Good morning. Our home port is St. John USVI. We are enjoying our third hurricane season in the south bays of Grenada, currently hauled out for bottom and rigging work at Clarkes Court Boatyard. Sailing up and down the chain from the US to Grenada, there are a lot of different experiences and costs. The French islands barely have C&I. The English and Dutch islands have a lot of bureaucracy and expenses. The Dominican Republic has the most hassle - imagine four people plus an interpreter on your boat to check in? As a US flagged vessel and crew with US passports, US C&I is the easiest and cheapest.

For a privately owned vessel never previously in charter, the BVI C&I experience is similar to Antigua. Sailclear has made the process easier. We checked in and out at Spanishtown VG in July and there was no hassle. But, it is expensive. Probably the most expensive in the chain. Temporary import fee is not something I have seen elsewhere. Certainly not in Grenada.

What stands out is the treatment of charter and former charter vessels. BVI are effectively putting up barriers for foreign charter vessels to visit. We have seen many of our crewed charter friends move their boats and business to the BVIs.

Cheers, RickG