and divers, and tourists come all year round because of the nice weather.

The catamaran I would look after was anchored in Tyrell Bay on the island’s South West Coast. Many ‘cruisers’ anchor their boats here for hurricane season because it is a large, sheltered bay with two marinas, supermarkets, markets, and several restaurants.

The perfect spot to shelter from hurricanes, complete boat maintenance, and catch up with friends.

The island does have all the essentials; however, it is quite a remote place, and 95% of everything you need comes in by boat. This took a little bit of getting used to. As many of you know, I love food & wine.

Boat Sitting Duties

To be clear, I had some experience with boats and yachts before looking after this boat.

So, I was not going into this boat-sitting completely blind. I would not recommend boat-sitting (even on an anchored boat) to anyone without boating experience. Even though the boat is anchored, risk is involved, and you need to know a thing or two.

My primary duty while on board was to look after the cat, Pooks. Pooks had been living on the catamaran full-time for most of her life, so she was a well-seasoned sailor and loved the boat life.

She did not have all the space in the world to run around, so my job was to keep her well entertained with many cat wands, toys, treats, and her favorite food—fresh seared tuna. I also had to change her litter box daily, and I would be her bunk buddy at night.

The boat owner advised me that Pooks sleeps on her chest most nights and that she would probably want to do this with me, too. It took her a few weeks, but she slowly warmed up to me and started sleeping on me every night and morning.

Other Boast Sitting Duties

My other primary duty was to keep the catamaran safe, floating, and tidy.

One thing that I never really realized about boats is that they are constantly under attack from the ocean. Something always needs to be cleaned, fixed, or maintained.

I was lucky on this particular boat-sitting assignment; the owners took the boat out when they returned to give it a complete overhaul.

This meant my duties would not be as full-on as if they were not dry docking and overhauling the boat upon return.

So, my main duties for the boat during the site would be to keep the interior clean and salt-free, deal with Pooks’ litter box, perform daily anchor checks, and ensure the boat was safe while the owner was away.

One optional thing about this sit, which I decided to do, was to broadcast the local ‘cruisers net’ Monday through Friday over the VHF radio.

Essentially, this was the local broadcast, providing weather, sea, wind, and local events and helping cruisers with any queries about the area.

It was kind of like Jay’s morning radio show – I had a blast!

Did the Cat Like Living on a Boat?

This was the number one question I was asked while boat-sitting Pooks, and I can safely say that she enjoys living on the boat.

She had many hidden little spots where she spent most days sleeping. She had many toys and little crabs to play with on the swimming stairs and enjoyed a perfect sunset every day (she was not even joking about this; she would be perched up watching the sunset on top of the boat every night without fail).
However, when the boat was sailing, the engine was running, or the weather was rough, she did not like it very much and would hide away for hours on end until things smoothed out a little bit.

The second question I got asked the most is does Pooks like swimming? Or has she ever gone overboard?

She has been overboard twice (not while I looked after her). Both times, she went overboard while the boat was anchored and when she was a kitten.
Both times, she was wearing a cat life jacket (yes, they exist) and got back on board. Pooks is a bit older and wiser now and tends to stay away from the boat’s edge, mainly when it is rough.

How Was My Experience Boat Sitting in the Caribbean?

Overall, boat-sitting in the Caribbean was a fantastic experience. I won’t lie; being on the yacht for almost five months alone was a little bit hard.

Sure, there were other cruisers and some locals whom I made friends with, but living alone on a yacht with only a cat was tough sometimes.

Looking after a yacht was extraordinary. I have always wanted to buy a yacht and get into sailing, so this was a perfect opportunity to ‘test the waters ‘by living on a boat for an extended period.

How Did I Pass the Time While Boat Sitting?

Carriacou is a tiny island, so there is not much to do. However, I had no problems filling in my days here. 

As you can imagine, the Caribbean is a very relaxed place, where things get done slowly. So, I had to make a fairly strict schedule and stick to it to avoid slipping into the local way of life.

My general day-to-day usually looked something like this:

• 6:00 am: Wake up and jump in the ocean. Then, I will check all the local weather sites and get my morning broadcast together.
• 6:30 am: Broadcast the cruiser’s net.
• 7:00 am: Play with Pooks, change her litter box, and feed her.
• 7:30 am: Start work for the day
• Noon: Head out for a kayak around the bay, a run/hike, the gym, or a dive. If it’s Wednesday or Sunday, head down to one of the local bars and play Mexican Train Dominoes.
• 2:00 pm: Head back to the boat, jump in the water, and check the anchor, bridal, and the exterior of the boat.
• 2:30 pm: Head back to work for a few hours
• 6:00 pm: Enjoy a ‘sundowner’ drink with Pooks during the sunset.
• 6:30 pm: Either cook dinner or meet up with some locals for dinner at one of the local restaurants. (the supermarket was pretty expensive, so it was around the same price to go out for dinner). 
• 8:30 pm: Back to the boat to play with Pooks and turn on the lights.

What Went Wrong?

We always get asked for house-sitting horror stories, things that have gone wrong, and unexpected events. We have been really lucky over our 40-odd house sittings, and nothing has gone wrong.
However, there were a few minor hiccups on this sit, which are no surprise when looking after a yacht in such a remote location.

Boat Fuse Situation

The first issue was the fuses on the boat. The boat is from South Africa and has some parts specific to South Africa. One of these SA-specific parts is the fuse system. The boat owner had advised me there were two fuses left, and the fuses had been playing up, so keep that in mind when using electronics. 

Within about a day, I had gone through the two fuses and was hunting for SA-style boat fuses on a small island in the Caribbean. It took me around 2 days of hunting and trying different fuses, but I got something working. 

Cat Constipation

About two weeks into my stay, Pooks got constipation. A local volunteer vet on the other side of the island to me could not come out to the boat, but I could bring Pooks to if need be.
Luckily, the vet gave me some magic pills that sorted her out within a couple of days, so I did not have to take her in the tender to shore and then on a local bus to the vet!

Bitten By A Dog

Around three weeks into being on the island, I was bitten by a local dog on both my legs. I was going for a hike, and two dogs, which were not on leashes, ran out from behind a house and attacked me.

I had to go to the local hospital and get fixed up. I had bites on each of my legs, which needed antibiotics. The worst part about this was that I could not swim for around six weeks until they healed.

Luckily, this little hospital visit did not cost me anything because insurance always covers us!

Boat Crash

You read that right – boat crash.

One of the reasons I was on board while the owner was away was to ensure the boat was safe while anchored in a busy bay—this included watching out when other sailing vessels anchored nearby. One day, it was windy, and a French sailing vessel was trying to anchor next to me when I heard my neighbor yell out to me. 

I ran outside and saw the French vessel heading straight for the bow of my boat. I quickly got the fenders out and stopped the boat from hitting too hard. Due to the wind, the vessel kept bouncing off my boat and back again, causing its hull to get stuck in my anchor / bridal lines.

We tried to push the boat free with the tender but had no luck; it was well stuck. We secured the French vessel to mine and thought about what we could do. A local and I grabbed a couple of masks and jumped in to see if we could free the boat from my anchor chain but had no luck; my bridal line was wrapped up in the French vessel’s propeller.

We secured the French vessel to mine and considered what we could do. A local and I grabbed a couple of masks and jumped in to see if we could free the boat from my anchor chain, but had no luck;

It took us a few hours, but we managed to unwrap the bridal line and free the boat. Luckily, I was home then, and neither boat was damaged. 

How to Get a House-Sitting Job in the Caribbean

For this boat-sitting assignment, the homeowner reached out to us.

She found us on Instagram and thought we would be a perfect couple to look after her boat. In our house sitting course, we explain the importance of being active on social media as a housesitter to appeal to other animal lovers and homeowners.

However, if you are just starting house sitting or don’t have your own website / social media accounts set up you still have options.

While boat-sitting in the Caribbean, I was always on the lookout for my next house–sit. Trusted House Sitters was the best site I found for finding house-sits in the Caribbean.

This site seemed to have the best range of house-sitting opportunities in the Caribbean and honestly did not seem to have too much competition compared to other places.

I would recommend house-sitting in the Caribbean to everyone.

It was a unique experience that I am delighted I had—I made some great friends here, experienced a different way of life, and got to hang out with a cat on a catamaran for five months!

I hope you enjoyed my experience house sitting in the Caribbean. I wrote this post to inspire those who want to start house sitting or are curious about boat sitting in the Caribbean.

Need Help Getting Started With House Sitting

Have we got you excited about house-sitting or boat-sitting? We love sharing our experiences and teaching others how to become house-sitters and start their journeys. 

So, if you need help starting your house-sitting journey, see my resources here, and don’t hesitate to contact me and ask me any questions.

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