Heading to the BVI for First Time

[kpkelly123]

We are headed to the BVI this January, 2019! The two of us are chartering a 37 foot Bavaria through Horizon. We've got 2 ASA classes under our belts and we are taking an instructor for the first two days so that we can get our bareboat (104) tests done and then sail the last 5 days solo.

Any tips on bringing frozen food? Heard that we'll pay to bring it into Tortola but not into St. Thomas..is that right? What essentials should we try and bring from home? Coffee?

Clothes to bring in January? Rain gear? How much warm weather stuff?

I appreciate the comments on getting mooring ball practice! We have ordered the guides to get acquainted with the area but any recommendations are welcome given that we are newbies!

Thanks!

[nogawyks]

Chartered there a couple of times, both in June. My tip on bringing frozen food is, don't. Really. The boat probably won't keep it frozen very well and you can make a stop in a grocery store and get whatever you need for not horrible prices. I usually just pick up some breakfast and lunch stuff and eat on shore for most evenings but you can buy dinner stuff too if you don't want to spend the money on restaurants. You might want to do something about coffee. The boat will probably only have a stove top percolator. I usually bring the Starbucks instant which is easy and pretty good for instant and better than perc.Clothes, not near as much as you think. I take some shorts, swim suits, a shirt for each day, only a couple pair of socks and have plenty. Yeah, I take underwear too. Don't forget flip flops. Charter life is hell on boat batteries and very few charter boats have any way to charge other than running the engine so you'll be fighting that the whole time. BVI is a great place for your first charter in my limited opinion. Don't get trapped into having to be somewhere at a certain time and you'll have a great time.

Wayne

[Gary Mc]

Hi you are likely chartering out of Road Town and you can get decent provisions there. The BVIs are very easy, you can generally see your next destination as soon as you head out. Your Instructor will tell you everything you need to know so just relax and have fun.

[nogawyks]

Mooring balls. Not a huge deal. My wife and teen son were my mooring crew and had never seen one before, let alone moored. They did great. Just explain exactly what you expect to happen and do a virtual mooring or two before you do a real one. Make sure you are all set up with the lines well before you get there with the line running out under the life line and then back up over the lifeline to sit on the deck. My wife was at first trying to always hook the eye until I figured out she was doing it and told her to just hook the rope but she was doing great anyway so maybe I should have just kept quiet.

Wayne

[nibj]

We are far from experts. But the first time we chartered a Moorings 41.3 monohull so our experience might be a relevant:

1) We had problems with power management and lost food because of thawing. You need to listen attentively to the charter briefing and heed any comments about how long the engine needs to run to charge batteries and cool the refrigerator. If they say to run engine for two hours, do so after you have finished cooking and opening the cool box so as to keep the food fresh.

2) We very much like to bring frozen food. We freeze the soft side cooler and freeze as much as possible of the food. We haven't used dry ice, but do use icepacks. Then check it in on the airline. Last time we took 6 x steaks, 2 x Costco large cheese plate, 1 box wine (not in the cooler), bacon, lunch meat, lox for bagels (someone else brings the bagels for the first breakfast) and a large chilli. We also bring coffee, tea, decaf tea, and fixing for Smores (hersheys+gram crackers+marshmallows).

3) We have been to the BVI twice and were not asked to pay tax on the food either time.

4) We had moorings supply the rest of the food. No problem with that, but next time we will try to do everything ourselves.

Have fun
Peter

[GordMay]

Greetings and welcome aboard the CF, KP.