TravelTalkOnline - Forums powered by UBB.threads

Takeaways from our Spring Break Charter Matt W 3 hours ago Hey all - just back from a fantastic week in the windy BVI. I took my two kids (age 5 and 9) and 5x adult family members that were charter first-timers. Kids punched their first ticket last year in the Exumas.

This was my first time chartering in more of the high season and wow was it windy and crowded. 20 knots most of the week with two days of 25+. Had to re-work the itinerary a bit so we weren't sailing to Anegada on those windier days. I was determined not to reserve a Boatyball all week, and managed to pull it off. Here's where we ended up each night.

1. Diamond Cay - FCFS ball
2. Benures Bay (Bight was full at 2:30) - FCFS ball
3. BEYC - anchored
4. Leverick - anchored
5. Pomato point - anchored
6. CGB - ball
7. Peter Island - slip

The only anchorage I didn't particularly care for was the one at BEYC since we were in 50 feet and it was pretty crowded at 2:30 when we arrived.

A few firsts...

As I mentioned in another thread, we rented a safari truck and did the Baths via land and it was really enjoyable day. VG has great views and it's really a fun drive. Those views at Hog Heaven alone are worth it.

I've always wanted to try Pomato Point and frankly it's unclear to me if that area is redlined, but I dont see why it should be. With how crowded Setting Point was (~75 boats), there was really no reason to try and get in there and anchor. I've also had a FCFS (non-boaty) ball fail on me in the Setting Point anchorage. The Pomato Point anchorage is easy to approach, has excellent holding, and has a lot of space. There were 6x boats with room for plenty more. We arranged a truck delivery from Dean, and later that evening dined at Sid's which was excellent. Great vibe, friendly staff, and the food was really really good. Downside is it's a beach landing, and we had a little bit of wind swell to deal with. Perhaps others can comment on how this is in different weather conditions. We had east winds of 18-20 knots and it was a little bit rolly.

I reserved a slip at Peter Island a couple weeks before the trip for our last evening. First time ever being on the dock during a charter and we also wanted to check out the new marina facilities. Beautiful setting and the facilities are really well done - perhaps they could use some more seating area at the pool. Crew enjoyed coming and going as they pleased. 30 min motor the next am back to Nanny Cay. We had planned to just grab some pizzas at the Drunken Pelican but I wasn't aware it was bbq buffet night and at $70/pp that added up quickly! A word of advice - be floating outside the channel entrance 20 or so mins before 1:00. I arrived right on time and had to wait for 4x boats which took over an hour and a half to get in.

1 8 44 Read More

Saba Whale Tail 6 hours ago This is the clearest Saba has been in a month and the sea is calm and it's hot at 8am.
This is the type of weather we would expect at this time of the year but for the past month it's been very windy and cool in the evenings.

2 4 121 Read More

Catch 21 Whale Tail 6 hours ago We went to Catch 21 last night and the traffic was awful. We left SBR at 5:28 for a 6pm reservation to go to
Port de Plaisance on the other side of the causeway. It took use 1 hour and 15 minutes to get there. We had a hard time just getting off of Billy Folly Road. Then got through Simpson Bay only to park on the causeway for ever. When we got to Catch 21 the waitress told us that there was a motorcycle fatality in front of the Cinemas on Welfare Rd which stopped all traffic leaving Simpson Bay on Welfare Rd and the alternative is to go over the causeway and down Union Rd which was our direction. This is at least the 3rd scooter fatality since we arrived on island.

Catch 21 is an open air restaurant located above the Mandarin right beside the Princess Casino and has plenty of parking. This is a sports bar/restaurant but is very high end with 8 big screen TV's. The service was exceptional partly because at most there were about 16 patrons.

My wife ordered the Meat Lover pizza with tomato mozzarella pepperoni spicy sausage and bacon that was cooked in their wood fired oven. I had, yes Carol you guessed it the 8oz meat by Linz Black Angus Burger with caramelized onions mushrooms and lettuce and tomato. With a big basket of home cut fries that I could not finish. The burger would finish a very close 2nd to Orange Fever.
Then for dessert I had the Chocolate Mousse and I was stuffed.

Then at the end of our evening one of the waiters came over with a post card and said that you can fill it out and send it to anyone and they would mail it for us. We mailed it to ourselves.
Well JD with you and I being retired postal worker's let's see how long this takes!!!
I figure it will have to go through the SXM postal service then the US postal service and finally the Canadian
postal service. I'm thinking not before July

8 22 182 Read More

Simpson Bay/Sargassum Walk Whale Tail Yesterday at 05:56 PM Mother Nature will spare no beach. The winds and currents have been out of the south east lately which doesn't bode well if there is sargassum floating by out there.

After breakfast at Tortuga we decided to do our favorite walk on Simpson Bay. We parked at D's and saw the mess. The sargassum stretched from the western corner all the way past Mary's Boon. About 3/4 of the beach is affected, the farther east you go the better it gets.

K's had a fair amount Babacool's had cleaned up most of it and at Mary's Boon they had at least 3 workers raking and burying it in the beach. There was still a lot in the water waiting to come ashore. I just checked the Great Bay cams and it appears to be okay.

So if you want a beach day Mullet beach Friars Bay and Happy Bay should be ok. Or any other beach along the west coast should be fine.

9 9 295 Read More

Breakfast At Tortuga Whale Tail Yesterday at 05:20 PM Since there are no big ships in port today we headed off to Maho. No problems with traffic at 9am and parked at Sonesta. Beautiful view very good service and even better a very good price for breakfast. Breakfast for 2 with 2 orange juice came to $44 no service charge added.

Then we thought we would check out the new observation deck at the Driftwood but we were so early that they weren't even open yet. I can't believe that we have been on island for 4 weeks and have not had 1 Driftwood Rum Punch yet!!!!

6 6 212 Read More

Spring Ritchard 03/20/2026 09:21 PM Spring in the anchorage, just like old times.

1 0 133 Read More

TTOL SXM POSTING STANDINGS COMPETITION TJTrippe 03/20/2026 07:04 PM SCUBA has competition from a WHALE

6 356 Read More

Day 1 and 2 eilandmens 03/20/2026 03:40 PM Flight from EWR was fine but slow. I guess it was the turbulence that caused them to go slow. First 3 hours 450mph. Last hour 550mph. Got there on time but usually this flight was 30 minutes early. Took the shuttle to arrivals. Going through the entry was slow but not bad. However, automated passport control didn’t like my passport. The same one I used in January. It told me to go to manned passport control, as it did a number of others. No rhyme nor reason to it. Forty-five minutes later I got to see my wife who was one of the lucky ones to get through. By this time it was the peak of rush hour and the road toward Philipsburg was dead stopped. I turn around and went towards Copecoy; it was moving got to hotel around 6:00PM. Three hours after landing. Not a happy camper. Unpacked and tried to go to Mama Pizza in Oyster Pond, but they were queued outside. Ended getting the last table for two at Oasis. My wife had the RedSnapper special which she said was tasteless and I had the duck which was very very tough. Very disappointed. Off to bed after a Bad day.

Day 2 beautiful breezy day; breakfast on patio overlooking dawn beach. Off to Orient Beach. Orient has a lot of Sarragasum. But 78 degrees with a breeze all is well. In the evening went to Mama Pizza earlier around 6:15PM got a seat.
Shared a Pizza, it took a while maybe 45mins. It started to queue out into street.

After Hurricane Irma, which caused 9 restaurants to close due dreadful damage or being totally destroyed, only 5 restaurants remain at Oyster Pond. They are always crowded. Off to bed..

2 285 Read More

Dock Space Needed Husker 03/20/2026 02:57 PM With the change in BVI charter regs, many USVI charter companies moved their boats to the BVI and commandeered much of the available dock space. Arranging transient dockage between charters has been a real challenge this season. We are hoping to find a more permanent solution. Village Cay and Nanny seem to be full up. VGYH is an option, but we'd rather be on Tortola. Any suggestions? Thanks.

2 95 Read More

Another Super Yacht Whale Tail 03/20/2026 02:01 PM We're at SMYC for breakfast and this yacht is Elysian 216' owned by John Henry the owner
of The Boston Red Sox among other things.

1 1 151 Read More