BVIs Revisited

I’m fascinated by the way early experiences haunt and revisit you, remain present in your life for decades and decades – they can even shape who you ultimately become.

Khaled Hosseini

Having been there recently, I wanted to clarify the BVI entrance fees and procedures. But I can’t, or at least not entirely. To quote or at least paraphrase everyone I asked, the answer is, “It depends.”

There is a 60-dollar environmental impact fee, a 10-dollar “other port” fee, a 3-dollar forms and publication fee, and a 1-dollar per foot harbor master fee. That is what we paid to enter for six days. Notice that the Customs and immigration officer of the day did not charge us the $ 16-a-day fee mentioned by almost every travel website, including the BVI official site. So it depends. It matters whether the boat is in active charter or being used as a private boat. If you aren’t me and are captaining SeaSea, the vessel is in charter and, I’m guessing, subject to the 16-dollar fee. But don’t quote me.

There is more, an exit fee and that depends, too. If you are on a charter boat or take a public vessel like a ferry, it is $20 per person. If you are on a private vessel, it is $3 a person. How about paying the exit feet upon entrance, which we used to do? Well, you can as long as you leave within three days. It saves a trip back to customs. Longer than three days, it depends. According to the officer I spoke to, the law says if it is over three days, the captain has to go back to customs to pay the exit fee, but she added if the admitting officer is in a good mood and not busy, they might let the 3-day rule slide and let you pay all at once.

How about returning to the USA? No fee. And if all on board hold a US passport, it can all be done on a phone app. Once the customs officials review your documents, you will receive notice that you are either clear to enter or need to show yourself in person. The latter only if they suspect funny business.

This brings me to the nitty gritty: officials thrive on documents; they want boat and people documents. The BVI uses the Sail Clear website,( https://sailclear.com/index ), to keep track of the data. Save time, get a free Sail Clear account, and enter the data beforehand. They will want names, addresses, and passport numbers for all on board, in addition to all the boat data, which Waypoints will provide. You can enter all the tedious people’s data before leaving home. Adding the boat data before leaving St Thomas will be relatively trivial. Don’t do As I did and show up without entering everything beforehand. I confessed to being a clueless American; they had a good laugh and pointed me to a computer on the wall, they won’t do it for you. Once done, the process is quick. They look at the passports and collect the fees. Everyone says cash only, but I saw some credit card signs. Sorry, I didn’t ask.

The US uses a phone app. CBP Roam. Get the App, enter people’s data, and take photos of Passports. Pick your port of entry, hit send, and you should be good. Get the App here.

All those fees add up to about the same as the cost of a ferry ride back and forth between the US and British Virgin Islands. Despite the hassle, for my money, it’s a lot easier to sail out of St. Thomas rather than shlep all gear from plane to taxi , to ferry to another taxi before you even see the boat. Either way you go through customs and the cost is a wash.

Now that you are up to speed on all this British stuff, do you know why the Brits refer to the bathroom, toilet, and restroom as the “loo”? Ha Ha, it is French from the phrase “Regardez l’eau,” which means “look at the water.” The accepted warning once hailed before one heaves the content of a camber pot from the window to the street below.

In my youth I couldn’t figure out what this song has to do with SCUBA diving, still don’t know. Here is a revisited version. Well, that’s enough for this year.

La Liste

Why can’t somebody give us a list of things that everybody thinks and nobody says, and another list of things that everybody says and nobody thinks?

Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.

So to Tom and Jane and Lori and Nigel and anyone else who will be spending time on SeaSea. This is what to bring.

Clothes

Bring a pair of sandals like these. Everything else is optional . I bring a pair of topsiders every trip and have yet to use them . We also bring rain gear mostly to have something to layer on the ride to and from the northern airports in November.

Food

The galley is pretty well equipped and we buy all or food on island , except spices and herbs . Get an idea of what use at home and bag some up in individual ziplocks bags, it will save a ton of money not to mention space. Sandy has this pretty much covered unless you have special recipe that requires something exotic.

Snorkle and Mask

Bring a snorkel and mask. We used to bring fins but now use those that are available free from Waypoints. Less to haul around that way.

Sunscreen and Towels

Get reef safe Sunscreen. We usually bring an extra towel but there are plenty on the boat. .

Passport

In case you go to the BVI’s and have to deal with these guys. Or you could try to outrun them. Actually our encounter was quite pleasant.

Cash and Credit Card

To buy all the things you left at home … and cash to get into the BVI’s.

So that’s it; the list.

French Boat , French Song

Chill

It’s really important to have balance, spend some time in nature, go to a few parties, enjoy my friends and really chill out.

Joakim Noah

There are many great reasons to come to paradise and enjoy the endless opportunities here. Too numerous to list, so I won’t even try. Peruse some previous posts and let your imagination run. But whatever you do, whenever you come, it is best to sit back and chill at the end of the day.

Sand

It isn’t the mountain ahead that wears you out; it’s the grain of sand in your shoe.

Robert W. Service

Parrot fish hang out in the coral because that is what they eat. It’s mostly the algae growing in, and on the coral they are after. Sounds destructive? It isn’t. All that noisy underwater crunching benefits the reef by keeping it clean. The fish remove unhealthy or dead coral, and the algae that compete with and smother the coral polyps.

So what kind of teeth do you need to crunch on coral? You need a thousand of them arranged in 15 rows and fused together to form a beak. When they finally wear out, they fall out, and the next row of teeth takes over. Some scientists in Wisconsin determined that parrot fish teeth are harder than copper and can withstand 530 tons of pressure per square inch.

These guys inhabit all the warm seas with coral reefs and can range from 1 to 4 feet long. Depending on the size, these fish can excrete anywhere from 90 to 900 kg of ground-up coral sand annually. Keep that in mind next time you’re sipping a cold margarita on a picturesque white sandy beach. That’s fish poop you are wiggling your toes in. Once you get used to that idea and are working on the second drink, try to wrap your head around the idea that these creatures can change color and gender. No kidding.

So now that you know all about Parrot fish, what about Parrot heads? Well, I’ll let you hear it from the man himself.

Having FunYet ?

Never, ever underestimate the importance of having fun.

Randy Pausch

I remember learning to read. My mother had purchased some workbooks intending to teach me to read. The process started with short drills to learn the letters and their sounds. There were little games of repetition designed to be fun for the pre-schooler. Soon we were spelling two and 3-letter words. I got hung up on the three-letter homonyms son and sun. I couldn’t keep them straight, and I didn’t care; it wasn’t fun anymore. I peeked at the next page and saw a picture of a row boat. At the time, I had never been on a floating craft. But I knew what they were, and I knew they were fun. I asked that we learn how to spell “boat.” My perplexed mother explained that we should stay with three-letter words since they were still problematic and that it was best not to move on until mastered. But I had already seen the letters B-O-A-T below the picture, and to our surprise, that was enough for me to know how to spell boat. Before long, the workbook went by the wayside, and my mother chose instead to teach me fun words like “dinosaur.”

It is pretty elegant that having fun is pivotal to both productivity and human connection. Not surprising to me that one of my oldest memories is an excellent example of this. So after you “like ” this post, go have fun with family and friends.

Condomaran

When it comes to inspirational condominium quotes , there just aren’t any . Instead this little story, with minor modification, will have to do.


So one day Kermit the frog decides that he wanted to buy this new condomaran in the islands. He goes into the nearest bank and strolls up to the counter. In front of him there was this teller with name badge blaring “Paddywhack”.
Kermit says “I want a loan”. She goes through usual procedure then asks him about a deposit. 
He places this little tiny china elephant on the bench and says “Here’s my deposit, give me a loan”. The teller replies “I’m sorry that’s really not good enough, you need money”.

Kermit tells her that it’s all he has and it will have to do. When the teller denies his request once more, he starts to get a bit angry. “Do you know who my dad is? He’s MICK JAGGER.” Kermit says forceably. 
“I WANT YOUR MANAGER”, Kermit yells. She lets out a sigh and wanders off to find her manager.
The teller explains to her manager the story about the deposit, the china elephant, and who it belongs to.

The manager places his palm on his face, looks up and says, “Jesus christ.. it’s a knick knack Paddywhack, give the frog a loan.. his old man’s from The Rolling Stones”.

jokester unknown

In some circles, cruising or charter catamarans are looked down upon and known condescendingly as condomarans because of all their creature comforts. They give up a little top-end speed and pure sailing prowess for spacious amenities. Typically, however, the play on words is all in fun, and even the most rugged sailor recognizes on some level that pleasing surroundings are essential at least some of the time, like on vacation with family.

In previous posts, you can see pictures of SeaSea from above deck, from a distance, and even underwater, but until now, not below decks. Above is the starboard forward berth, one of the two slightly smaller cabins. I’d have featured an aft cabin but forgot to turn on the surrounding lighting, so those pictures are not quite as photogenic. By the time I’d realized the omission, the bedding had already been fussed with, and I don’t have the skill set to make a bed as pretty as the crew at Waypoints. Suffice it to say all the four cabins look just as lovely, and this is a smaller one.

Having rented “real’ condos for group vacations, I know firsthand that it is a plus if all the bedrooms are nearly equal in “quality.” Otherwise, how does one decide who gets the better room? Perhaps even more important is the bathroom situation. Ideally, it is best to have a bathroom for each couple. Sharing a shower Jack and Jill style between two heads has worked well for us. When in use, in case anyone is wondering, there is a gizmo that prevents the shower from being opened from the other side. For those who can’t bear to share, the faucets in SeaSea’s bathrooms are shower heads, technically making, if desired, each of the four heads a wet head, smaller boat style. If you count the heated outdoor shower at the Starboard transom, the four wet heads, and the two real showers then, SeaSea has seven showers, four more than my house! Below is a picture of one head with the shower door open.

Unlike Kermit, we were not able to find a sympathetic bank manager; a tiny china elephant was a no go for us. Pehaps, not being related to Mick Jaggger had someting to with the banks insistance on a cash deposit. That said , until now I was unaware of the familial relationship between Mick and Kermit but having seen these videos it is now quite obvious despite the difference in singing styles.

Yellow

Some painters transform the sun into a yellow spot, others transform a yellow spot into the sun.

Pablo Picasso

Man, I’m getting old. I can’t believe it’s already been 200 years since Anselme Gaëtan Desmarest first scientifically described Haemulon flavolineatum. It seems like yesterday. The fancy Latin species name means yellow line. You’d think a French guy would use his native tongue and name it Poisson Jaunelingnium or something similar. But, perhaps it doesn’t matter since the ancient language challenged know it as the French Grunt anyway. So Anselme knew what he was doing after all.

His father, Nicholas, a geologist, proved to the world that basalt is of volcanic origin, disproving the conventional wisdom of the time that all rock originated from the sediments of ancient seas. But I digress. Our featured yellow fish can grow up to a foot long and swim in the warm waters of South Carolina, the coast of Brazil, and everything in between. They like to hang out in schools under ledges and elkhorn coral during the day. Then, when school is out at dusk, they split up and forage independently, carefully looking out for black grouper who find them tasty. If not enough, they can also fall prey to the occasional parasite, including Gnathia marleyi, named for Bob Marley. Nope, you can’t make this stuff up.

Nooks and Crannies

“Talent without discipline is like an octopus on roller skates. There’s plenty of movement, but you never know if it’s going to be forward, backwards, or sideways.”

H jackson Brown Jr

Someone brought a package of English muffins to the office this week. It is sitting on the counter in our lunch room, and I notice the plastic bag contains fewer muffins each day. Now it’s Friday, and I suspect they are getting a little stale. By Monday, they will be bird food or, perhaps more sadly, headed for the landfill. So what does this have to do with anything? Every time I see English muffins, I think of nooks and crannies. It results from exposure to a particular marketing campaign a hundred years ago.

Part of the fun of cruising the Virgin Islands is exploring every corner, many of which are under the surface of the warm Caribbean blue water. When snorkeling, it pays to look in as many nooks and crannies as possible as many of the local inhabitants play a perpetual game of hide and seek. Those nooks are ideal hiding places. Son, Alex spotted this little octopus. I’d have swum right past the eight-armed cephalopod. Keep an eye peeled.

BVI Certified

You don’t need a certificate to dream big!” 

israelmore Ayivor

SeaSea’s new license

I haven’t written about the British Virgin Islands in a long time, even though it is only a moderate swim from the north side of St John, because it didn’t seem right. The BVIs were closed during covid to just about everyone, including US-based bareboats. No point in writing about a place you can’t go.

That has changed; SeaSea can sail to go to the British side again. But since SeaSea first sailed, the rules have changed. You used to be able to go to customs on Tortola, pay the fee, and be on your way. Of course, it still helps to check in on the British side to avoid fines and jail time, but now the boat must also be licensed. Fortunately, that license is in hand, albeit at tremendous cost and effort. On the bright side, due to the new rules, is a portable VHF radio to play with, and the vessel’s name and a whistle now decorate all the lifejackets.

I don’t know the politics behind these changes, but my hunch is that it had nothing to do with covid or safety. It was inevitable; the Queen was getting old, and the Brits knew they would eventually need a boat load of pounds to pay for a fancy coronation. So why not find a way to make American boat owners pay for it? Make sense to me. Thanks, Charles. ( It probably does not need to be said, but know this last bit is in jest.)

The feature photo is of Jost Van Dyke, close to Foxy’s, looking out at the anchorage. There is ( or was I haven’t been there since 2020) a customs office here, and they will be happy to check you into the BVI’s and take cash, and cash only, off your hands. 😉

From London a long time ago.

End of the Rainbow

Somewhere over the rainbow, skies are blue, and the dreams that you dare to dream really do come true.

E.Y Harburg

The end of the year and the end of a rainbow are curious things. I sit back and think. The rainbow, as beautiful as it is, does not exist without stormy weather. Likewise, I have yet to endure a year without some hardship. It’s how it is.

But I perceive neither negatively. Clear skies follow the rainbow, and growth comes from hardship and storms, especially if one is a sailor. Tomorrow is a new year with new hopes and dreams. Yes, there will be rain and harsh seas, but then there is the rainbow to remind us of the beauty in the world.

I took the featured photo in November on a hike to Ram Head with my son and daughter-in-law. The sky opened up, and the winds howled. It was cold and uncomfortable, yet one of my more memorable moments. My dear wife was looking after SeaSea at the time, or perhaps more accurately, SeaSea was looking after her.

Happy New Year.