Just returned from a charter (7/25-8/1) and so glad we went. Here are a few takeaways:

• COVID, Portal, Entry, etc.: Dealing with the portals and testing was a pain in the a$$. I had to complete everything for my crew of 6 teenage girls, plus me and my wife, so that took a lot of time. We all came in with Vax Cards, negative rapid tests, and antibody tests. Entry was smooth. Exited back to St Thomas on Ferry with 6 antibody tests in USVI Portal. 2 of them were rejected, so we used the emed Binax – it was a little cumbersome, but we never had to leave the boat. If needed, we were going to use Dr. Garvin Dougan (MD Link) to meet us at the boat for rapid test as we did not have enough of the Binax tests ($125 for test plus $25 for traveling to meet us)

• Dolphin Water Taxi was so easy and helped make up for the rest of the hassles. Met at baggage claim in St. T. with a rum shot and beers, then quickly hopped in cab to Red Hook, walked straight to boat and departed. 20 minute stop in West End while Captain handled customs and we enjoyed another beer on the boat. Then they dropped us off right near our boat in Nanny Cay.

• Horizon Yacht Charters and FP Elba 45 ‘Gelos’ were awesome. This was our first charter with them and will definitely return. Did a Zoom boat briefing with Jalon the day before we arrived which was thorough, and they provided a detailed Instruction manual for the boat a couple of weeks in advance, so we were ready with questions. Friendly and helpful folks at the base and we were off before 9 am the next morning. Gelos was our favorite boat we have chartered – great layout and features, sailed well, very new and clean, and no issues.

• Staying at marina at Oil Nut and Scrub negated the Covid challenges as we were guests of the resort and hence we could eat at the restaurants and enjoy the resort at night.

• White Bay was happening. All balls and a good majority of the anchoring spots were taken by 9:45 Friday morning. SDB felt normal as food and drinks are always “take away” there any how. Tons of folks having a great time.

• Other places were quiet (Norman, Cooper, Leverick, Anegada), but it was a pleasant change. Having only 1 boat in range on multiple sails was a unique sight. Saba Rock looked completely ready to open and Bitter End is making progress.

Was great to see several old friends (locals and sailors) and make many new ones. We look forward to returning in October and December. Fingers crossed and prayers for continued improvement on the covid situation and an uneventful hurricane season.

Thanks for the update! I laughed out loud at your reference to doing the portal for 6 teenaged girls! I had to do the USVI portal for 6 new college graduate boys in May and then again for 6 new college graduate girls in June. I figured they could handle it, y'know being college graduates and all, but out of 12 of them we had to redo 8 of them because something wasn't showing (lab the test was processed at, full name, date, etc.) on their original application. AND the USVI portal is SO much easier than the BVI. Looking forward to going back to the BVI in November for 3 full weeks! Fingers are crossed!

lol...I cut 7 college kids to not deal with the BS...great report

Similar experience as above. I intended to do a daily update, but we got too busy having fun and it didn't happen. We arrived by water taxi (s) on Saturday, July 24th after an overnight at Emerald Beach Resort. Nothing exciting about EBR, but they met all our needs for an overnight layover. We used Stanley's Love Cab to transfer us from the airport to EBR, then to Red Hook, and the return from Red Hook to the Airport on Sunday, August 1st. Our water taxi was 'Chillout Water Taxi', and we found them to be professional, knowledgeable, and competent. Because we had 14 people, they used two boats. We put the three young kids with their moms on one boat expected to head to Road Town to test the children, while the rest of us went straight to West End to clear C&I and take a test. It turned out both boats went to West End and NO ONE was tested. Yes, we all paid $50 for a test upon arrival, but I'll let that 'sleeping dog lie'. After the captains cleared C&I, they took us straight to Voyage Charters. It was about $135 (total) per person each way, although more pricey than the ferry, it was certainly worth the extra money. We shopped at Harbor Market, had beverages delivered from Caribbean Cellars (they were out of a bunch of stuff), scuba tanks & weights delivered by Blue Water Divers, rented a 'lily pad' from Island Surf & Sail, and dinner take-out from Omar's Fusion. We booked a 'sleep on board' our boats in the marina that night, and would head out to Norman Island the next morning.

One of our boats was 'Electrified' and the other was 'Somewhere Sandy'. We found 'Electrified' to be full of new technology, but quickly found it did not meet our needs. No one's fault, it was simply we didn't intend to do much actual sailing as we didn't have sufficient folks on board with sailing skills. With the kids on board we simply needed a 'party barge' for moving from point 'A' to point 'B'. The crossing from West End toward Norman in head winds, waves, and current, we found the boat propulsion lacking if we didn't want to completely drain the batteries before arriving at Norman. This boat needs to be 'sailed' by competent skilled individuals, and then it would be fine. Once we finally arrived in the Bight, we maneuvered fine, with no issues. However, our itinerary was to take us back into the head winds up the Drake Channel and I feared this would not work for us in this boat. Again, this is a beautiful boat. I should have made my needs more clearly when booking, as it was doubtful we would ever use the sails.

The next day our problem was solved, but at the expense of our electric catamaran. Anyone in the Bight Sunday night would have experienced perhaps the greatest thunderstorm they have ever seen. 'Thor' was throwing bolts at everything in and around the anchorage. The masts of two sailboats took direct hits before the storm finally passed. We had no electrical issues during the night and prepared to leave the anchorage and head to Peter Island the next morning. That was when we discovered we had no propulsion. Apparently there was enough electricity in the water/air that our propulsion system was 'fried' during the night. By afternoon the folks at Voyage brought us 'Moonstruck', another 480, although with typical diesel power. Everyone pitched-in to move everything from 'Electrified' to 'Moonstruck' and we made our way to Great Harbor on Peter Island to meet our other boat. We missed the dive at the Indians and at the new 'Willy T', but now at least we had a 'power boat', and comfortable about our itinerary. The Voyage staff towed Electrified back to Soper's Hole. I'm sure they will get it repaired and back in the fleet when the new season starts.

We made stops at Cooper Island, the Baths, Oil Nut Bay Marina, and Scrub Island Marina (in that order). All were good. On Friday we arrived early at White Bay, JVD and anchored in front of Soggy Dollar. By noon the bay was full of boats, but very orderly, at least for the situation. It was now time to figure out how we complete the portals for returning to St. Thomas on Sunday. First of all we got word that some of the portals were being completed with 'antibodies' tests, therefore we all completed the portal and some actually came back approved, others did not? We had only three Abbott eMed tests for the three kids, which we successfully proctored online while on our boat in White Bay. The rest of us had 'MDLink' concierge actually come to us in White Bay, tie-up to our boat and give us antigen tests with online results in about an hour. The cost was $125 for person, no travel fee. With the test results we all received the green QR Code from the USVI portal.

Friday night one boat took a mooring ball in Great Harbor, JVD (they had their own chef on board) and we took Moonstruck to Little Harbor and had a great lobster dinner at Abe's that evening. The next morning we grabbed mooring balls in front of Sandy Cay for several hours before heading back to base at Voyage Charters. Once back at about 3:00 pm I sent the kids and parents to Smuggler's Cove for a couple of hours. We dined on left over provisions in the marina and packed for our return on Sunday morning.

Chillout Water Taxi picked us up, cleared out at C&I, and headed to St. John to clear us into USVI, and then on to Red Hook. Stanley met us and took us to the St. Thomas Airport, which was insane. Please do yourself a favor and grab a porter. They now charge $5 per bag, but worth it. Once through U.S. Customs and TSA we found it even more insane. Certainly not a good scene with the virus surge. That is it, we all arrived home safely and in good health. PM me if you have any specific questions.

Great report, Noel. Sounds like a great trip. I've wondered about Voyage's electric boats....how long do the batteries last and how do they recharge? I assume they have solar panels, but it seems like it would take a long time to recharge from a depleted state. Also, does the elect boat have AC?

I thought Voyage had learned their lesson about electric boats after the hybrid models turned into a problem ( As I remember folks were using more fuel for the generator to charge the batteries than if they just used a diesel to run the boat). I am all for electrification but I'm not sure charter boats are ready for it yet..I believe the hybrid boats were converted back to diesel power eventually..

Manpot - do you know if the lastest electrics still have diesel generators? (Maybe that's what you meant by "hybrid")

There is not much info online about the 480E. What I did find is that it is available as a pure electric or hybrid. The only difference is the hybrid adds a generator. It does not mention the capacity of the Genset. The battery bank is a relatively small 35kw bank. In contrast the smaller Tesla’s use 75 or 82 KW batteries. It’s a small 48 foot cat that is a derivative of the original Norseman 43 footer which became the Voyage 440/450. Given the waterline length and light weight it should sail well however the drag of using the props to generate power has to be high. There are no real test reports about the boat online.

I want to be sure my comments were not taken as a criticism of the fully electric Voyage 480. Actually, the technology was rather amazing, running air conditioning, microwave, and even hair dryers. The blue lights at night are a real standout. The boat operated nicely under propulsion in anchorages, although a bit of a learning curve maneuvering close-in due to the pause between forward and reverse. Our problem was singular, this boat needs to be 'sailed' and lacks electric propulsion in open water. The apparent efficient power setting for maintaining battery charge is 800 rpm, which we found to be drifting backwards in winds and seas. We did not intend to do much, if any, sailing because we did not have a crew with sufficient skills nor a desire to sail, and that is my fault for not doing my own due diligence when booking this boat, it was never misrepresented by Voyage. Our itinerary was to simply move the folks (and kids) from anchorage to anchorage with a little scuba diving in between. If not in a hurry and the purpose of your trip is to do a lot of sailing, I suspect you would enjoy the boat.

To answer someone's question, the batteries are charged by a combination of solar panels, diesel generator, and spinning props when under sail.

And she’s a beautiful vessel. Both at the dock and under sail!!

https://www.dropbox.com/s/n7cxlhdv8vp1x5h/219654264_10158785527234079_1037589232943661305_n.jpg?dl=0

One of these days I'll figure out how to post a picture. The above link is a photo of Electrified in the Bight before the thunderstorm.

I do have to admit that I am not a fan of this boat - largely due to the night “lightscape”. We had one moored next to us at Guana. It kind of ruined the atmosphere. To each their own I suppose but I prefer fewer lights at night - especially night club blue

True, the boat is 'tricked-out' with lights (night club blue) and music speakers on the mast. Some anchorages tend to have a party atmosphere (the picture above is in the Bight) where others do not (Guana). While there may be some differences in the itineraries of those booking catamarans vs. mono-hulls, we need to be respectful of those around us during the evenings.