TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums British Virgin Islands Nov.10th trip

OK experts I have a trip begining Nov10th.Am I gonna make it

Yes 99.9%

I sure hope so ... We're heading down Nov 10 too.

All my fingers and toes are crossed!

Nov 4th for me so I too hope to make it and if I do then you are in!!!

That trip is rescheduled from July....headed to St John thursday as I could not wait .......

I am also 10 Nov! Let’s hope we can have a boat party in CGB and invite the shore based people!
G

We are hoping to take our May trip on Dec 6.

Our May trip was postponed to November 14th, however we are chartering out of St Thomas so we are making an alternate USVI only itinerary.

We have our boat reserved for November 10 as well.

I'm glad y'all or so optimistic! I have a trip planned in mid-October and November. I'm just not convinced that the BVI is going to let US tourists into their territory given how guarded they have been. Or it will take a negative pre-flight test and a repeat test upon arrival and some other crazy restrictions. I very much hope that I am wrong.

We will be down Nov 4-22

And the possibility exists for a negative PCR test before departure followed by a false positive rapid test on arrival. Then what happens?

2 weeks quarantine?

What is a false positive test???

Exactly Warren. That is my fear as well.

WInterstale, all of the medical tests we use (aside from a select few) have the possibility of giving you a positive result even though you are not positive or a negative result even when you are actually positive for the disease and this depends on the test you are using. We have a couple of different types of tests for COVID. Fortunately the specificity is very high for COVID tests and therefore most positive tests are pretty accurate. However, negative tests have only been about 80-85% sensitive so a negative test is by no means a guaranteed negative. I think the specificity is as high as 96-98% though.

Hopefully that is not too technical an answer but Warren's concern is valid. It would stink to get there with a negative test, get another required test that is falsely positive and not be able to go on your charter.

A false positive is when a test indicates "positive" i.e.YES, you have whatever they're testing for. When you actually DON"T. It happens VERY frequently and not just with this virus. I witnessed two last week.
A false negative is the reverse.

A false positive is what the lady from Jost got when she arrived in SVG. Put all of Jost on lockdown. They redid the test and it turned out she was negative.

I suspect Cruzdoc is correct: tests before you go and when you arrive. What would really annoy me is having to pay for two weeks in some Tortola hotel. We are on 5+ acres on an out island - perfect place to quarantine. But I get the feeling the paid quarantine is as much about keeping some local hotels afloat as it is about quarantine.

There is no possible way we could take that much time off or afford to pay for both our charter and two weeks of hotel....

Winterstale,

There are immediate tests available in the Orlando area. My daughter lives there, had very mild symptoms for two days, got tested, waited a week for the results, came back positive. By then she felt fine. She got a test a week later came back negative. As I understand the results were within 30 minutes. PM me if you want more info on the testing site. The incremental cost may not be covered by insurance but who cares if you have a vacation in the balance.

We are actually flying out of Orlando for the November trip!

What was crazy about the false positive from JVD is they contact traced and tested everyone who was in close close contact with the woman early on. On our second day of lockdown they started testing and we all knew that all of her contacts were negative-- we called on the government to request SVG health authority to retest the woman - they did but it took them til the end of the week after 400 tests in the BVI. But they got to turn an island of people into a bunch of lab rats and help ensure that most people booking 'staycations' for festival week would go to Virgin Gorda and Anegada instead.

I would hope and assume if the BVI goes to a rapid test on entry that anyone testing positive would be retested immediately. If negative perhaps a third test to confirm.

Don't hold your breath. They're not even letting in work permit holders:

https://bvinews.com/work-permit-holders-exemption-holders-barred-from-entering-indefinitely/

Yeah....that is not a good sign

down to 75%

Do you think not letting in permit holders could be because they have so many people /belongers who are out of work ? By not letting in others to work is their thought maybe that belongers will fill those jobs? Maybe I am just being optimistic and hoping to get back there late this year.

Ahoy Captains,

Please consider, the BVI Gov deliberately and specifically did NOT say anything about restricting Tourists.
This May be about Domestic Politics, not Travel or Medicine.

The BVI Gov has recently and very aggressively limited the renewal of Labor Permits, perhaps to address the recent increase in unemployment among the ‘Belonger’ population, since the emergence of the Pandemic.
https://bvi.gov.vg/media-centre/labour-department-covid-19-update-work-permit-renewals
https://bvi.org/labour-department-n...ermit-applications-till-july-31-bvi-news
https://bvinews.com/effective-immed...quirements-needed-to-renew-work-permits/
https://caribbeanbusinessreport.com/news/bvi-govt-urges-foreigners-without-jobs-to-leave/

Many countries have reacted to the financial effects of the Pandemic to put limits on Immigration, Work Permits, Student Visas, etc., to improve employment, education, and economic opportunities for voting ‘Belongers’.

And –
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-53632043

Fair Winds, Brent from The Captains Compass

Not sure if you're sailing or land based but keep an eye out for Tortuga and say hi!

Dave

What are your November dates Dave??

Dave, this trip I am land based but will be snorkeling every chance i get. Francis and turtles are one of my favorite spots.

Hoping to make it out for the 5th December. We had 3 trips to the BVI scheduled for 2020, before the world changed, 2 of which have been cancelled. We are currently going on a motorhome vacation in France, which should be fun, but it's not a yacht, and it's not the BVI's......

And Brent makes a fair point about parsing government announcements carefully.

Stay well everyone.

Keep in mind if you are coming from the US a quarantine is in effect in France and they recommend essential travel only even for locals. A surprising number of US arrivals are not aware of this.

Thanks George. I am not US-based.

Ahoy Captains,

If you are traveling out of the UK then this may be Very Good News –
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-...KBN24Y0T7?il=0&utm_source=reddit.com
https://edition.cnn.com/2020/08/03/health/90-minute-covid-19-testing-gbr-intl/index.html

5000 Testing machines to do tests within 90 minutes in the UK.
Within - Months this Year - we all may be able to arrive at any International Airport, do a PCR Test, Check in and drop the Bags and get a Boarding pass, work through Security and Passport Control, pick up a Starbucks and a cookie, find the departure gate, and receive a Test Result - All within 90 minutes.

Fair Winds, Brent from The Captains Compass

This is going to get more and more interesting as we go....

We have flights booked in/out of STT, where we can actually GO with a negative COVID test. However.....our rescheduled May trip for November is on a boat out of Tortola....chances are pretty good I'm not going to be able to change the flights yet AGAIN without it costing....

I feel like by the time we're actually able to get on a boat out of the BVI? We'll have moved our own boat to St. Thomas....

I am, however, going to change my signature to reflect my sense of hope

And now my challenge is trying to get the rest of the crew to cough up the balance of our charter by September 20 with no confirmed entry date in sight. Quality problems, I know....

I seem to be seeing advertising that there are licensed captains that will re-locate a boat, say from Road Town to Red Hook, or to Cruz Bay. Might be a paperwork PITA, but you are hardly a charter company newbie, Bridget.

I think it is quite pricey....

One of the Captains that does this service is coming in tonight for dinner I can ask him for a quote if you want a ball park figure?