I understand that this can be done on charter boats. Just go over the process with TMM Base staff and make sure you have all of the boat documents with you (especially clearing back into BVI. They will want to see that you have paid NP permit fees) and still some other charges. In St John, easy to anchor (beside the channel ) and Dingy into the Maritime Museum dock and walk to Customs. . IF Boat has ROAM app, and you are all US Citizens, you can use this and usually not have to report to Customs in person.
Wes ... if Sea Tiger is your boat, that's the TMM Lagoon Cat that we're chartering! I will confirm with the TMM staff that I'm following all the rules and have my documentation in order. I was hoping to use the ROAM App and bypass the Customs visit as you mentioned.
Larry and Carolann,
Great to hear you will be on Sea Tiger.
Sea Tiger is registered ROAM (sticker being mailed to me, but rules are once ordered online, then order number can be used until sticker arrives).
Roam worked for us this trip. Small hiccup as it was continuously saying "pending review" and this continued until next morning. I finally was able to reach Cruz Bay CBP and they commented it must have stayed in que overnight because sent close to closing time (you must be in USVI waters and "close enough" (which is probably a boundary drawn internally on their app). Nevertheless, CBP officer asked a couple of questions and said I should receive my clearance within 20 minutes (received it 5 minutes later).
Clearing out of BVI and clearing back in is the hassle. JVD C&I just reopened which is generally better than West End and RT. (Currently Immigrations only open certain days at JVD). Take Boat Book with you as one item they may want to see is the Cruising permit, or you could be required to pay again. It also has all documents such as BVI registration.
Most important is to discuss your plans with base staff (Marc, Tim , Rory). I believe charter clients have resumed doing this.
Contact me directly if you have questions during your trip.
