I'm doing a stop by stop review of our charter. Intended audience is the first or second time traveler to the BVI. There's a lot of detail here for newbies. Regulars can just skip this. Part 1:

7/16: Arrived at STT from ATL around 1:00p. On the arrival side, the airport is entirely negotiable, checked luggage easily and quickly retrieved ....... on a Thursday. That's not always the case on Fridays and Saturdays when traffic is much heavier. I think there was just one other aircraft arriving at the same time as we did. Departure from STT is an entirely different matter and I'll cover that later.

A week before our arrival, I arranged taxi service to CA Ferry w/Kevin. He was very responsive. I texted him on landing, he texted right back saying to meet him under the Trophy Sword Fish hanging on the wall in the luggage area. He sent an associate, Lee, to meet us. There was no scrambling for a taxi or waiting for the dispatcher to fill one up while you roast in the sun. This is why people here use Kevin in CA.

Never saw Kevin. Lee took us straight away to the CA Ferry Terminal. The process of de-planing, retrieving luggage, getting to Lee's taxi and then to the Ferry Terminal took about an hour. We were at the Ferry by 2p for the 2:30p Ferry. Taxi Fare is $10pp which is a dollar more than the standard taxi rate. I gave Lee $25. He was very appreciative.

No RTFF at that time. The available ferry was Native Son which goes to RT via West End. We could have waited for the RTFF later (4:30 I think) but the rule people follow here is to take the first ferry available going to Tortola. That's good advice. Going through WE adds about 15-20m to the trip depending on how many folks get off there. All the ferry companies reduce their scheduled runs around the first week in July. It's hard to predict which company you'll end up riding although times seem to have settled down and are not as chaotic as in the past. From CA to RT during the week, you can pretty much count on a 2:30 and a 4:30 run which works fine for arrivals at STT between noon and about 3-3:30. Just be flexible.

A one way ticket ( don't buy a Round trip) is $35. There is a bag charge of $3 per bag. You can have one small carry on and a purse. When you buy your tickets, you need to show your passport. You can pay with a credit card. Our bill for two with tax and bag charges was $104. We tagged 4 bags (one a Polar Bear cooler).

There are a lot of people milling around at the ticket counter. It can be confusing. Don't be shy. Step up to the counter and get your tickets. You'll get a bag receipt for your checked bags then they are moved by employees to the baggage area. You will proceed to the boarding area, present your ticket to the agent and find a seat there. There is shade and a nice breeze.

Arrival at Road Town: the ride to RT takes about 65-70 minutes via WE. After docking, employees will move all the baggage first. This takes about 10 - 15 minutes so, you can just stay seated or be an eager beaver and get to the front of the line. You might save a few minutes going through customs that way. Up to you. BVI Customs agents and dock personal are not forthcoming with the required forms. I never found the BVI customs forms on line and had to ask for them while in the customs line.You'll have plenty of time to fill them out. If you make a mistake or forget an entry you'll be gently reminded to correct it/fill it in. Dates are entered day/month/year. Your arrival vessel is the name of the ferry (e.g., Adventure).

There are two stages to customs processing: you, then your bags. After presenting your passport and clearing in you go back outside and pick up your bags. If you're bringing a cooler with food in it, declare the value of everything you brought in on your customs form. After we picked up our four checked bags, the agent just waved us through the gate to the front of the terminal. Didn't check anything, didn't collect duty on our declared items. It's always going to depend so, don't take short cuts. Let the agents do that for you.

We pre-arranged a rental with DeDe's about three weeks out. I texted Deadman (the owner, Frank Faulkner) when we left CA. Told me to ask anyone outside the RT terminal for DeDe. Did just that and a young man stepped up and took us to our rental in the terminal parking area. A nice Mitsubishi 4 passenger wagon with plenty of room for bags. $65/d, $75 w/insurance. You may or may not want the insurance. Your choice; check coverages with your own auto insurance or what's provided with the credit card you use. You fill out a couple of forms and you're on your way. The tank was about a quarter full. You bring it back that way.

Drive to and arrival at Tamarind Club. This place is in East End and close to Dream Yacht Charters in Hodges Creek. It's about 15-20m from RT ....... except if you make a wrong turn but we had a nice island tour! You drive on the left. Best advice I got here with regard to driving from Manpot was left shoulder to left shoulder, check right before you turn left, keep it under 35. It's really pretty easy and nothing to fear. You'll adapt quickly. Just take it slow. I found local drivers to be pretty courteous.

Tamarind club is unique. I've a ready talked about it up thread so won't repeat. We liked it, others may not. Nice pool with swim up bar. The menu is local, varied and good. You can eat from it just about any time you want and there is someone in the kitchen to cook it. The bar is pretty much opened whenever. Depends on who's there to pour the drinks. Like I've already said. Pretty relaxed with the place on ilon time for sure. None of the rooms have keys. You can lock the sliding doors from inside. I don't think anyone does. Pretty safe.

Thoughts on pre-charter time in Tortola. I'm a big proponent of having a couple of days in Tortola pre-charter. We arrived on Thursday pm for a Saturday Sleep Aboard and a Sunday departure. There's no one right way to do this. Depends on your schedule and your budget. Your adding the cost of hotels, meals and a rental car to your expenses. That's the down side. The upside is that it can be relaxing, there are some great restaurants on Tortola and it affords time to do more precise provisioning. We just hung out at Tamarind on Thursday afternoon, ate a nice evening meal there and had a good night's sleep.

On Friday we took a tour of Tortola, had lunch at Pussers in RT, stopped by Digicell to check on options and decided to just keep my ATT Passport plan. Next time I'll skip the ATT Passport plan and get a Digicell mifi and voice/data plan using an unlocked iPhone. At the end of the day, that approach is probably going to cost less than ATT Passport and you'll get better data access.

There is plenty of free wifi around but it's not secure and its spotty ....... Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. Best and secure wifi was at Scrub Island Resort. I had pretty good data access using my ATT mifi and phone but the data is expensive and goes fast on the mifi. I reloaded the mifi once ($30 for 120mb). It's a pain in the [censored] to do it as you have to call International Customer Support and sit on hold for a while. Like I said, I'll go with Digicell next year.

Lastly, we stopped by DYC to find out how early we could board on Saturday. I also inquired about getting access to the boat's fridge and freezer. Staff were very accommodating. After that we went back to Tamarind, took a swim in the pool and then cleaned up and headed out to West End to have dinner at Frenchman's Clubhouse with Mal and his wife Candice. Nice way to end the day. Thanks Mal.

We pre-ordered non-perishables from Rite Way and all our beverages from Caribbean Cellars two weeks out. We shopped in person for perishables. Frankly, I wouldn't use the competitors. Just to compare, I went into OneMarket and Bobby's. My view is that most will prefer the feel of Rite Way and the availability and appearance of produce, meats and fish. Rite Way is as stocked and as appealing as any stateside Kroger, Publix, etc. The others I visited, not so much.

Delivery to our boat on Saturday afternoon by both stores was on time and exactly as ordered. We walked through Rite Way on Saturday around noon, picked up our perishables and headed to DYC where, as I had been advised on Friday, we could board around 2 to have access to the fridge. Completed the check in paper work that afternoon too. The boat was fully ours by around 3:30p. We left the chart and boat briefings for first thing Sunday morning after determining only two other boats we're going out then. Our other guests arrived around 4 and we drove to RT to pick them up. After that we just relaxed on the boat for our first evening and sleep aboard. Dinner was lite snacks of cheese, crackers, fruit and summer sausage that I brought from home.

Next: Part II , Hodges Creek (DYC) to Peter Island