August Charter in the BVI's good idea or bad

[spencerj1961]

We are looking into chartering a mono in the BVI's during August 2011. As long as we have trip cancellation / interruption insurance that covers Hurricanes and our charter, is there any reason not to go sailing during August?
Thank you spencerj1961

[nes]

Don't know about August, but if you are going to the BVI, may I recommend looking into a FULL MOON PARTY. Do a search and see if it works with your schedule, if it is going to be on one end or the other, you may need to change flight plans, but it would be worth it. August 13, 2011 at Trellis bay or Bomba's shack.

[gbanker]

You will have a great time in August if there are no hurricanes. Looks like you are good to go with the insurance so go for it.

[Hud3]

Tropical storms aside, the thing about August compared to the winter months is that the humidity and air temps and chance of rain are significantly higher. The Tradewinds are iffy that time of year, having been chased off by the tropical waves coming over from Africa every few days. You may see some really nice sailing days, but you're likely to have some dog days, too.

Also, some of the restaurants and businesses shut down due to lack of patrons, though you'd find more open in August than September.

[Zanshin]

Most of the BVI boating tourism industry shuts down in August. If you are looking on eating out every night and bar hopping in the various anchorages you will be out of luck. If you want quiet anchorages and a mellow time then August will be great for you. The winds are lower, as are the waves and sometimes it can be a bit warm in the anchorages, and you will want air conditioning if you stay at any marina.
I've been in the BVI in August (I was boat-hunting at the time) and it was a very different place compared to in-season.

[spencerj1961]

Thank you for your replies. We were not thinking of going out to eat every night but stopping for drinks had been part of the plan. We have some flexibility that we could go in July, would that change any of the advice given?? spencerj1961

[beep beep]

We were there in August last year. Everything starts to close down by mid-August. Weather-wise we had rain due to the storms that were there for a while, but then we had a week of calm hot beautiful days. But my suggestion would be early August or July. August had about one fifth the people that are there in season.

[paradisenow1946]

We chartered a boat from the island packet guy in red hook 10yrs ago so we could try out that boat,while we were looking for a boat. We went in the fall as they were running a special. It was great weather, temps were moderate, we had rain only 2days of the 10 we were down there. Good sailing but not alot of wind, the winds dont come in the VIS till december, that is when it goes from 10-15knts to 20 plus..
Fall is a great time, we found the BVIS wonderful, i even had a dental emergency and found a dentist who was wonderful on st john. Most shops were open, most business, since we dont eat out or do the bar scene it didnt bother us if stuff was closed or not. We got a great deal on the 10days we were down, good experience using the boat,and deciding it was not on the list of boats we wanted and was a worth while charter for us, I recommend fall (we went mid november)
and had a great time..
Kathleen
s/v Legacy
Charlotte Amelia, St Thomas, Vi
The Wanderings of Legacy


ps we bought a Caliber 40 LRC a boat much like the island packet but a bit sounder we think. and we live aboard full time

[smarcus3]

Sorry to bring up an ancient thread. However I have the same question as the original poster and wondering if anyone had any additional thoughts.

Planning on a mid Aug 2018 charter in BVI. After hearings about the quiet mooring fields and beaches, I view that as a plus since I will going with just my girlfriend. Looking forward to the warm water for snorkeling and floating by the boat.

With regards to the wind, I'm okay with missing the 25+ winds but want to make sure that averages winds are still good and not 0.

Thanks again!

[beep beep]

We did a mid-August trip about 5 years ago. We had 3-4 days of zero wind. 90 degrees with no wind. Had to run genset & a/c just to sleep and I hate running the genset. Restaurants and resorts started closing til October. Then we had a hurricane threat. Since then we did July trips. Much better and yes still quiet enough to enjoy. You don’t need to be concerned with getting moorings. They were only about a quarter full at night. And no zero wind days in July.

[smarcus3]

Originally Posted by beep beep

We did a mid-August trip about 5 years ago. We had 3-4 days of zero wind. 90 degrees with no wind. Had to run genset & a/c just to sleep and I hate running the genset. Restaurants and resorts started closing til October. Then we had a hurricane threat. Since then we did July trips. Much better and yes still quiet enough to enjoy. You don’t need to be concerned with getting moorings. They were only about a quarter full at night. And no zero wind days in July.

Thanks for the info. Anyone else.

[zboss]

Hot and insanely buggy but September and the first weeks of October are worse.

[smarcus3]

Originally Posted by zboss

Hot and insanely buggy but September and the first weeks of October are worse.

Thanks for the info. Doesn't sound promising.

[beep beep]

Yeah, we didn’t stay long enough for the bugs.

[smarcus3]

Looks like the boss has time off May 5-20th which I wasn't aware of. Looking online it seems like this is a much better time than August.

Thoughts?

Appreciate all the frank and useful advise.