We are back from a week charter and the following are a few notes and comments that could be useful to potential future charterers:

- We used BVI Yacht Charters out of Tortola. They proved again to be a top notch organization with customer's satisfaction being their highest priority.
- The boat was a two cabin Beneteau 46 with generator, air conditioning, electric winch, thrusters and self furling main that made the sailing a breeze. I would recommend this boat for two couples. It performed flawlessly and under power at 2200 RPM and at about 6 knots uses 1gallon of fuel per hour. I know this because, due to the light winds, we had to motor 50% of the time.
- Because this is mid-season, there were plenty of mooring balls available at every marina even at late afternoon. The only exceptions were White Bay and Great Harbor where the buoys were gone by midday.
- There are now four moorings balls (red) at Sandy Cay but also plenty of space to anchor.
- We found also available mooring balls in the afternoon at the Caves and at the Indians.
- Before and after the charter we stayed at Maria's by the Sea. This hotel is only a five minute walk from the ferry terminal and right on the water. It is very clean and the people very friendly.
The rooms, except for the standard rooms which are small and facing the parking lot, are very nice, large and facing the harbor. Definitely the place to stay in downtown. We had dinner at two good restaurants nearby: Pusser and Le Grand Cafe, both with excellent food and great atmosphere although Pusser, by nature, was noisier.
- The taxi ride from St. Thomas airport to the ferry terminal and vice versa is $10 per person.
- There are two markets a short walk from BVI Charter.
- We rented a car from Itco that is two blocks away from Maria's by the sea. They pick you up and drive you back. For a full day it was $60.00 including everything.
- We had dinner out every night and the best for us was at "The last resort". Excellent quality, presentation and service at reasonable price.
- A pleasant surprise was to sail next to the "Maltese falcon" that was anchored near The Bitter End.
- All of the dinner reservations were done through the VHF.
- All of the restaurants including Saba Rock have Wi-Fi but you have to be inside to connect.
- I had AT&T cell phone connection in St. Thomas and JVD
- The only downside of the trip was going through Custom in Roadtown with only one agent working and a full load of people waiting in line for 45 minutes but it was a small price to pay.
- When taking the ferry back to St. Thomas, don't forget to go to the counter inside the building to pay the $5 fee to leave the BVI. Most people don't know that and they are sent back by the officer at the gate.
- When waiting for the ferry and before going to the airport in St. Thomas we had a very good lunch at the Petite Pump cafe right there at the ferry terminal. Don't miss it.
- In JVD don't miss the home made banana bread and muffins at Christine. They are just delicious.
- We stayed in Great Harbor and we took a nice twenty minute walk to White Harbor for drinks at Soggy Dollar. We then took the taxi back at $5 per person to have dinner at Ali Baba.
- We are already looking forward to go back next year.