Ep 162 Exploring the Hotspots of the BVIs - Then Getting Thrown Out
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- Опубликовано: 22 июн 2024
- I feel a bit bad about calling this episode “Exploring”. It’s really more about showing viewers what the anchorages are like and letting them know that these are areas to stop at. But I couldn’t come up with a better word, or one I liked better that didn’t introduce complexity. Anyway, we have more BVI footage coming in the next video.
As for being thrown out, the situation was more nuanced than it would appear. We were thrown out, but in a way that was announced up front. In short, the BVI government officials came up with the bright idea of counting privately owned recreational yachts the same as they do commercial charter yachts. And as it turns out, charter yachts can come from the USVI if they clear out and clear into the BVI, but if they stay for more than 30 days a whole bunch of rules start to kick in, including registering the boat in the BVI (or at least temporarily doing so, for $200).
The whole plan was half-baked from the start. It was supposed to be a revenue grab, but instead created a bureaucratic nightmare as I believe the officials involved had no idea how complex these rules have become over the years. It’s a patchwork of requirements designed to fix one loophole after another regarding paid charters, and often very carefully worded. In short, the rules for recreational yachts and commercial ones have always been intended to be kept in two separate categories. To suddenly decree that recreational boats have to conform to the commercial standard was never going to work. At a minimum, the insurance requirements for commercial yacht chartering are a whole different category.
So even getting answers about how this program was supposed to work failed because the official in charge decided to go “off island” as they say, for a month or more, leaving the clerks in the dark as to how to implement it or collect money. Mind you, this is midway through December, and almost reaching the Christmas rush. The immigration and customs officials on the ground just told us “Leave and come back. We have no rule we can see that says you can’t”. So that’s what we did. And it cost the BVI’s dollars into the thousands.
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Wonderful content as always! And varied! Docking, snorkling, Gov't hassles. Just epic goodness.
Thanks Dan. Great hearing from you again!
Having lived, and owned a business, in the BVI for 14 years before Irma in 2017, and recently retuning with a private yacht I can only say you've hit just one of many "stupid" ideas the government has regarding yachts and visitors in general. For example, their website states that if you are an American citizen you have a 6 month vista. However, in practice they will only give you 30 days. When you point this out to them, their official response is a shrug. Recently I entered and got 30 days. But after a week I had to return to the US for a family emergency . I cleared out, and my passport was duly stamped. After about 3 weeks I returned. The immigration officer would not give me a fresh 30 days as she claimed I had 3 days left on the last entry, even though I had left the territory for over 22 days. When I tried to get a fresh 30 days I was told to leave and come back. By that they meant to wait to the last day (day 3) , take the ferry to St. Thomas in the morning and return the next day. The cost with the hotel was about $500. Naturally, this makes no sense. But making sense is not a forte of the people who populate the BVI government. They are all "Belongs" and everyone else is not. They resent just about everyone who is not a born here Belonger. I have friends who are Belongers by marriage and they get jerked like us non-Belongers. They see visitors as the enemy even though the tourist industry is the number 2 source of revenue, and of that, people chartering or bring private yachts into the BVI produce many jobs, leave a ton of money on the table, and take no social services away form the citizens of the BVI. The islands are beautiful, the sailing is great, but the government is a mess.
As you see with many islands in the Caribbean, government jobs are "good" jobs. You work indoors in air conditioned rooms, and get to wear nice cloths. But after a point you've got 30-40% of the population working in government, and the rest of the island is expected to pay for it. So they get a lot of pushback about reducing staff. But wait, a new idea comes to mind. We'll take the money from the tourists and yachties. And this is all well until the tourists and yachties go somewhere else. At least the charter companies have formed a lobbying group and have some juice. I do agree that the BVIs are exceptional, but there are other options, and one of the rules of business (immutable) is that the highest price you can charge for something is rarely the most profitable. This is because profit is margin times volume. And volume is the driver. Lose the volume, and your business will slowly fail. Finally, I believe (and I could be wrong) you're conflating the person and the boat. It's the boat they were giving us 30 days on. We would have had 90 days if we flew in and put 90 days on our immigration ticket. They would have stamped us in and all would be well. But another rule of dealing with officials is never ask questions or interact with them more than necessary. The second you start telling them about your boat and health issues, red flags are raised with them. it only goes downhill from there.
@@SailingTalisman My boat is imported to the BVI. 30 days is the max for a person as they currently apply "their" rules. My mistake was landing in Tortola other than Virgin Gorda, where they are much more relaxed.
@@robertgranafei2781 Indeed, Robert. We find that Soper's Hole is more relaxed as well. We've heard about people getting abused at Road Harbour for anchoring out and then walking over from the marina area (accusing the person of having entered the island before clearing in), and also have been personally threatened with fines for tying up, out of the way of ferries, at the ferry dock where immigration and customs offices are. We were twice charged $50 "Harbor Fee" there, even though we were obviously in-and-out. I hate that place. But on the plus side, for people reading, once you're past these gatekeepers, everything chills on the islands. The issue I feel the BVI officials should address is how bad your first and last touch can be when visiting. The negative experiences follow the guests home, and that is never good.
Hello to brother David, who is up for the rough ride on a beautiful day.
good to see u guys relaxing as opposed to having mainsail issues with the in mast furling. stay safe
Hi Richard. It's odd to say, but there's something especially rewarding about the work that goes into getting to the fun.
Nice video, again! Thanks
Thanks again!
love watching your videos. you and wendy have such a great partnership.
That's the truth. We just celebrated our 21st wedding anniversary a couple of days ago, and I'd marry her again in a heartbeat. And thanks so much for watching and being with us!
Well done
Thanks Christian!
A belated Happy 21st Wedding Anniversary.😉😀⛵️👍
Thanks Norman. Hope all is well.
Kevin, 12:33, camera is on wrong side to admire your technique!
Yep. I'm half idjit when it comes to setting things up. I get so focused on the moment that often enough we miss filming entirely (even after having cameras in place). And that's actually the problem here. We had a port and starboard camera, and one died before the action started. Next time we'll do better, I hope.
@@SailingTalisman It happens. In all a great Ep. Some sailing, some berthing, some eating, some snorkelling, some sea life and great music
We LIKE rough rides! 3rd-world bureaucracy is the worst. #BoycottTheBVIs
We'll see what we can do.