TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums British Virgin Islands High Season

Hello All,
Been a while since our last charter... I used to just grab Owner's time from Moorings, and Sunsail but it looks like the best time for Family to do a sailing vacation this year is after Christmas... other than Conch, I don't know much about 2nd/3rd tier companies. Has anyone used BVI Yacht Charters before? Any other recommendations for a monohaul?

-Other questions... looks like things have changed at Leverick and Scrub as far as TTOL deals... do the dock masters or mgrs monitor this site anymore? I see Nick left ;( he was awesome).

I've been trying to catch up a bit on new after my hiatus!

Nick and Monzie moved to South Africa after the hurricanes where sadly Nick passed.

Here's what I had to say after our last charter with BVI Yacht Charters:

https://www.traveltalkonline.com/ub...ter-companies-on-tortola.html#Post332975

Dan

Be sure to familiarize yourself with BoatyBall, as most of the moorings are now reserved and/or paid through them. Some fields have their own systems. Guys who collect cash in a dinghy are fairly rare, as are FCFS balls. The week after Christmas is very busy, and places like Cooper fill up fast.

Cruise ships have taken over the BVI, with upwards of 12,000 people on some days, especially that week. This has caused a real problem in places like the Baths and White Bay, and made Anegada more popular.

For the week after Christmas, I would compare the contract details more closely than the company logo: the age and maintenance history of the specific hull, exactly what is included at the base, handover and return hours, response arrangements if something fails, and the weather/cancellation terms. I would also ask for two recent references tied to that base and boat class. If two quotes are close, the operator who answers those points clearly in writing is usually the safer choice. Build a little slack into the first and last day too; that week leaves much less room to recover from a late handover or a full mooring field.

Boatyball sounds Awful!

BoatyBall has its proponents and detractors.

On the plus side, you can spend the day doing what you want instead of racing to grab a ball somewhere. All BBs are maintained and insured. For the ball owners, they don't have to deal with cash and BVI banks, especially helpful on out islands where there are no banks!

Some old timers dislike change, others dislike the pressure to log on to reserve a ball, especially at busy mooring fields. The most controversial aspect is the very expensive premium service offered to select clients.

Many of you know that Ratman has been around the BVI since 1965, before the airport was built! There has certainly been a lot of change. Recently there has been an increase in both the cruise and charter sectors, which has had a negative impact. IMHO, a lot of the criticisms directed at BB are actually the result of things being far busier than they were even fifteen years ago. Much of the fleet today is 50+' cats vs. 40' monos. Add in all the power cats, and the mooring fields are packed.

I saw the question elsewhere, does Leverick and or Scrub have any dockage deals with TTOL members or has that "expired"?

No longer exists. No free water. All left with Nick after hurricane.

Saba Rock offers 200 gallons of water and a bag of ice for staying the night on one of their moorings, either FCFS or reserved.

Many boats now have water makers and much better refrigeration.

We have stopped booking direct with the charter companies, preferring to utilize a broker (we have used Lynn at LateSail a few times recently). Our budget is on the lower end of things fyi.

The benefit is to have an expert third party plugged into the industry working on your behalf. When something goes wrong, I send her an email....and boom it gets fixed. When we arrive and the boat we had chartered was unavailable we get upgraded vs. downgraded. We get to see inventory not publicly available and get to discuss what we are looking for with her before we move forward.

Not sure ill ever book direct ever again.

The old days of TTOL membership having benefits are long gone.

TTOL never had. “membership” therefore no “benefits”! It’s a travel blog forum🙄🙄🙄

BVI Yacht Charters is worth checking for a monohaul. Compare boat age, maintenance and what’s included, not just the base price.

Moorings is big (As is Navigare and Dream Yacht. )
Big is not necessarily better.

Look for better maintained boats (more important than year model).

TMM, BVI Yacht Charters and Conch would be 3 to look at.

Rick--correct, and there never was a charge to MEMBERS. TTOL is based on people who are participating, sharing information about their trip, hopefully to help out other members. TTOL is only as valuable as it's members make it.

It was the burgees flying on halyards that got a lot of attention, introduced people and started some long lasting friendships..

Never said there was a charge to be a member, sorry that my comment seemed to indicate this. But as your reply states Members help each other, and we used to get some benefits from other members for being TTOL members at various locations....esp Leverick.