Ronnie and Louise Robertson (July 2006)

Ronnie and Louise

After spending four days with family and friends who attended our wedding on St. Thomas it was time to get away for some quiet time with my new bride. I was very excited about meeting Paul and Ratna and getting underway on Sayang. Normally they begin their charters from Tortola but in our case, they picked us up at the yacht harbor at St. Thomas. Paul showed up at the fuel dock right on time.

First of all, the boat is beautiful-long, sleek and with blue painted sides she stands out nicely among all the white boats that are so common. Ratna welcomed us aboard and Paul ran through the safety drill. It was finally time to play. For the next six days Paul and Ratna waited on us hand and foot. Ratna is an awesome hostess. She moved around the boat so quietly sometimes we would forget she was there, until she would appear with another drink and delicious snack.

Every night we anchored at a different island. Upon arrival I would look around at the neighboring boats. We always had the best looking boat! Paul is constantly maintaining the boat when not on charter and it shows. I could go on and on about how nice she is but rest assured, she really is perfect…and fast too. On the second day of our charter, we talked about sailing to a new island (I forget which one) and the weather was not exactly the best. It looked a little like rain, the wind was blowing at about 24 knots and the waves were 7-8 feet high. Paul asked us what we wanted to do and Louise and I said, `let´s sail.` It turned out to be a very exciting part of the trip. The boat was healing over almost to the rails but she felt as solid as a rock. No shudders or bangs and very smooth and dry. We loved it.

As for the customer service we received from Paul and Ratna…you won´t find better at the Ritz. Ratna is very accomplished in the kitchen and Paul knows sailing and boats. They make a perfect crew. They were always focused on our needs. We wanted to participate in the crewing and Paul was eager to show us how to do things correctly, always with safety in mind. It was obvious by the way Paul goes about doing things that he is very talented.

Paul told us we would be their last guests on the boat until after the hurricane season. Sayang would be at dry-dock until sometime in October and then re-launched with new bottom paint and everything gleaming and ready for her second season.

Louise and I plan to join them again next year. In the meantime, we have a lot beautiful pictures to remind us of our trip and of Paul and Ratna…our new friends.

Ronnie and Louise Robertson
Dallas, Texas (July 3rd-9th 2006)