AD ASTRA

Ad Astra — British Virgin Islands Ad Astra was built as a genuine bluewater yacht, and it shows the moment she gets going: quicker, stiffer and noticeably more settled underway than most of what makes up the BVI charter fleet. Twin helms and unusually responsive steering mean the person on the wheel tends to stay there — this is a sailing yacht for people who actually want to sail, not simply to be moved between anchorages. Four cabins accommodate guests, each with its own bathroom, shower, electric heads and hot and cold water. Your BellaYacht advisor will confirm the exact cabin configuration. Life on board centres on the saloon and a fully covered cockpit, both generous enough to spread out for a long lunch or an evening that runs late. Two sun-and-shade beds in the cockpit and the wide trampolines forward take care of anyone chasing the sun; four separate air conditioning and heating units, backed by strong natural ventilation, take care of everyone else, whatever the season is doing. The practical side is where Ad Astra quietly outperforms. Water is never rationed: 270-gallon tanks, two water heaters and a 48-gallon-per-hour watermaker, plus two dedicated drinking taps filtered to five microns — no bottled water to haul aboard. The galley is properly equipped, with a large refrigerator and freezer, three-burner range, convection oven, microwave, ice maker, garbage disposal and two dishwashers. Cooking and clearing up both stop being a compromise. After dinner, the underwater lights draw marine life alongside the hulls, and the anchorage becomes its own quiet spectacle. The crew handle the sailing, the cooking and the itinerary with the ease that comes from knowing these islands well — adjusting the plan to the wind, the weather and the mood on board rather than to a fixed schedule.