Vicarious - Crewed Catamaran Charter

Guestbook entry 4/3/2023
Great time! Great crew!
Loved snorkeling and time spent together!
Don´t forget to catch up on some sleep!
Cant make this stuff at home :)

Thanks so much!
The Carters

Guestbook entry 3/26/23
Lucy: My favorite thing was surfing with Phily. I learned a lot from her and I loved movie night :)

Thank you so much Austen and Phily! Best captain and hostess, i feel so spoiled, so delicious! xoxo Emily

William: Thank you so much Austen and Phily. I loved snorkeling, it was so much fun! I loved the food! Seeing all the tarpon at night was so fun!

Best family vacation ever! Thanks Phily and Austen, we hit the crew lottery and had an amazing time aboard Vicarious. We will miss you guys and this incredible boat!

Guestbook entry 3/12/2023
From Canada!
Thank you so much for making this an epic vacation for us. We could not have asked for more.
Food, snorkeling, visiting islands, scootering on Anegada and fantastic conversations! - Todd and Elsie

Such a wonderful trip! We really enjoyed all the fun activities and delicious food. Thank you both so much for your excellent hospitality! - Fred and Andrea

Client shared these words with broker in post charter follow-up:

´I have to describe our crew as a perfect match for us. They loved adventure, healthy eating and found a great balance between spending time with us and doing their job. I was impressed with how intuitive Austen was in trying to accommodate visits to places that I mentioned in passing that I actually didn´t expect him to take us to. Great listener! ´

´Austen and Phily were great, and the boat was excellent! We saw a lot of great sights and beaches , they were very in tune to what we were wanting. We would recommend them for anyone that would like a mix of activity/leisure and great food!´

Guestbook entry 2/25/2023
Guests John, Kylie, Reese, Wheeler, Maran and Levi
What a week! So many laughs, great snorkeling, awesome (sometimes barefooted+ sometimes complaining)hikes, private beach fun gargantuan lobsters, amazing meals
+so much xo! Thanks for feeling like part of our family! A vacation for the history books for us! Thanks for teaching us how to shrimp dive, hunt for lobster, unhook from a mooring ball+ so much more. You guys are the best! See you in NSB or back on the boat sometime! we love you all!

Guestbook entry 1/3/2023
Guests Nikki, Ari, David, Stephen, Maya
Simply the best time of my life. Enjoyable sea and white sands, blue and turquoise oceans. Tiny stinging jellys too. reminded me of stinging nettles, we named them underwater mosquitos. The friendliest and most accommodating crew. On an adventure together of discovery, conversation with new friends and old we sailed and found paradise for New Years!

Guestbook entry 12/26/2022
Guests Larry, Jackie, Daniel and Jordan
Austen and Phily, Thank you for giving us a Christmas vacation we will never forget. Everything was perfect.. the food, the drinks, the beautiful boat, amazing sails and hikes, the snorkeling. But most of all we will never forget meeting you two. The only sad day on this trip is having to say good-bye. We cant wait to sail with you again. Hopefully in the near future.
Much Love,
The Redells

Guestbook entry 12/17/2022:
Guests Gunther, Kim, Lee, Chad
OK guys.... No words except... just WOW! All positives, No negatives! Austen and Phily are the absolute best! They tailored our trip just perfectly! We saw amazing things while snorkeling!! They also picked up when we just wanted to chill. We are already planning our return!!!
Lots of love from S.C
Thanks Guys!!

Guestbook entry 12/2022:
Guests JoAnne, Warren, Francine and Thom
Incredible week because of incredible people, boat, weather, food, drink and most of all the skipper and crew! There is no better way to spend a week in the Caribbean than to chillax on Vicarious! Professional with a very personal touch... like family. Triple ´A´ rating from stem to stern. Thank you Austen an Phily!

Hi Austen,
A quick note to say thanks very much for taking great care of the Shipley’s. They had a fantastic time - Charley stated, “it was the best vacation I ever had.” Hard to beat!! He was fairly effusive in his praise, ´Austen and Philly were excellent, food was fabulous, everything was fabulous.´
Thanks again for all of your hard work.

Dear Austen and Phily:
On behalf of Cathy, Joe, and Betsy, I would like to thank both of you for such a memorable
vacation.
As I mentioned, I was in the Hotel Business for 30 years, so I know how to provide quality
service. Both of you are a great team who went out of your way to make sure we were well taken
care of. Because of your positive attitudes, eye for detail, great food and service,
and making sure we were enjoying the trip; I give you what would be a Mobil 5 star rating.
We were considering the Vicarious and one other boat. The deciding factor for all 4 of us was
your menu and the great pictures of the meals that Phily prepares. Phily you are a real artist. The
other boat did not try to talk about their meals nor did they present pictures like yours.
Cathy is in the process of putting together an album of our trip on the Vicarious. Needless to say,
we are already talking about booking another cruise with you.
Sincerely

Wayne Martin
Cc: Cathy, Joe, and Betsy.

Austen and Phily gave us the vacation we’d long dreamed of. We spent a week with them sailing around St. John. They knew all the right places to go to give us a range of experiences, including great snorkeling, a day in near total seclusion, a gorgeous hike, and a cove where we wound up swimming with two dolphins. (That last part requires the dolphins to actually decide to do that, so…zero guarantees.) The boat is immaculate and comfortable, and we slept great in the cabins. Phily’s meals were as good as at any restaurant and it was probably the healthiest we’d ever eaten for a whole week. But the key to it all was Austen and Phily themselves. They became friends. We laughed and talked over meals and drinks. We felt more like the week was a shared experience with them rather than feeling like they were hosts and we were along for the ride. We’ve been saying that we feel spoiled. We want to do more catamaran island hopping, but now can’t do it with anyone else because, well, they won’t be Austen and Phily. So, till next time…

We had a blast and what a great cruise aboard Vicarious!

The Vicarious is a 48´ Leopard catamaran built in 2016, the big cat is very well kept, clean and certainly a very seaworthy boat. Captain Austen and his first mate (and fiance´) Philomena were great hosts, very accommodating, fun and super easy to get to know and get along with. Austen is a young man but a very accomplished sailor, evidence being that we had to deal with hurricane Henri while on the boat. Austen accurately predicted the path of the eye and found a safe anchorage for us to hold up in while Henri passed.

The food was plentiful, healthy and excellently prepared. Every meal was planned and executed with perfection for such a small kitchen. We had a perfect blend of meals onboard and off the boat as well as meals purchased ashore and brought back to the boat, thanks Philly!

There are 4 state rooms aboard, one which is occupied by the crew. We were aboard with one other couple and I feel this was just perfect, 2 more people and it would have been a little cozy but hey thats what sailing with friends is all about. Can´t wait to book another cruise aboard Vicarious, hopefully when they are in the USVI!

Thanks to Austen and Philomena for a wonderful, relaxing and fun vacation, you guys ROCK!

Overall rating: 5/5

Was this your first charter yacht experience? Yes

Date: June 2021

Yacht: Vicarious

How did you enjoy your cruising vacation?
Austen & Philomena were terrific. The New England ports were beautiful and the meals were delicious!

How is the yacht?
The cabins were comfortable. The extra thick gel mattress was fantastic. The boat was extremely well maintained and clean.

Did you use all the water toys?
The water was quite cold still but we did use several of the water toys including the paddleboard, hydrofoil, and floating trampoline.

Where your meals excellent and fresh?
Healthy, delicious, great variety and beautifully presented.

How would you describe your Captain and crew?
They were friendly and kind. Very engaging.

Was it easy to get to your yachts destination?
Yes

How do you feel now after your vacation?
Completely relaxed and refreshed!

How did you find the pace and the itinerary of your vacation?
It was a nice balance of activity and rest

Name: Ryan
Yacht: Vicarious with Austin & Philomena Anderson
Charter Dates: 04/03/2021 to 04/07/2021
Area Cruised: St. Thomas - USVI
Overall Rating: 5/5

1. Was the crew friendly and accommodating?
The best possible crew experience ever. Austin and Phily were amazing.

2. Was the yacht comfortable and clean?
Perfect condition.

3. Was the yacht well ventilated?
Yes.

4. Was the food good and well presented?
Beyond our expectations.

5. Did you like the area you sailed?
Wouldn´t change the itinerary at all.

6. Additional comments on your charter?
Our experience on the Vicarious exceeded every expectation. The yacht was amazing, the food was spectacular and the itinerary was spot on. Hands down the best part of our vacation was the crew. Captain Austin and Phily felt like part of our family. We can´t wait for our next trip with them!

We had an incredible week on Vicarious, the perfect balance of adventure and relaxation. Each day different from the one before. All the meals were incredible and we enjoyed getting to try different cuisine throughout the week. The service and experience that Austen and Philly provided have us already looking to book with them again next year. We really enjoyed this trip and met or exceeded all previous charters we have done in the past.

We had a WONDERFUL week! On land, we did several hikes/trail runs, spent time at pristine beaches, and had fun exploring the town of Cruz Bay. We saw petroglyphs and countless amazing views of the island terrain and Caribbean waters. At sea, we did a bunch of snorkeling - seeing a variety of fish, coral, octopi, squid, and sea turtles. Phily loves the water and knows what to look for and where to find it. She is also an experienced photographer, so helped capture the trip in ways we couldn´t with just our phones. On land, she took family pictures at several destinations. At sea, she used her free diving experience and a Go Pro to capture the underwater experience, as well. Austen and Phily were very attentive and wanted to make sure we were comfortable, well fed, and relaxed. Meals were delicious and menus customized around our preferences and specific likes/dislikes. They made fun and creative cocktails in the afternoons with hors d´oeuvres before dinner. We spent New Year´s Eve aboard and were stocked with high quality champagne, delicious food, party favors, and great music. It was fun to end 2020 in such a unique way. Could have stayed for another week! We can´t wait to sail with Vicarious again!

Our family of four spent Christmas week of 2020 on Charter Vicarious with Austen and Philomena, and it was absolutely a 10 out of 10 experience that we will treasure for the rest of our lives. We are experienced travelers and have high expectations, and they exceeded on every level — the boat is in excellent shape and there is clear pride of ownership; Austen is an experienced and considerate captain of the ship and spent extra time to make sure our family felt safe and at ease on the water; Philomena is a phenomenal cook, snorkel tour guide, and family photographer; and they both just went the extra mile on every little detail. By the end of the trip it felt like we were all family. I fully recommend Austen and Philomena without any hesitation and we can’t wait for our next adventure with them!

Charter Vicarious was fantastic! Philomena and Austen are passionate about serving their clients and providing them an unforgettable vacation experience. They are relatively new owner/operators and had almost everything running perfectly. The boat is only a couple of years old, beautiful, well maintained, and handled the rare moderate seas very well (my wife sometimes gets seasick, but did not have any issues due to the comfortable design and handling of the boat and its captain). Philomena is a trained culinary expert and had us eating a wide variety of tasty and beautifully presented dishes. The itinerary was as flexible and as robust or relaxed as we wished. Philomena and Austen both adjusted plans daily to whatever was requested and possible. There was a mix of private bays, harbor towns, swimming with sea turtles, excursions to go catch lobster, and guided snorkel tours of some of the nicest underwater reef and park areas. Similarly, the evenings were spent on calm and restful shores, with a mix of great food, good conversation, music as requested and pristine skies for stargazing.

We would definitely recommend Vicarious to couples and families. Philomena and Austen are kind, professional, entertaining, and generous - -and we plan to be back again as soon as possible!

-- Tony and Jennifer

Vivian and I wrote a review of our time with you and Philomena on the Vicarious. I was easy to write.

I worked with Austen to plan a six day charter on the Vicarious, through New England as a birthday present for my wife, which included a surprise meet up with friends on the water in Rhode Island. Austen could not have been any more accommodating through the planning process. He made it all very easy by being extremely flexible and responsive. We worked with Philomena, who is the first mate and chef, on a shopping list and menu that accommodated everyone, including the kids.

There were 4 adults and 2 kids total, and we all had had an amazing time sailing with Austen and Philomena. It felt like we were sailing with family. They were always considerate of our well being and went out of their way to ensure we were having fun. The two of them are a great team and they both prioritize their guests which made it really nice. Austen is an experienced sailor and as a result, we always felt safe and taken care of. He would get up early in the morning to start sailing to our next destination to ensure that we could maximize our time there. They provided amazing water toys that accommodated all ages. Our 19 month old loved the wading pool, while the 6 year old loved the water slide, paddle boards, and towable flamingo. They even took time out to paddle board and swim with the kids.

Philomena had well planned menus and made delicious meals. We loved waking up to fresh brewed coffee and tasty breakfasts, such as Norweigian pancakes, Eggs Benedict and smoothies. There were always amazing snacks when we came back on the boat from our afternoon adventures, whether it was exploring on land or swimming by the boat. She even prepared a delicious birthday cake that we all thoroughly enjoyed.

The accommodations on the Vicarious were super clean and comfortable, and each bedroom had a private bathroom. There was ample room on the boat ,and the kids loved congregating in the salon to watch kids´ movies (which Philomena kindly provided on her laptop). We had such a great time and we hope to book a trip with them again soon!

Adam & Vivian

We really did enjoy our charter on VICARIOUS. The boat was spacious and beautiful, the meals were truly gourmet and the crew were capable, thoughtful and fun! We thoroughly enjoyed our time as we sailed through the Elizabeth islands and Martha’s Vineyard, visited beaches & islands, and enjoyed paddle-boarding.

In terms of favorite moments, meals and experiences — it’s really hard to choose. But I’d say our favorite moment was our visit by a spectacular school of dolphins, our favorite meal the delicious halibut & brocolini (and the chocolate dessert:) and our favorite experience was a tie between the dinner sunset at Menemsha and the sailing itself!

- Bonnie Jo

Hi, We had a great time, thank you!

The boat was clean and well equipped. The harbors in montauk, block island, cuttyhunk and menemsha were scenic and peaceful.

Austen is an excellent captain and great presence on the boat. Philomena is a really positive and friendly person and very helpful the entire trip. She kept the boat tidy and kept us all well fed!

Thank you!

Hope to sail again one day,

Best,
Justin