Mooring stress making me dread my sailing trip

We've always heard that the BVIs are a sailor's paradise, so we decided to charter a boat during Easter. We knew it would be busy, but reading up on the scarcity of mooring balls and how some places (like Cooper Island) are essentially no-go areas now because of this, I'm regretting booking this trip.

We are new sailors. We've had two flotillas in the Mediterranean and were told that the BVIs are a good next step. In the Med we could spend the afternoon snorkeling and sailing and then be in by 4:00pm. I stupidly assumed that we could have a similar schedule in the BVIs.

The prospect of having to moor up for the day by midmorning for FCFS is tragic. We certainly are not willing to try Boaty Ball because even if we are lucky enough to get one booked (I don't mind being up early to try in the least bit) I hate the idea of a confrontation when inevitably your ball has been taken by someone else. I can't think of anything that would ruin my vacation faster.

Is there anything that we can do so we still enjoy this trip and have a place to stay for the night?

Are there any reliable ANCHORAGES where we have a good chance of finding a spot, even in the afternoon?

Reading these posts and how stressful it is in the BVIs has been eye-opening. I regret taking this on.

Plenty of balls at Norman Island. Several good places to anchor in North Sound. You can anchor at Anegada if you can't find a ball there. You should be able to get a ball at Cane Garden Bay, Diamond Cay and Little Harbor JVD.

Avoid Cooper and Great Harbour JVD...

Don't stress the mooring ball issues. Even at 3-4pm, going by Cooper or others, you may find a ball opening up if you did not happen to snag a 0700 BoatyBall (or preferred to not try). Just keep enough daylight so that you can go to alternate location for mooring or anchor. (Cooper has virtually no room remaining for anchoring).

Th BoatyBall Debate has lots of chatter that may make it seem that you must be on a mooring by noon, but it is rare that I am on a mooring before 3-4pm (or the pointy thing on front of boat, which I like more than actually picking up a mooring).

Exactly. And you don’t need to be in mid morning. In the busier anchorages you are good if you get in mid afternoon. Most charters start on Saturday so you can try to get ahead of the curve by heading to North Sound the first night and staying ahead of the pack which will usually pick Norman or Cooper for the first night. Little Harbor on JVD has plenty of moorings and is never full. Norman doesn’t have BB and has many balls.

Per NC Sailor try and stay one step ahead of the crowd...that is really great advice. We actually go clockwise and will hot spots on the weekend noting I am on the powercat side of things

This is good advice, thank you. We are starting on Wednesday at Scrub Island. Other than avoiding Norman or Cooper on Saturday night to avoid the people who will be there their first night, what might a good plan be?

Thank you. Even so, do you have recommendations on some of the quieter anchorages?

Would you say this is the case even mid afternoon?

Leverick. You can reserve a slip if that is to you liking.
Anegada. Get an early start to arrive around 11am when the crowd is departing. Lunch at Cow Wreck and lime at Flash of Beauty.
Litttle Harbor jvd. Taxi to White Bay. Dinner at Corsairs
Cane Garden Bay. Dinner at your choice. Many options. We like the old Myers now Pussers.
Norman. Lunch at Willy T. Dinner at Pirates.
Cooper. I would take a look mid afternoon you may get luck with a ball. Otherwise Marina Cay or Trellis are backups that put you close to Scrub

The above has a lot flexibility and gives you the option to spend two or more nights in one place if you are having fun.

so Griff, what to say?
- anxiety on your first, second, third, etc Bareboat charter is normal, you're out of the protection and organisation of a flotilla, so it's normal.
- regretting something before you've done it is deep breath time, take a deep breath, you'll be ok.
- the BVI's is a great sailing area, protected by the world's 4th largest reef, the sailing is fantastic.
- fact, bareboating in The Med is the same as bareboating in the BVI, you're on your own for the first time, getting away in the morning and mooring up for the night iOS stressful, cos it is, it's anxiety ridden, but the 2nd, 3rd , 4th time you do it will get easier & easier & easier, that's just the way it is.
- BoatyBall has total 75 moorings, in an area where you'll find what? 1000 boats? they're not a factor outside Cooper & Great Harbour, and even there go for it, wake up at 6.45 & try to get one, if you win you win, if you lose you lose, hey ho, there are alternatives.
- IMO- Anegada is up there with the best anchorages in the world, spend 2 or 3 days there, taxi to the North shore to snorkel, lunch sunbathe, cocktail; don't be put off by weather, from North Virgin Gorda you can sail in up to 30kt winds (it's normally much less), 45dg on the swell yeah it's a little bit bouncy bet very tolerable 7 the reward is fantastic, the island is protected by a massive reef, anchoring is available in the main harbour or you can go round to Pomato Point to drop the hook & dine at Sid's fantastic, motor round to the main harbour in the morning and grab a white buoy before the next guys arrive, any time before 11am is fine; the lobster restaurants on the South coast are fantastic.
- the sail back is world class, downwind to JVD area, get your main up in the Lee of Anegada and set off on a fab sail, choices; Little Jost, Great Harbour or Cane Garden Bay, again 2 days in this area fo the bubbly pool, soggy dollar, foxy's, corsair & great sailing in the area during the day.
- then back fill the rest, Norman, Cooper, Spanish Town (for CocoMaya, the best restaurant ever), Leverick,
it's all part of the learning curve, then you can move on to St Vincent & The Grenadine's nexy time, you'll never look back.
but I hear you, feel free to discuss or contact me, a fellow Brit who feels your anxiety.

While I'm sure it happens occasionally, someone squatting on your reserved ball is far, far from inevitable. Certainly has not happened to us.

The only time we found someone on our BoatyBall it turned out that they had broken down and couldn't leave. The charter operator soon had them going. We use BoatyBall for exactly the reason you mention: we don't want to stress about arrival times. But as many have noted, you don't always win at the BoatyBall lottery.

Yes for Norman and Little Harbor JVD. If CGB is full, Little Harbor is an option a short sail away. North Sound and Anegada have anchoring options if the balls are taken. And like the others have said, starting midweek will help a lot. Stop stressing. We'll be down in May and can't hardly wait! Happy sailing!!!

The Mooring thing is just another disruption to charterers.
Check your charts and you’ll see there are places to anchor in other coves or bays on the different islands and even in season you’ll have a private anchorage within dinghy range of the bar or restaurants.

Great suggestions. I’ll add dinner at Abe's Little Harbor JVD Best lobster anywhere.

Happened to me twice in early months of BoatyBall (and probably 20 reservations). I asked the "offender", "Do you have a reservation for that ball #7?" The first was totally clueless about the BoatyBall as apparently crew did not think anything of "RESERVED". They politely moved. The second time, the boat realized it immediately and move.

Now that Boaty Ball has been there a year, and charter companies are informing charters, there is really no excuse for ignorance. But there will occasionally be a squatter.

If you get to Leverick by 3pm, I expect you will find a fcfs ball.

You can anchor 1 night in north sound and the next morning go to Leverick.

If you can fit it in, don’t miss the Leverick Friday night BBQ.

As a relative newbie to sailing I can still feel your pain but as someone above said and, what I literally do, is take a deep breath and go over options before leaving the ball in the morning and repeat the phrase, Intentions Not Itineraries. Even Plan B will include sailing, a rum drink, beautiful harbors, more rum, plenty of laughs and gorgeous sunsets. Maybe a Caribe or two.

I remember our first trip after taking classes was over New Years. We barely sailed we were so intent on making our next destination. Even had a crew member comment that he wished we'd sailed more. Now we relax, try not to feel like we need to see a new island every day. Virgin Gorda and Anegada often take up a couple of days so we're not rushing.

I expect you'll have a great trip and fall in love with BVI just like we did.

Enjoy!
Dave and Wendy

Avoid Cooper and Great Harbor. You will have no real issues issues in other locations. If you want to go to those two destinations pay boatyball their 432.00 extortion fee and your good to go.
G

What-- GeorgeC1 said

You may just swap you day. You say you snorkeled and then went to the mooring ball. Much of the snorkeling is at or near (dingy) the mooring fields (Indians may be the one major exception but close to The Bight). Why not head to your next location early, grab your mooring ball, then snorkel and enjoy the water?

Don't stress too much! You will be absolutely okay and the BVI's are still beautiful!! As many other people have said, the only places you need to worry about being able to get a ball are Cooper and Jost Van Dyke. If those two spots are overnight destinations on your agenda, I do recommend arriving early as anchoring there is not the easiest and the balls are limited. Otherwise, you will be fine!

If you show up later on to Cooper and are unable to get a ball, cruise over to Peter Island and spend the night anchored in Great Harbour. There are no restaurants or bars there, but it is a nice anchorage. If Jost is too full, head to Cane Garden Bay! There are endless options and spots to spend the night in the BVI so don't let it stress you out.

Also, if you are headed up to the North Sound, be sure to check out Oil Nut Bay! I am the Assistant Marina Manager here and we have a brand new marina that just opened in April of 2019. We have 11 mooring balls which are first come, first serve (but have yet to fill up completely once this season) and overnight dock space can be reserved in advance. You can check out the Marina Village here: https://www.oilnutbay.com/marina-village/?tab_id=3

Griff, I'd feel sad if your first night off the dock on your first independant charter was one of the all too frequent nights of sea-dragon rodeo at Cooper.

CIBC is a lovely little resort, there is a magical sunset view, and I'd had some fine meals there ( although the restaurant is inconsistent as heck).

One thing I'll never forget is the heartpounding, helpless feeling of impending doom being yanked out of my cabin at 2 AM because wind, current and a rain squall churned the mooring field into a serious episode of bumper boats. Unfortunately, that is not at all a rare occurrence in Manchioneel Bay. Boats on moorings all swinging wildly, everything over 45 ' poised to knock hulls with their neighbors, no boats have enough fenders to deploy, and in pitch black pouring rain, some captains choose to let go their moorings and attempt to thread through the field to deeper water outside using flashlights to "see".

Oh, yeah, fun you bet. Boaty Ball can't fix that down-side to Cooper. Give your anxiety a break, just flat-out miss all that " fun".

Before you go to Cooper pull up the webcam and see what you see there....I used to pull it up the exact day of week 1 week prior.

http://cooperisland-bvi.com/current.jpg

Between the hassle mooring that boatyball created and bad restaurant service Cooper doesn't make our cut with all the better choices around

Foxys has a webcam as well but you really cant see the Mooring field. My advice if you want to go to Great Harbour JVD go instead to Little Harbour or even better Diamond Point and land taxi over to Great Harbour, JVD

What George said. Leverick should not be as big a problem as the sand box Is reopening.

There are so many wonderful responses here that I won't be able to reply to all of you individually thanking you for your help. You've taken what was, reading back, a bit of an over-the-top, anxiety-ridden cry for help and calmed me the hell down. Thank you all so much for that.

What was the most comforting was hearing from you that the first bareboat charter IS intimidating, and that it does get better. I think because I'm taking my parents on their first vacation in years, it adds to the stress of wanting them to have a nice time and not worry about where we will spend the night.

I see the sense in perhaps doing things differently than on a flotilla, and getting an earlier anchorage/mooring and then doing the snorkeling, relaxing bit from that location.

I've taken careful notes on everything you've said. My plan very much now includes things like Leverick and taking a JVD land taxi to see some of the more popular sights, and other things that I never considered before. Your recommendations have been great!

I'm feeling so much better about this whole thing :-)

Didn't feel much different than you 1st time I was captain in BVIs...it is really great and your trip will be great and look forward to your trip report. You can also reach out to this board down there if you have internet and need something.

Dont rush the trip...if you took your parents to Anegada for example and stayed 1 week they would still love it

For the most part the sea side of this blog are mainly captains...so by nature are responsible for not only showing the crew the great time but also for their welfare, the boats welfare and those around...and of course the crew thinks they are kids drunk at Disney Land where nothing goes wrong. so we tend to focus ont he 5% that may go wrong....

I just celebrated the 1 year anniversary of a 9 guy 60's BVI Bday trip that was like "Weekend at Bernie's meets the Hangover". Forced a guy into Peebles hospital involuntarily and had to fly another guy home early and had bad weather...to a person they all said best week of their lives including my friend who is now 365 days sober.

Get your Scotts cruising guide and start building a tentative itinerary and i am sure others here will opine on it...that is what really helped me

Also, don't forget. If you arrive at your night stop early there is still plenty to do. We would often move from one spot to another area and be there by lunch or sometimes before and just spend the rest of the day and night. Those were some of the most relaxing days.

I guess I always kind of did the opposite of others. I would leave my anchorage early to go to the next stop. Once I was all set at the new place, I would enjoy the day there. Haven't really had too much of a problem.

Don’t stress the chatter. There are many quieter back-ups for late arrivers:

Cooper => Spanish Town/St Thomas Bay (sunset! Coco Maya!) or Great Harbor Peter Island. Also Benures Bay or Soldier Bay (both Norman Island)

Great Harbor JVD => Little Harbor (Harris’s! Abe’s!) or Diamond Cay JVD (Bee Line!)

Great post thank you! We are taking our first BVI this July and feeling much like Griffery PS. I am definitely having mooring anxiety. Reading this has helped calm me down as well.

Our group paid the premium Boatyball membership. Booked our spots 24 hours in advance and worked perfectly. Hated paying the premium but ZERO stress!

Cheers,

Blair

There are only two locations where you need the advance booking feature. Those balls cost you about 256 dollars each.
G

We have also followed the itinerary that NC Sailor describes....and we add a couple of days at St John - zero stress

We have also followed the itinerary that NC Sailor describes....and we add a couple of days at St John - zero stress

Oh this is sad!

I was out with two other couples last week. I had warned them that it was going to be way more crowded vs. when they had been out early November in the past. We had no problems anywhere picking up a FCFS or anchoring. We didn't go to Cooper (who cares!). On the last day my one guest tells me that he was prepared for crowding but hadn't seen anything that he would categorize as anything other than lack of crowds and all together lovely.

Don't let the sillyness on this forum discourage you. One might infer from this forum that the orange balls have taken over the entire island chain. Not the case. There are plenty of nice places to stay the night. Chill out and enjoy and ignore the constant gripe/whine about BB.

Agree with ^^^^. I started trip on Saturday and Sunday was at Anegada. At 5 pm, half of balls were still available. I sailed until late everyday and never encountered problems getting a ball (FCFS). I did anchor at SandBox but I believe I saw balls available elsewhere. At Peter Island(Great Harbor), I picked up a ball at 5:30 pm and many were still available.

I Hate the idea of needing to rush to next location to (hopefully) get a FCFS ball. I like the concept of reserving ball after checking weather and sailing as late as I want(or SCUBA) prior to getting to next anchorage.

I am not a fan of selling "advanced access" as the weather can change on you, however it does serve those who feel the benefits of "first class" privileges are with the extra $500. So as long as this is less than 10-15% of the Boaty Balls, I am okay with that. To me, Boaty Ball will be a "positive" effect on the BVI IF Boaty Ball can encourage more NEW moorings and not just convert existing FCFS balls to "Reserved BB".

I know there are those who oppose BB in any shape or form, but charters should not get to stressed about the availability.

The absolute BEST solution to being worried about balls is to start your charter on Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday.

I continue to anchor when I can, not to save $30-40, but to experience the true solitude that some of these locations afford. On other nights, I want tis experience Willy T's, or Foxy's , or Anegada, or CGB, or.....

But don't STRESS about it!

Avoid boatyball, also cooper and Leverick, then no stress. Lots of other great places to enjoy. You will have a great time.

BB shouldn't take away from your enjoyment of the trip. We used it a few times when we knew we would be late arriving to an anchorage (Anagada > WB > Great Harbor, Jost > cooper) but were completely prepared to make alternative plans if we didn't get a ball. Cooper has lost it's magic for me, but it remains on the list because our sailing mates got engaged there. Marking off new anchorages for us it much more of an appeal for me. I understand some folks have very set itineraries, but part of the beauty is the many places to explore.

We did find someone tying up to our ball at Cooper around 5 when we came into the anchorage. Luckily, there was a BB employee(?) in a dinghy that had caught up to him as we pulled in. He somehow knew the mono taking our ball wasn't reserved there and asked him to move, while advising which boats may be leaving (he ended up anchoring). Glad he was there, but we had no problem sending someone in to find the captain at happy hour either.