The traveltalk online suggestion is a good one as there are many experienced charterers there who love to give good suggestions.
8 days is a good trip length, enough to let you stay in a place should you really like it, and to travel to
Anegada if that is the type of
destination you want as well (and if your
charter company allows it). The BVI is a "piece of cake"
destination compared to the other Greater and Lesser Antilles islands. Anchorages are usually well-protected and most will allow you to choose between $30 per night
mooring balls or to
anchor. There are a couple of exceptions to that, "The Bight" at Norman is so full of
mooring balls that it is difficult to find a place to
anchor unless you have enough chain for 50 feet of
water; and the holding at Great Harbour on Jost van Dyke is so unreliable that it is worth the $30 for peace of mind.
Most anchorages have at least one eating and drinking establishment ashore, so you needn't provision the way you would in some of the other islands where
cooking aboard is commonplace.
The most common
advice is to bring half the amount of
clothing and double the amount of
money. While that applies, I would also recommend not overplanning your itinerary since such things as the
weather and hangovers have a serious impact on your plans.
This message comes to you while I'm anchored off Prickly Pear island in the North Sound of Virgin Gorda. It has been raining since the early hours of the morning and I've washed the
salt off the decks twice but am eagerly awaiting the sun to come out again... my hard-earned tan is fading rapidly. But in 3 hours I'll
head over to
Saba Rock and get some happy-hour drinks from Josie behind the bar. This is one of my favorite locations, the
wind has been gusting to above 25 knots but all I get are ripples on the
water and the deep sand next to the island gives me great holding. Plus I can get excellent
internet here, as well.