TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums British Virgin Islands Getting boats out

Anyone having any luck getting permission to have boats head north out of Tortola before hurricane season. Kinda stuck down there right now and need to get it to Newport. Any news appreciated. Thanks

Getting out is not a problem, just clear out and sail away.

Of course no captains, crew or anyone else can get into the BVI's to retrieve their boat either, so any crew or captain must already be in the BVI's.

Getting a vessel IN to the BVI's is a problem since the borders are closed to all incoming vessels.

Good luck.

Hello:
I am willing to take a yacht from the BVI to St Thomas. I have owned a 52 ft Jeaneau for years so know the waters. Will use the engine only. Contact me at tpcook@videoautomation.com I want leave around May 13 by air from STT so I can leave your yacht at any marina or meet you.

Tom check out the BVI Crew File on Facebook. There are several requests on there for people to move boats to St Thomas.

Jay--are people able to ARRIVE on boats into STT??

Yes, our Governor has handled this better than any jurisdiction in the Caribbean.

Jay, Are hotels available on St Thomas. Might want to spend a night in a hotel before flying to Miami after bringing a yacht from BVI

Yes, our Governor has handled this better than any jurisdiction in the Caribbean.

https://www.facebook.com/1558080104494813/posts/2293026667666816/?sfnsn=mo

Tom not generally. There are some exceptions. So calling the hotel would be best.

I have been told that customs is not allowing ANY yachts leaving the BVI and that means I am a captive in the BVI REALLY sucks! and extremely arbitrary government control

How can they control the exit of yachts? F*ck them and just leave. There is no way I would allow the screwed up BVI government tell me what I can or can't do with my property. A year from now all will be forgotten.

I was thinking the same thing. I'm not a yacht owner but how would they stop you from leaving? As we've see, boats have sailed in and out of White Bay so who's to stop you sailing to STT? Once you get past the BVI jurisdiction what can they do?

Ahh, civil disobedience, I love it! We need to do more of that in the USA - a lot more!

While the BVI cannot in reality control the exit of yachts, how do you think you will clear in to whatever your destination is? Most countries require outbound clearance from the previous country - that includes the USA. While one can "game" the system by clearing into a French country where they don't generally check previous clearance, all of those islands are currently closed.

In other words, they can't stop you from leaving but you will have nowhere to go to.

I guess the obvious question is why would they prevent people from leaving? It sounds like to me they fear their own policies will cause a mass exodus of yachts and another loss of income.
G

Zanshin Yes, you cannot just leave. First of all you will probably have a problem getting into the USVI and when the time comes and you want to come back to the BVI, they might not let you in. I am going to contact the government on MOnday (first day they are open for months) and ask for permission to leave. I am not against an orderly control of the current situation but there has to be a long term plan on how the bVI will open up to tourism. I have not seen that in writing.

The current plan is simple and effective. Hiding however is not a long term option that’s viable. They need a plan for when the money to purchase food and necessities is no longer available. When people start going hungry civil unrest follows.
G

I've resigned to having "Zanshin" weather this hurricane season in the BVI, not more than 50 yards from where she was damaged from "Irma"...

It seems to me if the BVI government is reusing to allow boats to leave the hurricane belt per many insurance requirements they should from a moral standpoint assume liability for any damage. Especially since there is no reason from a safety standpoint to block those boats from leaving.

No outbound clearance is required when entering the USVI, as you probably know. The French Islands are the same, no outbound clearance from the last port is needed either.

Interesting - I've always had to provide an outbound clearance when clearing in to the USVI. Always, without exception. The only exception that I know of are the French territories, where they nominally require one but never check while clearing. I have been boarded twice in the French Islands and the customs officers ALWAYS demanded both my inbound clearance papers and previous outbound papers.

I wonder if prior coordination was made with USVI customs something could be worked out. I don’t believe what the BVI is doing is acceptable under maritime or international law.

I have never been asked for my outbound papers in the USVI or Puerto Rico when I sailed directly there, nor at any French Island whatsoever. But I have only been sailing down here on my own boat since 2005
But I am a US flagged vessel.

Last few times I’ve checked into USVI (St John) from BVI I used ROAM, simple and all it reviews are passports.

Things are evidently different when entering with a U.S. flagged boat, ROAM app and with only U.S. citizens or Green Card holders aboard the boat. If any of those conditions aren't met you have to go into C&I and then they will require seeing evidence of outbound clearance.

We receive conditional clearance and merely need to present passports.

Did your captain go to customs? Has to go within 24 hours of departure? Good luck on getting Scuba Doo out and on to next phase!

One thought of getting boats OUT of BVI, which would eliminate any risks to people of BVI (but would of course require permission of BVI .

Rendezvous at sea on a very calm day or remote/designated mooring/anchor where the "delivery crew" would exit and return to BVI via chase boat. The Chase boat could even be BVI Customs to monitor activity.

The "pick up" crew would arrive and board only after "delivery crew" well off boat, and move boat to USVI. (I would also discuss plan with US CBP prior to activity).

Just a thought.

Deepcut - while the plans sound logical and quite practicable, my experiences with bureaucracies over the years tells me that this won't come to fruition. Neither CBP nor the the BVI customs & immigration have any interest in allowing this - it is just more work and lots more paperwork so they will most likely reject it out of hand. I always remind myself that the most powerful people in most organizations aren't necessarily those at the top but those in a position to say "no". I've resigned myself to having my "Zanshin" on the hard at Nanny Cay not more than 50 yards from where she was when hurricane "Irma" hit. Right now it looks like Sep. 1 for non-belongers coming in but I expect that date to slide. And who wants to pick up a boat to move it when the statistical middle of the hurricane season is Sep 9?

It could be very simple. Have the boat moved by locals to a mooring in West End and a pickup crew brought over from the USVI to bring the boat back. No one from the USVI need set foot on BVI territory. Zero work for the BVI government and employment opportunities for local BVI skippers who desperately need work. It would take one simple edict from the government to allow a USVI crew 4 hours in the territory with the restriction they can not go ashore to return the boat.
The government could have this done by close of business today.
G

Finally gave up as Newport and the NE shut customs to all passenger vessels from out of US. Talked to customs this AM. So putting on freighter thats arriving roadtown end of may and shipping it up. Thank You and hope to see you all safe and soon next year.

George
I agree with you and Zanshin.

Should be quite easy,

but much more easy to just say "NO".

If your boat is a US boat and you’re an American they can’t stop you from entering the country. They might have to put you in quarantine but they must let you enter

According to whose laws?

Posted on the FB BVI Abroad page....
"Good Morning everyone. As you may know I work for Nanny Cay in the BVI. I’ve just been in touch with the marina manager there and this morning there was a very productive conversation with BVI Customs and Nanny Cay senior management. We are presently working on a program with BVI Customs to assist getting boats out of the territory that want to leave and also boats wishing to enter the territory to haul for storage at Nanny Cay. There nothing definitive yet but we are working together and this is the most positive development to date. Anyone who is a boat owner in either of these categories should kindly email me ted@nannycay.com. I can get you the information we have right now and advise on how we hope to move forward. Please feel free to share this info with anyone relevant. Thank you."

Thanks. Hope this works out, to get boats out, for people wanting to go.

I just completely all the paperwork to move a large yacht from the BVI to STT. First of all Roam is discontinued fro the USVi. The paperwork is more than usual but doable. We leave May 13 BVI to STT thru West End. I will have crew on board to deal with the mooring lines. The crew will get off the yacht at West End and I and my wife will take the yacht to USVI where the owner will meet us. Complicated epic end to my odyssey in rebuilding the South Sound Villa. The villa is finished and it is time for me to leave.

Glad you were able to get it figured out. Take care and stay safe!

I know the Boat owner is happy to provide your transportation to BVI! Their bonus is they can now get to their boat.

Sounds like a good chapter for the plague novel Thorsten - cheers