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11-06-2008, 09:48
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#1
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Registered User
Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: Caribbean
Boat: Jeanneau 57
Posts: 2,370
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New Rules and Fees for Boats in the BVI
This just came up in another forum, and I cannot quite fathom the impact, although it would seem to indicate wanting to get rid of non-BVI boats
http://www.bvigazette.org/extrafile/...,%20200897.pdf
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11-06-2008, 11:04
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#2
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CF Adviser Moderator Emeritus

Join Date: Sep 2007
Location: Virginia
Boat: Island Packet 380, now sold
Posts: 8,943
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Wow! If I'm figuring correctly, it would cost me almost $600 US per month for my 38 footer, just to anchor somewhere in the BVI. What are they thinking about???!!!
__________________
Hud
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11-06-2008, 11:19
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#3
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CF Adviser Moderator Emeritus

Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: Montrose, Colorado
Posts: 9,845
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Hud3
Wow! If I'm figuring correctly, it would cost me almost $600 US per month for my 38 footer, just to anchor somewhere in the BVI. What are they thinking about???!!!
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I have no way of knowing what they're thinking about, of course, but my guess would be that the BVI authorities, like governments everywhere, are feeling the economic pinch. And, since transient boaters don't vote, they have their pockets picked first. All tourists, probably since before Marco Polo, have been considered fair game by the locals.
TaoJones
__________________
"Your vision becomes clear only when you look into your own heart. Who looks outside, dreams; who looks within, awakens."
Carl Gustav Jung (1875-1961)
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11-06-2008, 11:22
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#4
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Registered User
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: Lakeland, FL
Posts: 1,296
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Yikes! Unless there is a clear exception elsewhere in the regs., this is a disaster for transient cruisers.
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11-06-2008, 13:05
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#5
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Registered User
Join Date: Apr 2004
Location: Toronto
Boat: CS36Merlin, "La Belle Aurore"
Posts: 7,557
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It is unclear whether these regs pertain to commercial or pleasure craft. Perhaps if we knew which regs were superceded we'd have a better idea. ALL or nearly all the charter boats in the BVI are foreign registered. So before we get our knickers in a twist let's see what it's really about.
__________________
Rick I
Toronto in summer, Bahamas in winter.
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11-06-2008, 13:12
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#6
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Registered User
Join Date: Feb 2007
Posts: 107
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There is a exemption for boats licenced in the BVI which would include all the charterboats BVI based. It sure appears it applies to all boats over 15 feet that are not registered or licenced in the BVI.
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11-06-2008, 13:51
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#7
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Registered User
Join Date: Jun 2004
Location: Brighton, UK
Boat: Privilege 37
Posts: 3,761
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Quote:
Originally Posted by TaoJones
Ithe BVI authorities, like governments everywhere, are feeling the economic pinch. And, since transient boaters don't vote, they have their pockets picked first. All tourists, probably since before Marco Polo, have been considered fair game by the locals. 
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For a community that NEEDS tourist incomes, this sounds like killing the golden goose.
__________________
"Be wary of strong drink. It can make you shoot at tax collectors - and miss."
Robert A Heinlein
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11-06-2008, 14:08
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#8
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CF Adviser Moderator Emeritus

Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: Montrose, Colorado
Posts: 9,845
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Talbot
For a community that NEEDS tourist incomes, this sounds like killing the golden goose.
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Oh, undoubtedly, but petty officials have never been lionized for their foresight.
The usual pattern is that those damaged by the loss of their livelihoods due to the ham-fisted, short-sighted shakedown of the "rich yacht owners," organize themselves into a bloc that eventually elects a new coterie that runs on their promise to make the islands more "tourist-friendly." Then, when things get tight, some genius stands, and asks, "Why don't we take it out of the tourists' hides? If it weren't for them, we wouldn't have all of these exorbitant expenses?!"
ad infinitum . . .
TaoJones
TaoJones
__________________
"Your vision becomes clear only when you look into your own heart. Who looks outside, dreams; who looks within, awakens."
Carl Gustav Jung (1875-1961)
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11-06-2008, 17:22
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#9
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CF Adviser
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: Wherever our boat is; Playa Zaragoza, Isla Margarita
Boat: 1994 Solaris Sunstream 40
Posts: 2,449
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Well put Tao - it just adds another good reason (apart from avoiding a bash to windward) for bypassing the BVI's on my eventual trek south from Bermuda to Margarita Island. I'm currrently planning to make my first landfall in the Caribbean at St. Lucia. I must say, though, that on my last trip to the BVI's the anchorages were so filled with Charter Boats that it was already losing much of its charm.
Brad
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11-06-2008, 19:00
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#10
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Registered User
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: W Florida
Boat: Still have the 33yo Jon boat. But now a CATAMARAN. Nice little 18' Bay Cat.
Posts: 7,083
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Talbot
For a community that NEEDS tourist incomes, this sounds like killing the golden goose.
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From what I read the "goose" is all of the other tourists. The transients are only a couple of feathers, easily lost.
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12-06-2008, 05:08
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#11
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Registered User
Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: Caribbean
Boat: Jeanneau 57
Posts: 2,370
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I cannot figure out the regulations (luckily, my boat is BVI registered, so I'm off the hook); but if taken at face value then no other nation in the world makes it that expensive for boats to visit. While the BVI is a great destination/location it isn't that nice and even those in the govenment who don't sail know that - so I think that there might be exceptions or limits or other factors involved that we don't know about. At least I hope so. And now I don't need to worry about finding storage on the hard anymore.
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12-06-2008, 05:19
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#12
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CF Adviser Moderator Emeritus

Join Date: Sep 2007
Location: Virginia
Boat: Island Packet 380, now sold
Posts: 8,943
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Zan,
What does it cost to register a boat in the BVI? Might be cheaper than $0.50/day!
__________________
Hud
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12-06-2008, 10:39
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#13
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Registered User
Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: Caribbean
Boat: Jeanneau 57
Posts: 2,370
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I think I pay $180 per annum
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12-06-2008, 12:30
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#14
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Registered User
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: Lakeland, FL
Posts: 1,296
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According to some web sites a non-BVI resident would also have to form a BVI corporation in order to register a boat -
BVI Yacht Sales Ltd.
Also, do not dismiss the economic importance of yacht tourism in the eastern Caribbean:
"Yacht tourism is recognized as being the second most economically important form of tourism in the Eastern Caribbean, behind hotels but ahead of cruise ships."
Working Together
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13-06-2008, 06:43
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#15
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Registered User
Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: Caribbean
Boat: Jeanneau 57
Posts: 2,370
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slomotion - unless you are an EU citizen and not a BVI one you will need to form a corporation. It was funny (in retrospect), I approached 3 companies regarding getting my boat registered (passing in all my details) and they ALL told me I had to form a corporation ni order to do this. When I pointed them at the letter of the BVI law they all stated either that "sorry, we didn't see this", "oh, we deal mainly with Americans" or some other lame excuse. Not surprising since they make more money off creating and mainting IBCs than for mere registrations. Beware the sharks on land!
p.s. I am selling my boat through BVI Yacht Sales; they actually really do know their stuff.
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