Journey to St. John and Meet Captain Iggie

PartsVu Xchange editor, Tonia Becker, talks with Captain Iggie—St. John, US Virgin Islands

For just a moment, forget your worries and the pressures of mainland living and take a journey with me to St. John for a chat with Captain Iggie. St. John is the smallest of the three main U.S. Virgin Islands. Given that approximately two-thirds of the island is designated as a National Park, it offers an amazing balance of luxury, local life, and natural beauty. In fact, St. John boasts one of the world’s most beautiful beaches, the famous Trunk Bay—a beach both renowned for its crystal clear waters, soft sands, and underwater nature trail.

Captain Iggie spent much of his youth around the water. He decided to make his way down to St. John and live there for six months to a year to check it out—more than eighteen years later, he loves the island more than ever.

He has had many international adventures including crewing a sailboat for thirty-six days while sailing around the coast of Turkey, the Greek Isles, and as close to Syria as was safely possible at the time. Crewing and winning the Heineken Regatta in St Maarten. He has lived in Greece, the Czech Republic and Mexico and has written travel guides for Paris, Rome, and Prague. St John became his home.

How did you start RocknRolla St. John Boat Charters?

Captain Iggie: When I first moved to St John, I worked at a dive shop, as a bartender, and as a first mate on a catamaran. Working a few different jobs is typical down here, especially when you first arrive.

I launched RocknRolla St. John Boat Charters seven years ago and have been fortunate to work my business full time. When the idea first came to me, I was bartending at the Beach Bar. I spoke with the owners of the Beach Bar about my interest in buying a boat and starting a charter business. I thought we had a great opportunity to play off each other because it would be cool for the bar to be able to offer a charter service to its customers. The arrangement has worked out really well for both of us.

What sorts of trips do you offer?

Captain Iggie: All my trips are customized. I take up to six passengers, which makes it a lot easier to customize trips for the specific interests of the guests. There are a lot of little islands around St John that you can only get to by boat, so a lot of people want to island hop. We also have the British Virgin Islands next door. We can take an excursion for the day and be in an entirely different country.

What people are looking for varies quite a bit. Some people are highly active, love to snorkel, and really want to explore. Others just want to sit in the water, have some beers or cocktails, and restaurant or bar hop on the different islands. Other people just like to sightsee, yet others just love being on a boat.

I tailor trips according to what my guests want to do, along with building trips around weather conditions and how long they want to be out, I offer my knowledge and experience to make sure they have an amazing day.

How did you learn to navigate the waters near St. John?

Captain Iggie: There are a lot of local nuances. For instance, there are currents, waves, swells, and wind. You also have channels that you must learn to navigate; there are a lot of rocks and reefs just underneath the surface that you must avoid hitting.

You learn the theory of navigation and how to handle a boat, but nothing short of ample experience allows you to become an expert.

You must be aware of your limitations as a boat captain. Limitations are based in part on your level of experience in captaining boats and driving boats in specific areas. You also must know the limitations of your specific boat. Some boats are obviously bigger than others; some handle differently, and some can handle different conditions better than others.

You learn which sides of the islands are the best to go to on a particular day. For instance, we don’t get a lot of pop-up storms as do other seaside areas, but it can be raining on one side of the street and not raining on the other. By looking at the radar or even just around you, you can often navigate around the rain even if there is rain in the area.

How do you approach thinking about safety?

Captain Iggie: Gauging the experience and physical limitations of your guests in the water and on a boat is most definitely paramount. Including having the foresight to accommodate their needs to keep them safe. That most definitely comes from experience. For me, the weather is one of the most difficult aspects of safety because no one can predict it as accurately as one would like. Sometimes the weather forecast calls for rough seas, rain, and storms, but then you get up and there is not a cloud in the sky. More often than not, you must take it day by day.

My mentality is that if I am not having fun, then my passengers aren’t having fun. The main point of being out on the water is, of course, to enjoy the experience.

If it starts getting rough, or the weather gets nasty, I just need to make the right call. You must be aware and sometimes think on your feet. Above all else, I won’t take people out just because I need to make a buck. It is all about the experience and having fun—safety comes along with that.

The PartsVu community will want to know what kind of boat and engine(s) you have. Could you offer some details?

Captain Iggie: I have a twenty-nine-foot open bow center console Condor with twin Mercury SeaPro 200hp 3.4L outboards. I love these engines. They are super responsive and get amazing gas mileage—for my boat, I could not be happier. I’m not over- or underpowered. I never need to run at full throttle, but I have plenty of power.

Do you have any closing thoughts?

Captain Iggie: I am so fortunate to be able to do what I do. When you are out on the water, you get a very different perspective, and even after eighteen years, when I am out on the water, I am so grateful. I am so lucky to be out there and to do this as my job—I never get sick of it, I just don’t. Life is short, live true and deep.

If you are visiting St John and are interested in a tour, reach out to Captain Iggie at RocknRolla St John Boat Charters!