TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums British Virgin Islands BVI / USVI Delivery Request

I'm looking for someone to deliver my Lagoon 450 from Road Town to St Thomas when I visit and return it when I leave. I'm tired of taking the ferries. Do you know someone qualified you could recommend?

Just go to Molly Malones there will be at least 3 Captains at the bar <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Grin.gif" alt="" />

John Shirley would be your best bet. He's a local Tortolian, very qualified and does check out captain work for TMM all the time. He was also an Olympic sailor (representing the BVI) in his earlier life.

Contact me through Bareboats BVI and I'll give you his number and email. Wonderful guy and very reliable! He'll take good care of your boat.

You are going to need to find a skipper who can legally work in the US. That may be the Hang up.
G

The boat is based in Tortola and licensed as a charter yacht in Tortola. John Shirley is a BVIslander and a charter captain. There is no law stating that an American, who's yacht is based in Tortola, can't have someone pick him up or drop him off in St. Thomas.

All John has to do is clear in and out properly. He knows the ins and outs and has been doing it for years.

There are no work permits or visas required.

What a great idea, Kevin. Hope you can work it out and maybe for your future charter guests. Hint - us!!

for what you are going to pay, look into a water taxi.

The OP's idea may not be as expensive as you might think. As far as cost, there could be a convenience factor as well. Just depends on OP's priorities.

I second Liane's recommendation whole heartedly. John is the salt of the earth. Great guy. Could be quite nice to step off the plane at STT and have your boat waiting ready for you, possibly even provisioned...

Errrm ... nuh. John is not a "shopping" kind of guy. <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/jester.gif" alt="" />

But yes, he is the salt of the Earth. You couldn't ask for a nicer fellow to deal with and this sort of thing is right up his alley. He doesn't do term charters and prefers one day (same day) type deals. On the boat in the morning, back home with his family that night.

As an aside, John and his family are also the proud owners of Virgin Canopy Tours.

Definitely did not mean to suggest that John would go shopping for anyone, but I don't see why OP couldn't have basic provisions delivered by one of the many options prior to the delivery.

Seems like a pretty attractive option for someone who wants ultimate convenience was all I meant! Thanks for clarifying my comment!

The canopy tour is also highly recommended. My wife and several of our crew really enjoyed it. I'm not big on heights. Nice people and incredible views!

<img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Thumbsup.gif" alt="" />

That is a very different answer then what I got less then a month ago from US customs. There was another thread about this and I like the idea. I asked at customs about doing this. There answer was a skipper working for hire would need a green card and the proper licenses. Now if he does not disclose that and is just bringing the boat over as a friend then I see no issues. You could always pay him for getting the boat ready in the BVI but not for the delivery. At least that's my plan!
G

The simplest way to do this would be to have the captain take the boat to Red Hook. Put it in a slip and he can take the ferry back. This could be done on the morning of your arrival. It is likely that you will get in late afternoon and end up spending the night in Red Hook. There is a good grocery store across the street from the marina and plenty of places to eat as well.

On return you could likely set up to pick up the captain and have him sail with you back to Red Hook. You get off the boat and he can sail it back. It is going to cost you two days of skipper pay and the slip for a night in Red Hook.

Obviously for you since you own the boat this is your best option. For anyone else following along you can just rent a boat from St Thomas from us at CYOA or Island Yachts in Red Hook and accomplish the same thing without the skippers pay. <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Grin.gif" alt="" />

Why not a US skipper grabbing the boat in Tortola and bringing it back to US waters?

A US Flagged vessels must have a US Crew in US Waters. Less than 200 tons a green card is enough. If the person actually holds a captain's license then he must be a USCG licensed captain. American boat, american crew. A foreign captain can stop in any us boat with a foreign flagged boat. That foreign captain and boat cannot go to a second US port without stopping into another non us port first. Let me try again. A foreign friend who is not a licensed maritime officer might get away with moving your boat into the United States. It would be best to never get caught with a non US maritime officer running your US flagged boat in US waters. No one can ever work in the US without a green card. A foreign flagged vessels is not the US even in US waters. Every US port has foreign ships with foreign crews everyday.