Hi;
I'm looking for itinerary ideas, links to existing itineraries, trip reviews, etc. I am (pending transportation queries) attempting to charter a cat from TMM Feb 22-Mar 1 2015 with 3-5 others. I'm basically doing the planning etc, I've never been to the BVI, or the USVI for that matter. I've got friends in St Thomas working dive shops and just outside running flats charters, but they'll be busy and I don't want to bother them with a ton of questions - plus they dont' spend their time cruising. The group is in their 30s and active, they want to sail a lot, fish if possible, generally play in the water, etc. I'd appreciate any help with reference material from previous trips, trending/appropriate weather considerations for that time of year, or just personal favorite areas and why. I'd personally like to avoid, if possible, areas jam packed with bareboats & cruisers 24/7, for a lot of reasons.

I've never bareboat charted before - so any tips associated with checking out, provisioning, or returning to speed those processes up would be appreciated. I realize that chartering out of the USVI would have provided a lot of ease on the travel front, maybe next time. Right now I'm tackling ticket purchasing and trying to figure out the ferry tricks; I run a water taxi in Alaska, I wish I could just pay a guy to run us over there when we fly in but I understand the immigration/customs issue.

Any advice is welcome, I appreciate the time and consideration.
Thanks!

You should understand that you are going during high season and starting on the weekend. Therefore, avoiding crowded areas will be very difficult. If that is your primary objective, you will need to stay away from the nightime anchorages with popular beach bars/restaurants. Since this will be your first time, my suggestion is that you visit the spots that are popular to get an understanding of what the BVI have to offer. A counter-clockwise itinerary is generally preferred. So anchorages such as Marina Cay, Leverick, Saba Rock, Anegada, JVD, Norman, Peter, and Cooper might make your list. Get to each one early to get a comfortable spot and enjoy. If that sounds reasonable, I am sure you will get plenty of suggestions on specific things to do.

Del;
Thanks - I was told a counter clockwise itinerary was preferred. Honestly we had lined up a St. Lucia option and intended to transit to St. Vincent and the Grenadines but plans fell through with scheduling and we had to revisit the drawing board. My concerns are maybe a bit offensive - I'm chartering an expensive boat and I know that people with varying levels of boat handling experience are able to charter vessels as well. I'm concerned with having people misinterpret their scope at anchor or frankly collisions leaving crowded mooring fields. That said, I'm not going to let it ruin a fun trip plan, they're just (I feel) valid considerations that I thought would be clever to keep in mind during planning.
I haven't yet researched area marine landmarks or points of interest, festivals and weekly / monthly parties and the like. I'm just now getting started.
Thanks;

I would highly recommend you start with a V.I. guide book you can buy from Frank on this board www.angelinacat.com

Thanks this website is awesome.

I'm guessing this is a power cat?

I second the recommendation of the V.I. guide book.

Counter-clockwise route is a good one - plan for a night in a slip at Leverick Bay Resort in North Sound, Virgin Gorda and maybe rent a car that day to enjoy Virgin Gorda, visit the Baths and maybe a couple more beautiful beaches -- stop at Hog Heaven for the view and few cold ones on the return.

Welcome to TTOL!

We will be sailing that week too, fromTMM. I have several trip reports on our boat's web page, including Beerman's. www.sailmardigras.com

I would recommend sleeping aboard your cat the night prior to your charter, it really makes it easier to get your gear and provisions stowed as well as getting familiar with your boat.

I agree about getting the cruising guide and Virgin Anchorages books now to get familiar with the area.

For provisions, we use Bobby's and Caribbean Cellars. For fishing, we troll with hand lines. I suggest you apply for your fishing license soon. Most charterers moor and don't anchor, I would not avoid an anchorage because of the concerns you mentioned. Most boaters are courteous but there are always exceptions. A few not to miss items: Michael Beans Pirate Show at Leverick, Friday night BBQ at Leverick, Safari Truck rental tour of Virgin Gorda (Baths, Hog Heaven), Saba Rock Happy Hour/Tarpon Feeding, Swapping non-politically correct jokes with Foxy, Bushwacker at Scrub Island Resorts Infinity Pool, lunch at Cooper Island Beach Club

Hope to see you there,

Tony

Tony:
Looks like you might!

Winterstale: it's a sailing cat, which is a new experience for me I've only sailed a monohull... and it was pretty old.

Tony, I'm keen and so is the other couple on fishing, I'd really like to know more about how and where to apply for a license so I can make sure everyone is dialed in. Is there a place to purchase tackle on site? I'm led to believe the shelf East of Virgin Gorda is where to start.

We're getting in the day before, I just bought tickets to STT landing at 1:00. The charter starts 830AM the next day apparent and I guess I get the boat by noon to depart. It's currently being held by another party so I can't stay the night before on board, though that would be preferable.
I've just started my research but I've seen Bobby's and Caribbean cellars referenced: is it possible then to place these orders ahead of time? How does that work?

Thank you both for your response and advice. The last trip I did was quite a bit different.
-Chance.

Fishing License: send completed License for Pleasure Fishing form via email to Natoya Cline [email]NRL@GOV.VG.[/email] The license runs for 30 days and cost $45, send her your Credit Card info with the form. The form can be found here: BVI Fishing License Form

Fishing Tackle, Rental Rod&Reel, Squid, Ballyhoo can be purchased from Last Stop Sports, they can deliver https://www.laststopsports.com

Where to fish? We caught a MahiMahi while sailing from JVD to Monkey Point Island. Caught Barracuda in Francis Drake Channel and North of Scrub. I'm sure there are more productive areas (North Drop or SE of Virgin Gorda but we haven't tried it). Don't eat reef fish (snapper, grouper or Barracuda) will get you sick (Cugentera sp?) OK to eat Mahi or Wahoo; since I will be there probably best to let me sample it (he he) if you catch one.

We order our provisions from http://www.bobbyssupermarket.com by downloading their excel order form, selecting the items we want and emailing it to Cindy at bobbys@surfbvi.com You can pay cash when they deliver to your yacht at TMM or you can send Cindy your credit card info. They sell water by the gallon in cases of 6, we typically get 2 cases. TMM will provide you with 4 bags or blocks of ice.

For http://www.caribbeancellars.com download their retail price list. http://www.caribbeancellars.com/pricelist.pdf

Copy and past the items you want into the body of an email, identify the quantity. Send email to orders@caribbeancellars.com and front_desk@caribbeancellars.com

They will ask you to complete and email a credit card authorization form.

Check their online store http://www.caribbeancellars.com/store/retail/category/name/beer
to make sure they will sell you the qty you want. For example they only sell cases of beer and soft drinks not 6 packs.

You may want to follow up the CC order with a phone call to them 284 494-4483.

CC's will also deliver to your yacht.

Whew! I need a Pain Killer, stat!

Cheers,

Tony

Chance, I just re-read your original post, I see you run a water taxi in Ak. A friend is a captain on a day cruise boat there, his name is Cody Hanna. I know it's a huge state just curious if you know Cody. He too is a sailor.

Tony

Check with Caribbean Cellars about their delivery days. I seem to remember that they don't deliver after noon on Saturday, nor do any deliveries on Sunday. I'm sure someone will chime in if that has changed.

The workaround for that is to have TMM accept the pre-paid delivery Saturday AM and hold it for you at the charter base office. Make sure CCellars knows to take the delivery to the office. ( done frequently.. not at all unusual).

It sounds like you are on a " fast turnaround" with the boat. Probably means you should get your mind set ahead of time that 12 noon is not set in stone. TMM gets consistently good marks for customer service, so what I'm saying is " island time does not go by the clock". You will come to know that before your week is up.

First night destination depends on what time you get off the dock, along with weather/wind. Getting to somewhere like the Bight at Norman may be your best option, a short sail, so crew can get their " stuff" a little settled and make sure the provisions are stowed. The Bight has 2 options for dinner off the boat, another good idea for a first night when folks aren't yet familiar with boat galley and equipment, never mind prioritizing " what to cook tonight".

Breeze

Mardi Gras/Tony;
Thanks for all the advice! I like to dive so I don't want to munch on reef fish, but I had read about the potential health hazards - I'm keen on getting blue water fish, but just enough to eat. I also guide charters, so I'm familiar with the gear, they just use it differently down South. That's good to know it can be rented, and it's apparently affordable. Do you know if a sampling of tackle is provided? I know those blue water surface lures aren't cheap and I might save a few bucks by buying some in advance online.

Cody sounds familiar but I'm admittedly terrible with names. We run our business out of Seward, do you know where he works? We have a lot of tour operators in the area. I've actually never sailed in Alaska, in fact I've only really ever gone on one sailing trip, but it was a doozy.

Is anyone familiar with the storage capacity on a Lapari 41 sail cat? My sailboat was an older C&C and under all of the deck seating we had huge storage capacity (I could probably have slept in there on either side). I want to ensure we have provisions in the way of water/libations but I also know that it's not my boat, and the straps, lines, etc to secure the gear I generally have will likely not be available. If I bring a few sets of dive gear, 12 gallons of water, a few cases of beer, etc - will there be storage enough to utilize to keep it from being underfoot? Is a cooler necessary / available at TMM? I can't seem to find any videos/photos of an actual objective owners walkthru of the boat other than those showing the boat for sale.

Breeze - Thank you for the thought - I'm relatively familiar with the laid back nature and timing of Central and South American culture in general, and I assumed as much from the VI. My friend guiding down there referred me to a valuable video to watch on repeat until I learn the local dialect: http://youtu.be/LMr7_zcqXAo (NSFW). It sounds just like the bay islands of Honduras but without the spackling of Spanish.

The crew will be mostly new to the boating idea and I'm sure any extra time spent during orientation will be fine, I'll have plenty to blather on about. That's an excellent idea regarding meals ashore the first night, I'm sure that was on the itinerary anyway; but it's good to reinforce. I like the idea of traveling from Norman Island to Anegada, and then West and South from there. It seems like weather permitting it would allow for fishing on the outside or smooth sailing on the inside, and it looks anyway like the passages through the islands from East to West are all navigable, unlike that shallow coral studded mess we had to deal with in Belize.

I guess the next step is applying for fishing licenses and filling out provisioning lists - though I'd really like to get a grasp on space available before submitting. Are there any forbidden import items through customs? Can I bring (for example) my fillet knife, a few spices, etc? I know in Central America traveling with a knife roll is not always appreciated by the men in uniform. I suppose I can read about that somewhere.

Thanks again!
-Chance.

Chance,

I'm not sure where Cody was working.

Last stop provides lures with their rental packages but you may want to email them to understand exactly what they provide.

TMM will provide a cooler, typical 48 to 50 qt igloo.

Most cats have plenty of storage space, I wouldn't worry about that when deciding on your provision order.

Thanks again!