Larry Klaas

Captain Larry remembers his first sailboat well, even though he was only twelve at the time. It was an old canvas-on-wood derelict fishing smack he'd salvaged from a neighbors' trash heap. Larry added home-made mast, rudder and sails, and launched his unlikely craft on the closest body of water, a small farm pond near his rural Mississippi home.

"That rotting old gal was a humble beginning, but she taught me plenty," Larry says with a smile. Years later, after spending summers as a hand on shrimp boats in the Gulf of Mexico and sailing his own larger boats in Florida and the Bahamas, Larry earned his first Coast Guard Master's license in 1977. That same year marked his first visit to the British Virgin Islands on a charter boat.
Ironically it wasn't as a captain, but as a film producer working on a picture called "Treasure of the Caribbees."

"During filming we sailed CSY 44' charter yachts to every island in the BVI, shooting sequences in more than two dozen locations and interviewing scores of colorful local characters. I fell in love
with the place and couldn't wait to get back. Our local guides introduced us to the usual hot spots, and introduced us to some fantastically beautiful 'secret places' I remember to this day." Since
then he's returned to charter many times in the BVI with several different companies, served as captain aboard private yachts, excursion tour boats and commercial cargo vessels. Yet most of his previous "lives" have been far from the deck of a ship. Before college he served as an enlisted man in the U.S. Marines, and after graduation, was commissioned an officer in the U.S. Air Force, flying combat missions in Viet Nam and typhoon reconnaissance in the Pacific.

Returning to university after the war, Larry pursued a Master’s degree in Journalism, followed by a career in television news. He later joined the faculty of the University of Arizona to manage and
direct communications and public relations. In the early 90’s he left the University to found his own media production company, writing and producing television documentaries in exotic locals from
Africa to--mostly recently--Afghanistan.

Retiring from those previous "lives," Larry has now returned to his first love…the sea. He's sailed in the North and South Pacific, the Far East and along West, East and Gulf Coasts of the USA, but the
British Virgin Islands remain his favorite for chartering. "The beaches are gorgeous, the water is warm and gin-clear, the shore-side entertainment runs the gamut from casual to black-tie, the variety of islands, the sheltered waters, the superb back-up support for yachts---it's an unbeatable combination."

"Sailing about under the Big Blue Dome, sharing the joy and laughter of good company," he says, "has become one of my life’s most rewarding chapters. It gives us enormous satisfaction to see our charter guests enjoy these beautiful islands and fall in love with them as we have."

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