TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums British Virgin Islands times to hook up at each overnight mooring

Being this is my first bareboat charter being skipper I was hoping you guys can help with times I should be at each mooring for overnight stays. Preferably, a time when I'm not one of the last yachts to get there. We will be there June 9-16.
Nights 1 and 7 we will be at the charter dock.
Our tentative schedule is:
night 2 - the bight (not too concerned with this one)
night 3 - cooper island
night 4 - somewhere in north sound or marina cay
night 5 - CGB
night 6 - Great Harbour, JVD

I tried searching for this stuff. Love the community, but TTOL's search engine is not user friendly.

3pm is a safe bet, especially not being in a high season. Bight, N Sound, Marina cay, CGB have good #s

I would suggest noon for Cooper....they fill up very quickly.

The time period you mention is busy with kids just getting out of school. Cooper will be full by noon on that Saturday however boats leave late into the day so you may get lucky. 3 should be fine for the others however you just don't know. All offer other options nearby or decent anchoring.
G

We'd be going to cooper on a Sunday. Any difference?

I would always try to arrive very early at cooper. Besides, it's a beautiful stop.

Cooper tends to be busy on Saturday, Sunday, Monday from weekend starts. He boats migrate to the North Sound after that.
G

We were at Cooper Friday 4/20/17 - got there at 11:30. Not one ball left. We spent 2 hours dinghying around the mooring field looking for a ball.

Things are getting busier and busier down there ....noticed a huge difference this year

Wow! 2 hours!? Looks like we may be leaving the bight extra early.
Did you end up finding one after dinghying for 2 hours? I know the lunch they tend to have a crowd for lunch

I've been to the BVI at least 15 times, including a couple of at least month long visits on my own boat, and I still haven't got to Cooper island early enough to snag a mooring!

My next visit, I'm going to to travel there mid-week from north sound or Jost in an effort to avoid the crowds leaving from Roadtown on the weekend.

There are often Day boats on some Moorings there that leave about 2 PM.
G

After reading all this I am considering going straight to north sound on our first morning to get ahead of most of the weekend arrivals (like myself). Then hitting Norman and cooper at the end of the trip. Is that recommended?

Taking the road less crowded is a good move. Ask anyone who lives in the city and commutes to the suburbs.

Yes, 2 hours. We eventually found the guy collecting mooring fees in the area near Cistern Point. Asked him if anyone told him they were moving - he pointed us toward a monohull and we pulled up and asked if they were indeed leaving and if we could just hang out near the ball in our dinghy until they left. No problem. After having been beaten to the ball by other boats in the 2 hours, we tied up to the ball and waited. People were literally going boat to boat asking people if they were leaving.

wow...hoping at the end of May we do not run into this with Cooper....

Surely at 9:30-10 there would be something available.

Sounds like a darned if you do and darned if you don't. Get there too late and the early birds got all the worms. Get there early, and your are waiting for someone to wake up and move on. Is Cooper really that difficult in June? <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/duh.gif" alt="" /> Please help.

Check the web cam from time to time and you will see the prevailing pattern

I always see a handful of boats leave Cooper at first light (probably for the Baths). I wouldn't worry about arriving too early.

10:20 local time and there appear to be any number of open balls.

Bumping an old post.

Same question but we are going the second week of September on a Moorings 4000. First time chartering in BVI.
Night 1 Norman
Night 2 Marina Cay
Night 3 North Sound
Night 4,5 Anegada
Night 6 JVD
Night 7 Peter

Also, any idea what size (capacity) dinghy comes with the 4000?

Norman shouldn't be a problem at all. If you think you might be late to Marina Cay you can reserve a slip at Scrub.
They have a free water taxi to Marina Cay and Trellis. I would get a slip at Leverick Bay too. Not sure about the balls on Anegada, but we took a Lagoon 400 in pretty shallow and anchored in front of the Reef Hotel. Great Harbor has plenty. We anchored there too. I doubt peter will be a problem either. Check out BVI Mariner here to get good info on anchorages, marinas, moorings too. Have a great trip <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/handshake.gif" alt="" />