Traveltalkonline.com Forums


BVI Cruise Schedule TTOL Sponsors BVI Travel Calendar
Forum Statistics
Forums39
Topics38,434
Posts310,118
Members26,538
Most Online2,218
Jan 21st, 2020
Top Posters(30 Days)
RonDon 115
pat 42
Todd 40
jazzgal 40
Member Spotlight
Posts: 89
Joined: May 2001
Show All Member Profiles 
Today's Birthdays
LONGISLANDSHARON, Sca2la
Who's Online Now
44 registered members (lcote, cbinparadise, Whale Tail, ColoBoater, pburke40, Rbailey, polaris, sunmantwo, Kevin_B, Jaybird, lponcin, GeorgeC1, charlie, MrEZgoin, xrayman67, eightzerobits, Brian&Andi, OllieEh, cabokid, Sea_Skyman, Billtjw, RickG, WWII, KirkB, davidandsusannj, PML, jrw, bostonbob, Kennys, MKGrey, Standrea, KC2SXM, Uksimonusa, NumberCruncher, snman31, 9 invisible), 1,107 guests, and 43 spiders.
Key: Admin, Global Mod, Mod
Previous Thread
Next Thread
Print Thread
Rate Thread
Trip report 10/24 - 11/1 part 2 #269040
11/15/2021 12:15 AM
11/15/2021 12:15 AM
Joined: Jun 2013
Posts: 160
Billings, MT
harleybuffett Offline OP
Traveler
harleybuffett  Offline OP
Traveler
Joined: Jun 2013
Posts: 160
Billings, MT
We arrived in Little Harbor with time to spare before our dinner reservations so we broke out the paddleboards. Wait....I should clarify...the 2 most agile crew with the best balance ability took the paddleboards out. The rest of us participated in an intensive quality control experiment with alcohol...you know...just to make sure smile

Dinner at Sidney's was SOOOOO good...we loved that the side dishes were served family style so that we could taste it all. Service was amazing and it was so nice to finally meet Strawberry after reading about her for so many years! First time there...not our last!


Next morning we were off to White Bay....we got there early and were hoping to get get a spot close in. It was perfect.. boats were leaving and we scooted right in. By now I'm sure you understand when I say "we" it means, "us girls"...... Well, "we" LOVE White Bay. grin Having been on a boat and land based on Jost many times, it's not lost on us how many idiots there are driving a boat...this time was no different frown . It makes for a good amount of head shaking....

Chairs, drinks and lunch from Hendo's...... bobbing in the water...holding a cocktail...hanging out with great friends...it just doesn't get any better than that!! Have I mentioned how absolutely perfect the weather has been?? I was pretty nervous about hurricane season but we could not have asked for better.

We got off our lazy butts and wandered to Gertrude's . In our most humble opinion, she makes the best Bushwacker EVER. She was having blender issues that day, but it was still as amazing as we remember. Obligatory pictures in the oversized Adirondack chair and we were off to Coco Locos to order pizza for dinner. Because seriously...we were right there...and why risk having to walk that far later?? Side note...actually picking up the pizza would be a spectacle... I wish I knew how to attach pictures thinks

So...it was someone's brilliant idea to bring the pizza back via paddleboard.............of course we sent the 2 most agile crew with the best balance ability......after many a trial run and with the rest of us holding our collective breaths.....it arrived, still dry wave

If I recall, this might have been the first of several nights of A/C failure.....ugh....we were first.....84 degrees in our cabin...Let's open the hatch ( it's raining )......let's sleep outside...(it's raining AND I still have PTSD from the bug bites on Anegada ). Ok, nap on the beach tomorrow I guess. Come to find out, our captain lost his A/C as well. So the husbands went to work finding a solution which involved cleaning the filters.....( is there an emogi for " oh my God " that stinks)?

However...the best thing that morning was a handsome young man pulled up next to the boat selling Sugar and Spice empanadas.....we were familiar with how amazing they were from previous trips!! Yes please!!

2nd full day on Jost. 3 of us.....( the agile ones plus me ) make it a point to walk to Great Harbor when we're there. Beached the dinghy ( hubby was happy! ) and headed off. We were on a mission to find Powerade, Ting and Pepsi . Mission accomplished. Walked through town...sorry to see Corsairs wasn't open yet. Foxy's was decorated for Halloween! ( I think they have a big party? ) I might add that part of the mission was not to buy too much because it still had to be carried back....there's that smile

Back to boat...breakfast.....swim to the beach...chairs and drinks at Hendo's...bobbing in the water...repeat...

Lunch at Soggy today because they have always had the best roti. Hmmmmmm, not this time. Hendo's wins for that.

Dinner reservations at Hendo's and honestly it was the best food of the entire trip! If we could give 6 stars we would. They had this pork chop special that was out of this world!! I think we love it there so much because of the people. Glennroy, Dorian and Winsome and Ghee are ( or seem to be ) always happy to see us! I was sad that Winsome was on vacation because we haven't seen her for 3 years ( F'ing Covid )

Next morning there was talk about stopping at Willy T. ( where we have been several times ) but if we are stopping at Salt Island for treasure hunting and we want to be at Oil Nut Bay to enjoy the pool...welllllllllll.......no Willy T

Out of there first thing because the seas were getting rough.
My husband calls Salt " the garbage dump" ( insert sneer emogi ), but "we" have found many, many treasures there, thank you very much.

Never been to Oil Nut Bay, so we were really looking forward to that. I'm not sure because when I looked at it before there was this $95/person fee...maybe that was a different part of the resort??? Must be because we pulled into our slip and headed to the bar ....Oh my gosh...how beautiful!!! I might be tempted to sleep in the ladies room if the A/C is out tonight!

Drinks by the pool......beautiful surroundings...amazing weather...sigh!

Dinner was really good...the sticky toffee pudding for dessert was AMAZING!!!

The next morning was a little frustrating because 2 cabins had no A/C during the night....we had no WIFI and we supposedly were hooked up to shore power. WIFI is not essential to our lives, but we still had a few of us to finish our Binax e-med tests to get back to the USVI which we had tried to do the day before but kept losing a connection. Our captain was aware of the situation, but went to drink his coffee in the dining room at the resort .My husband got one of the dock hands ( AMAZING young man...Kwan. I'm sorry if I spelled his name wrong ). Evidently only one of the power cords had been plugged in when we arrived. Finally, captain came to help and found the filters were again plugged....by a baby octopus.... can't make that up..

Finished our Covid testing....finished the portal...got our green codes...oh my gosh... typing

Off to Leverick for a quick stop because we like it there...shopping , you know! I had also hoped to take a taxi to Sugarcane restaurant but our captain wanted to get back to Scrub while there was still dock help available.

Today is Halloween and we had BIG plans!! We got back to base...some went to the pool...some were still concerned about quality control of the liquor on board.......you know, just in case!

We had been planning for this night for quite some time. What else would we dress up as besides Gilligan's Island ???? circle.. We had reservations at De Loose Mongoose so off we went in the water taxi...

We weren't sure about Halloween in the BVI...we weren't sure anyone would know who we were...but sure enough!! One guy stood up at the restaurant and sang the whole theme song!! It was SO much fun! Dinner and drinks made for a marvelous last meal ...highly recommend!

Back to the boat for more quality control liquor experiments grin and passing around "Ginger's" red wig!! Captain announced he was leaving very early in the morning...probably before anyone was awake...OK, we'll get his tip envelope ready and give it to him tonight.

He went to his cabin for the night after that then came back up and complained about his tip...he wanted to know what we based it on.??..and what did we pay for the charter?? We were honestly all stunned. I told him what we based it on and he told us we were wrong. WOW!!!

As he promised he was gone early the next day and sometime during the morning the base manager asked us what we thought of the captain.......hmmmmmmmm...how do we put this????? He assured us we were not wrong and come to find out they had other complaints about him. Whew!

Not the way we hoped to end this charter we had waited so long for but that's how she goes sometimes I guess.

We all truly love the BVI and were so thankful to be back.

Thank for reading!









Last edited by harleybuffett; 11/15/2021 12:18 AM. Reason: emogi
BVI Sponsors
Re: Trip report 10/24 - 11/1 part 2 [Re: harleybuffett] #269049
11/15/2021 07:47 AM
11/15/2021 07:47 AM
Joined: May 2002
Posts: 17,029
Tortola/ Sonoma, California
Manpot Offline
Traveler
Manpot  Offline
Traveler
Joined: May 2002
Posts: 17,029
Tortola/ Sonoma, California
Sounds like you got a very bad captain. But what did you base the tip on ? Whatever it was I think I would have asked for it back!

Re: Trip report 10/24 - 11/1 part 2 [Re: harleybuffett] #269054
11/15/2021 08:49 AM
11/15/2021 08:49 AM
Joined: Apr 2002
Posts: 6,994
GA/NC
GeorgeC1 Online content
Traveler
GeorgeC1  Online Content
Traveler
Joined: Apr 2002
Posts: 6,994
GA/NC
If it’s a fully crewed charter where you have a Captain and cook onboard that literally do everything for you including cleaning your room the tip is based on the cost of the charter with 15% considered a minimum and 20% probably average. That’s a big tip however it’s split between the CA and cook and is part of their income.
A bareboat charter with a skipper added to just drive the boat normally has the tip calculated based on the cost to hire the skipper. The same tip amount would apply however if you have a outstanding skipper who goes out of the way to make it a great trip I would be tipping well north of 20% of his fee. The cost of the boat is irrelevant in this case.

Re: Trip report 10/24 - 11/1 part 2 [Re: harleybuffett] #269068
11/15/2021 10:25 AM
11/15/2021 10:25 AM
Joined: Jun 2013
Posts: 160
Billings, MT
harleybuffett Offline OP
Traveler
harleybuffett  Offline OP
Traveler
Joined: Jun 2013
Posts: 160
Billings, MT
After re-reading my post, I realized that we sounded like demanding arrogant guests expecting the captain to drop his cup of coffee and figure the whole power loss thing out . I should clarify...one of our crew talked to him on the dock about the power as he headed to the dining room and he said he was aware. Another of our crew not knowing the previous conversation, saw him drinking his coffee...paid for it...and told him about the power loss. Yep, he was aware. Our phones hadn't been charging...which we needed for our e-med tests...so naturally we were a little stressed out. We didn't demand anything....we just wish he had been a little more proactive when he knew about it before he left the boat. I think at this point we were kind of fed up with him and his attitude. He had done nothing by drive/anchor the boat and enjoy nice meals on shore ( which I know is part of the deal ), But even when we had breakfast on the boat, he kind of sat back and expected us ( the girls ) to serve him.

As for the tip, we based it on 10% (because of the level of service ) of the cost of chartering the boat. I guess he forgot about the lovely room at Scrub we paid for our 1st night.

Anyway thank you for the comments, we really did have a wonderful time...I mean how could you not????

Re: Trip report 10/24 - 11/1 part 2 [Re: harleybuffett] #269070
11/15/2021 10:42 AM
11/15/2021 10:42 AM
Joined: Apr 2002
Posts: 6,994
GA/NC
GeorgeC1 Online content
Traveler
GeorgeC1  Online Content
Traveler
Joined: Apr 2002
Posts: 6,994
GA/NC
10% of the cost of chartering the boat was a extremely generous tip! Better than many fully crewed boats when you factor in the cost of splitting it with the cook. I am astounded he did anything but thank you repeatedly for that tip!!! His daily fee was probably about 200 or 1400 for the week. I would not have tipped more than 15% with the level of service. 210 dollars would have been reasonable.

Last edited by GeorgeC1; 11/15/2021 10:45 AM.
Re: Trip report 10/24 - 11/1 part 2 [Re: GeorgeC1] #269078
11/15/2021 12:23 PM
11/15/2021 12:23 PM
Joined: Apr 2006
Posts: 35
Wichita KS
R
Ragtime Offline
Traveler
Ragtime  Offline
Traveler
R
Joined: Apr 2006
Posts: 35
Wichita KS
Captain's Name?

Re: Trip report 10/24 - 11/1 part 2 [Re: harleybuffett] #269122
11/15/2021 09:08 PM
11/15/2021 09:08 PM
Joined: Jun 2013
Posts: 160
Billings, MT
harleybuffett Offline OP
Traveler
harleybuffett  Offline OP
Traveler
Joined: Jun 2013
Posts: 160
Billings, MT
Ragtime, sent you a PM.

Re: Trip report 10/24 - 11/1 part 2 [Re: GeorgeC1] #269124
11/15/2021 09:13 PM
11/15/2021 09:13 PM
Joined: Jun 2013
Posts: 160
Billings, MT
harleybuffett Offline OP
Traveler
harleybuffett  Offline OP
Traveler
Joined: Jun 2013
Posts: 160
Billings, MT
Originally Posted by GeorgeC1
10% of the cost of chartering the boat was a extremely generous tip! Better than many fully crewed boats when you factor in the cost of splitting it with the cook. I am astounded he did anything but thank you repeatedly for that tip!!! His daily fee was probably about 200 or 1400 for the week. I would not have tipped more than 15% with the level of service. 210 dollars would have been reasonable.


Well that makes me feel so much better because it was way more than that.


Powered by UBB.threads™ PHP Forum Software 7.6.1