Atabey1

The S/V ATABEYRA is a 77′, traditionally rigged trading schooner that has retired from cargo service. The vessel traded for years between Hispaniola and the Turks & Caicos Islands carrying such commodities as rum, beer, produce, plants and building materials. The ship has been refit as a charter vessel and now stays close to home in the sheltered waters of Grace Bay and the Caicos Cays of Turks and Caicos Islands. The S/V ATABEYRA is the perfect platform for learning hands on operation of traditional sailing craft, for exploring the exquisite undersea world and many islands that surround us, or just lounging on her spacious, shaded decks. No vessel in the TCI charter fleet is as large or as versatile.

Sun Charters and the ATABEYRA crew offer our guests a unique opportunity to get real sailing experience aboard the last of the tropical trading schooners. Being a gaff-rigged vessel carrying two headsails, there are lots of lines to pull, many sails to tend, and the skipper will even be happy to let you take the helm. Feel the past come alive as we sail through the uninhabited chain of Caicos Cays the same way it was done hundreds of years ago. The Cays were once the lair of the infamous lady pirates Anne Bonny and Mary Reid, and the waters and surrounding islands remain basically untouched since that time.

The ATABEYRA crew is uniquely qualified to introduce you to local flora and fauna. The vessel is Owner-operated and all crew were raised in these islands. We can expose you to the most diverse array of corals and undersea life that this acclaimed region has to offer, and can land you on pristine beaches and islands where your footprints will be the only ones. The crew takes pride in local ecology and history and will be happy to share information about this unique area. (ATABEYRA was the fertility Goddess of the local Arawak Indians.)