First night question

Good morning all,

We land at EIS at 7:20 pm on Monday, June 12th and we have a sleep aboard the following night at Moorings. I booked a rental car and we want to arrive at Moorings around 3:00 pm on the 13th so we can get the boat straight and hopefully do our boat briefing. It is not rented for a few days prior to our arrival, so I am hoping they will have it ready for us and allow us to board a little early if I tip them heavily.

On the 12th, I am a little concerned about driving all the way to CGB to spend the night given our late arrival. This will be our first time driving on Tortola - although this is not a significant concern. Last year, we stayed at Maria's and it was okay. However, we will have our daughters with us and it would be fun to be on a beach the morning of the 13th.

What do you think? Should we venture to the west side of the island the night we land? If so, where should we stay for the night that will allow for some fun the following morning? If not, what other options would you suggest?

Thank you in advance for your feedback!

Steve

You may or may not be able to get on the boat at 3PM. It's mid week so that will help. The Moorings preps all the morning starts first and gets them off the dock. Then they set up the evening start boats. Midweek you might have a solo boat briefing however if they often do 3 or 4 skippers at once on the same type boat. Ask as soon as you get there if there is a briefing you can sit in on. Have the kids show up in swimming suits and send them to the pool!
G

If you can swing it, I suggest walking over to Trellis Bay when you land and taking the free water taxi to Scrub Island for the night. And yes, Cane Garden is doable for sure!
Way better waking up on a beach! Enjoy

Definitely head to CGB..no further that RT and what a way to wake up , breakfast at Rhymer's, cold ones at Tony's maybe lunch at Myett's or Tony's, rent a SUP..

We will be at Moorings for an evening start on June 13 as well. Have had many evening starts at Moorings and have never gotten the boat until 6 pm.

Definitely head over to CGB. You'll still have time to enjoy some night life and have a nice full day the next day. You may have trouble finding a single night place to stay in CGB but you could try Myett's or Mongoose Apartments.

Thank you all for replying! I am also checking to see if I can just add another night on the boat. If not, it will be CGB and I will look for a good place for the night.

Waking up on CGB is much nicer than waking up at the Moorings dock. Re-read Malcolm's post and follow exactly.

Instead of adding another day convert the evening start to a day start the same day. Show up about noon and head to someplace nice for the evening and get a extra night out. Should not be that expensive since you already paid for the evening start.
G

My dilemma is obviously the extra time out on the boat versus the extra costs of that night. George, this is a great idea that I will explore. However, another consideration is the logistical challenges on the front end of the trip. We have 3 flights on Monday the 12th with kids in tow, and if we stay in CGB, we will have a rental car and a 1 night stay in a hotel. This means dealing with our luggage and other things.

Anyway, last year was our first year bareboating and we packed too much into the trip, especially up front. My main focus this year is to make this a more relaxing trip so we can just enjoy where we are. In other words, I am trying to cut down on the required actions.

If I move the sleep aboard to Monday the 12th, the night we land, our luggage will go straight to the boat and we can take our time getting off the dock the next day. This would also give us another night in our itinerary to do what we want. In another post, George said he doesn't know where he is going until lunch most days. This is the level of relaxation and enjoyment I long for, but as a 2nd year captain, I am not there yet. Therefore, this extra night might help.

You can see my dilemma. If we landed earlier and would not be tired, saving the money and spending the night in CGB would be a much more appealing option for sure.

Ugh, these tough problems! Obviously joking! In fact, I feel like a selfish jerk complaining about moving luggage when others are dealing with real problems.

Steve

When we travel we often move around a lot so I understand the luggage issue but...that said CGB is wonderful. You could simplify your luggage issue by packing everything you would need for that one night in CGB in one bag...it's only one night so just the basics...bathing suite pjs..toothbrushes etc for everyone. Bring that into the room with you and leave the other bags packed in opened .locked in the car even.