Captain Glenn’s Power Charter Experience

November 04, 2025 3 min

Captain Glenn Shephard, our newest Brand Ambassador and star of “Below Deck Sailing Yacht”, recently completed his inaugural charter with The Moorings aboard a sailing catamaran in the British Virgin Islands.

As with most guests who begin their charter journeys in the BVI, the obvious question then becomes, “where to next?” Captain Glenn and The Moorings’ own Ian Pedersen found their answer in the Bahamas, where Captain Glenn experienced his second Moorings charter in a whole new way…

Captain Glenn Shephard on his charter in the Exumas, Bahamas

Q: Captain, for our second trip, we chose to set sail in The Bahamas, but perhaps “setting sail” isn’t the right term, as we were aboard a new Moorings 464 Power Catamaran. Was this the first time you had captained a power cat?

A: It was indeed my first time captaining a power cat, and I have to say I was very impressed, especially by the speed and smooth ride. I’m not saying I’m planning to sell my 42-foot monohull any time soon and go over to the dark side, but I can definitely see the attraction. It makes so much sense when you’re on a charter vacation, and you want to cover a lot of ground to take in all the highlights an area like the Exumas has to offer. We were zooming everywhere at 17 knots; that’s three times the average speed I do on my boat. 

As much as I love sailing, on my boat in the Mediterranean where the winds are notoriously fickle, I end up doing a lot of motoring anyway. I can definitely see the attraction to Power Cats and I can understand why they’re growing so fast in popularity. 

Q: The Moorings has 2 charter destinations in the Bahamas – the Abacos to the North, and the Exumas further South. We chose to cruise the Exumas, which is where the Power Cat really came into its own. What are some of the unique aspects of chartering this yacht that stood out to you?

A: Catamarans are already known for being spacious, but on Power Cats, not having to accommodate the mast and all the associated rigging and sailing hardware really opens things up, especially on the flybridge which was absolutely gigantic and uncluttered, featuring great 360 degree views all around and great grill for al fresco cooking, as well as a spacious sun lounge area for just chilling. They offer so many great areas to hang out. I also loved having the option of the interior helm station. Everything was just very well thought-out.

Q: Do you have any recommendations for potential guests trying to decide between a sailing yacht or a power yacht for their next charter?

A: I’d say that no matter what you’re used to, people should absolutely give Power Cats a go, especially in an area like The Bahamas where there are so many great things to see, but spaced out over a larger cruising ground. I think we covered over 280 nautical miles on our one-week trip. It sounds like a lot, but on a power cat it felt effortless. There’s no way we could have done all that on a sailing cat, unless we wanted to spend most of our daylight hours on the move. For us, I think it made for a much more relaxed week. 

Staniel Cay Yacht Club sign in the Exumas, Bahamas

Q: We will have plenty of video and blog content to come about our trip in the coming weeks, but could you give a sense of how The Bahamas compared to your first trip with The Moorings in the British Virgin Islands?

A: Of course, the BVI is an iconic charter destination that will always be a favorite, but the Exumas stand out to me as a more adventurous location, more off the beaten path. Unquestionably there’s something special to rocking up somewhere like the Staniel Cay Yacht Club on a boat – a real feeling of accomplishment. And the experience of having many anchorages to ourselves was truly unique. For anyone looking for that next step after chartering the BVI, I cannot recommend The Bahamas highly enough. It was an incredible week.