Buck Island Anchoring Permit

Hi - quick question: we have an upcoming charter and wanted to visit Buck Island for the day or overnight. In reviewing the Anchoring permit it states: "A copy of a valid vessel registration must be attached to your application.

a. If you have resided in the U.S Virgin Islands for 90 days or more you must have a valid Virgin Islands vessel registration.
b. If you are not the owner of the vessel you will need to provide a notarized letter from the registered owner given you permission to apply for a Buck Island Reef NM anchoring permit."

We are chartering with DYC and the boat is in their charter fleet (we had a trip planned to Antigua and DYC is the main company operating there but it was canceled due to COVID and therefore had to use the credit so we moved to USVI). I can't imagine that I really need to get the owner of the boat to sign a notarized document that allows us to apply for a permit. DYC did provide me with a copy of the boat registration.

How is a Buck Island anchoring permit typically handled for charters? Thanks in advance.

Looks like "Paid" charter boat might not qualify for Buck Is anchor permit or overnight permit.
Probable best to call the NPS directly.

6. Commercial vessels are not eligible to apply for an anchoring permit. Applicants
will have to apply for a special use permit and will only be issued for private
recreation use only. Commercial vessels that are operating under a paid charter of
any type will not qualify for a special use permit. Please be advised that
providing false information or conducting unauthorized commercial activity
is a violation.

I have attempted 3 times to obtain an overnight permit at Buck Island, St Croix from the NPS but never was able to obtain one.

Do you have to have a permit to even visit the island or just need the permit for overnight anchorage? Is it possible to do a day stop and snorkel for an hour without a permit?

Need a permit to anchor for a day stop or to use the day-use moorings (up to 42 ft) in the lagoon, though I suspect compliance is low especially on Sunday Funday when dozens of local go-fast boats arrive.

Appreciate the info. Seems like you may be able to swing by the Fort in Christiansted and get one if you're lucky and potentially avoid the 5 day waiting period form a few reviews I have read. Has anyone been successful with this process? I am still trying to convince my crew that there is enough to see/do in St. Croix to warrant the 40 nm sail each way.

Fort Christiansted finally reopened about a.month ago after being closed for a year due to Covid and then a restoration project. Some restoration still ongoing so they were doing a soft opening with free admittance when we visited on March 17. They open at 8:30 and it's definitely worth a visit. Christiansted is worth a 1-2 hr walking tour, though shops don't wake up until after 10 am.

I like to rent a vehicle from Centerline Car Rental then take the crew on an island tour. First stop is Point Udall. Leatherback Brewing now runs The Landing Beach Bar at Cane Bay - very good lunch stop. For dinner we head to Duggans Reef. The Mill on the waterfront has excellent pizza.

It's more like 34nm from the south bays of St John. But that's splitting hairs. We go for the sail which we greatly enjoy. If your crew doesn't enjoy the sailing part of sailing I wouldn't go. St Croix is nice but imho not enough to merit a long sail if you don't care for actually sailing.

If you are into reading the Herman Wouk book from 1964 Don't Stop the Carnival was written about Prospect Cay in Christiansted Harbor.

I always enjoyed the sail over. I usually did a night sail from Norman about 3am departure and dodged the cruise ships during the night.

Worth renting a car to explore.

Much debate about that - but his home was on Skyline Drive STT and purportedly Norman Paperman had the hotel on Hassel Island "the Royal Mail Inn" ***** it is fiction -- but "Rain ain stop no Carnival"!!!

Definitely Hassel when the cut between French town and Hassel wasn’t wide and open like today.

I thought I would provide an update to everyone. I ended up calling the NPS. The person I spoke with told me just to fill out the form, sign it myself and note that I'm chartering the boat. The form has a fax number and mailing address. He said the fax hasn't worked for a long time and instead provided an email address (CHRI_Permits@nps.gov). I sent in the form along, with a copy of the boat registration and my drivers license. I received an approval after about 4 days - which was my original form returned with a red stamp that said "approved". A copy of the email I received back is below.

One side note. We anchored where instructed and took our tender around the point to the snorkel trail and back. Our tender was very under powered so we had to stop and dump water once on the way out. The return trip was better. I wouldn't do it again in a tender unless the seas were very settled and we had a larger tender with more power. Just a heads up.

Hopefully this info helps others. The beach and water were beautiful!

Tim

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Begin forwarded message:

From: "Beaudry, Stuart M" <stuart_beaudry@nps.gov>
Subject: Approved Buck Island anchoring permit
Date: April 3, 2021 at 12:07:45 PM EDT
To: "curry.tj@gmail.com" <curry.tj@gmail.com>
Cc: "Laurencin, Gabriel G" <Gabriel_Laurencin@nps.gov>, "Clarke, Mark D" <Mark_Clarke@nps.gov>, "Herbert, Travis A" <travis_herbert@nps.gov>

Good afternoon,

We have approved your 2021 temporary anchoring permit with Buck Island Reef National Monument (BUIS). Please keep this permit on your vessel at all times. We will be issuing a new permit in the foreseeable future that will include a fee and a decal sticker. Look out for updates from the Park's website and Facebook Page. Once the new permitting system is up and running, you will have to re-apply for the new permit. There is still no overnight anchoring at BUIS. The park is currently in phase 2 and will be re-opening in Phase 3, which is soon. Thank you and be safe out there. Also, the beach closes at 4pm.

From,


Stuart Beaudry
U.S. Park Ranger
Christiansted National Historic Site
2100 Church Street #100
St. Croix, Virgin Islands 00820
Cell: 340-227-3844

I guess that explains why I haven't heard back! Thanks for pass this on.

Cheers, RickG

No problem Rick - by the way, it was nice meeting you in Coral Bay as we were trying to find the donkey trail. We had a great trip. Thanks for all of your valuable information. Your comments on Coral Bay anchorage were very helpful.

Tim

My recent experience getting a permit:

Still no overnight anchoring permitted, so we'll stop there first on our way into Christiansted. Said they are reviewing the rules and might consider overnight again in the future - was vague, but said they had a couple incidents that caused them to shut it down.

I emailed CHRI_Permits@nps.gov with permit, vessel registration, DL, and charter agreement. Waited 2 weeks and then called the office. Received the permit about an hour later by email.

Website rules state "Possession of fishing equipment is prohibited". The rules they emailed with the permit say "Fishing equipment must be stowed away. May not be visible to the public eye." One of the rangers confirmed this is fine.