TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums British Virgin Islands BVI Charter protocols TBA?.

So you're released to the next step without a negative test confirmed? That's not what I heard.

So part of Gold Seal is being "not high-traffic or high-risk"? Pretty sure we'll qualify for that!

Hi Jason,the non waiting is exactly what the Minister said during the press conference. The question was asked by the media.

Ahoy Captains,

This Virus is like another Class 5 Hurricane. It changes speed and direction and intensity every day, and we must be prepared to change with it. We are All doing the best we can to survive, physically and mentally and financially. Please stop blaming the People of the BVI for all this, blame the Virus.

There is tremendous push back on many of the Protocols, supported by many cancellations, so expect to see the BVI Gov cutting their political and economic losses wherever they can over the next few weeks.
The 8th day test seems to be in question. When the BVI Gov sees the cost and difficulty in sourcing the test material against world wide demand, it should be easy to cut their losses.
The Bracelets seem to be for the Locals, after the failed quarantine of the Locals in June/July. The Sailors are already physically isolated on their yachts and tracked with their phones. When the BVI Gov sees the start up costs and rate of hardware failure, it would be easy to cut their losses.
There is no definition of high risk or high traffic so it will be easy for the BVI Gov to cut their economic losses with local businesses.
The Airport Arrival test must be facilitated by a certified laboratory at the airport, otherwise it is just ‘catch and release’. If the ferry ports open up in JVD, WE, and VG, unless they have laboratories then those are all ‘catch and release’. So as mentioned by the BVI Premier, as soon as you are tested on the 4th day you are Free.
Tested on Day 1 on Arrival with a Free Sleepaboard, then 2 Nights in the Neutral Zone, then the 4th Day you get tested and are Free. And Day 4 you are in a harbor with fuel/water/ice to reload, or balls and bars if you want to overnight.
The ‘quarantine on the dock’ is the most controversial and possibly the biggest factor in cancellations right now. The BVI Gov can easily cut their loses by giving the yachts a Neutral Zone to sail around with Norman/ Peter/ Copper/ Marina Cay. In fact nothing has yet been finalized regarding the Yacht Charter industry and the dock quarantine and a Neutral Zone, so it would be very easy politically to ‘save’ the season.
Just today Thur 29.10.20 -
https://www.cnbc.com/2020/10/29/uni...-london-to-boost-travel-in-pandemic.html
https://www.cnbc.com/2020/10/29/cor...ely-preparing-for-launch-of-vaccine.html

Please be a little Patient with yourselves and each other as we all battle this Virus as best we can. And remember on the Yacht there is No Masks and No Distancing and No Politics.

Fair Winds, Brent from The Captains Compass

I don't see anyone blaming the People. The blame falls squarely on the government for their communication skills and I can't imagine you don't actually believe that. They announced the opening too late, they did not include the protocols with the announcement, they announced the protocols after several missed promise dates, and the protocols they announced are impractical. This is evidenced by your continued justification that it will all work out because the protocols will fail.

The point is, the protocols that will likely fail are the same protocols that will force 70% or more vacationers to cancel. Nobody wants to wait until the protocols fail in January, the government spends 1 month rewriting them, and then another month to announce them. Just close the borders back down now and save all the drama.

Thanks for being a voice of reason in this discussion! There seems to be a tendency on the part of those who have already canceled to justify their decision with speculative abject pessimism.

Got to totally agree with Jason on this..the Government should have got all its ducks, or donkeys, in order before the release of the video and then the suffocating protocols. Right now everyone is a loser..us Villa owners, the Charter Companies..the tourists who wanted to come ..and the Government who arent going to make their tax $$. Look at the Hawaii model and get back to us..PLEASE!

At this point only the USVI model will work to get folks back. covid test negative before you come in. Take temperature at airport or seaport. You are in.

As someone who has their April 2021 airfare via STT already booked and a credit with Sunsail in hand, I'll share my thoughts about committing to a BVI charter vs just spending the week based in the USVI and saving the Sunsail credit for a future date.

Any 'quarantine on the dock' is a non-starter.

I would go for Brent's scenario of 1st night sleep aboard followed by 2 days in the neutral zone. This is likely to be our itinerary in any case. The clarifications I would seek here are can I visit the beaches even if I can't sit in the restaurants? Could I order takeaway from Pirate's Bight? Cooper Island? I would think contactless takeout is a win win - the restaurants get the revenue and I don't have to cook and clean.

Testing on Day 4 - I'm ok with this as it's needed for us to transfer back through STT at the end of our trip anyway, but only if the process is easy and conveniently located.

Days 4-6 - split between North Sound and JVD, no restrictions on visiting shore establishments

Day 7 - return boat and transfer to STT


This all assumes good measures are in place for social distancing, mask wearing, etc, regardless of location or day of charter.

I haven't given up on our 2021 BVI trip yet as I have some time between now and April to see how things shake out.

Nicely put Brent, everyone is fatigued with all of this and sometimes we get impatient for good news....

Brent, I agree with some of your points. Except I don't see anyone blaming the people. Most of us have been going down there for years and consider the people family. So our disdain is for the BVI government. Not the people. Like you, I suspect the government will realize the protocols are too stringent and will relent. And I totally agree with Jason above that this was handled in a bad way and will cost the BVI people some much needed income.

Agree 100%

It is the government everyone is upset with, not the people.
I don’t know how places like Soggy Dollar are going to survive without yachties and day trippers.
Personally, I would be too afraid to come down, even if I did have the time and money to quarantine for that long.
What if you get a false positive??
Oh - and you cannot “BBQ” on the docks - most of the monos we chatter have charcoal BBQs - no fires on the docks!

You would be surprised how often I see people BBQ on docks often with the smoke pouring into another boat. People also run generators at the dock which is unsafe to avoid paying for power use.

I know Soggy does a lot of online merchandise...at one point a couple of years ago they were doing 1 mil per month in merchandise but don't know how much is in store vs online. I just did my buddies Xmas shopping there online.

For me it is the government not having a plan..and they still don't. It was funny (in a sad way) to see them say "we had a plan from the beginning but we didn't tell you". There is no way for a business owner to plan if the government cant do it especially on and island where tourists need lead time as well to come...

It doesn't seem like they listen and certainly have lost the trust of the business owners that rely on tourism and the tourists themselves.

I agree about the people down there. If it wasn't for the great people I would just find another place to go as there are lots of great beaches in this world

The charterboat plan may be changing. Probably to late for me but stay tuned!
G

They also need to change the villa plan. It has to be along the lines of the USVI covid test before traveling, covid test on entry or better yet a temp test. Then you are free to travel. I do not trust a person at a dock or at the airport shoving something into my brain. Have no idea how competent they are., so just do not want to take the risk..

Worse yet, in yesterday's interview with 284 Media, Hon. Malone said they were going to train resort workers to do the swabbing for their guests. Imagine the angry lady that just sucked her teeth at you because you asked for a different t-shirt size sticking that swab up your nose...

Yes, when I heard that I thought they may actually be creating more risk of spreading the virus if the swabbing and sample handling is not done perfectly.

I totally respect their goal of protecting people from the disease but I think they have grasped at a number of different concepts without thinking through the entire picture and the scenarios for a typical tourist in each of the different tourism approaches (such as crewed charterers, bareboat charterers, villa guests, hotel guests, cottage guests, hybrid, day excursion guests, etc.) to make sure the counter-measures actually work.

One mistake by a "worker" and I can be sued by a guest who says her brain is screwed up. Not for me.

Jason--wow. One could not make this stuff up.

For the record, nobody at my place is swabbing noses! We'll be happy to arrange an "approved taxi" to the closest testing site but I'm not a swabber....

Yikes!!

https://www.helpnetsecurity.com/2020/09/30/covid-19-tracking-apps-leak-data/

Jason--I don't blame you. Craziness..

I'm guessing this could appeal to Necker and Mosquito, so their guests wouldn't have to endure the trek to Spanishtown, for example. I also read about allowing a nurse to do a site visit to collect samples, which seems like a good alternative.

A visiting nurse seems a much better solution..

Any "Self Test" kits being offered. Being used in the US to speed the process.

Now it turns out you will have to pay for their tracking system on your smartphone. No real number given but I heard $750 for 5 persons. The cost of a trip to the BVI is off the wall. They have to go with the USVI system covide test before you arrive and a temperature test at your point of arrival.

Ahoy Captains,

Solutions to the issue of 'quarantine on the yacht on the dock' are being proposed publicly -
http://www.virginislandsnewsonline....solated-on-boats-dr-heskith-a-vanterpool

“A catamaran can hold about 8 or 12 people, 8 can sleep comfortably typically on four double beds…why can't those people go straight to the boat? They don't have to interact with the local people to a great degree because they can order their supplies online, they don't have to go to the supermarkets.”
He continued, “they go out into the sea, so it has the best open-air they have, they will come off on islands to go to restaurants etc, but maybe you limit that side of it… you can go to the beach not in huge crowds clearly.”

8th Day Virus Test is also under 'review' -
https://www.bviplatinum.com/news.php?articleId=32112

Fair Winds, Brent from The Captains Compass

While that would be better than staying in an on island "facility", I am not willing to do two additional tests (one on arrival and one on day 4 or 5), at my cost, and have contact tracing on my phone (my colleagues in cyber-security advised me against downloading the app). My crew isn't signing up for this either. We'll come back to the BVI one day to sail but will wait until restrictions lessen, tracing apps are not required and we can experience the islands as we had hoped to.