Yellow Q Flag at the ready, we were waking up to a First Things First type of Schedule.
****
We woke up rather late that morning, and considering we'd just done a 14 hour, 82 nm passage, we were feeling quite refreshed.
"Thanks hun" I smiled to my honey, as he handed me my morning cuppa that came with a hug.
But first things first,
"What would you like for breakfast?" I asked?
"How about some cereal" he said, "Let's make it quick and easy..." and he proceeded to get the C&I paperwork at the ready to go ashore.
But First, First things First, we had to get the dinghy ready. Given that it was such a non-eventful passage, we'd chosen to tow dinghy instead of putting her on the bow of Banyan, and all we had to do was get her rigged again.
And before we knew it, my hunny was heading ashore to Gunn Creek, to clear with Customs and Immigration.
"Did the SailClear work?" I asked him when he returned. "Nope" he laughingly replied.
"But they did confirm that our stay in the BVI is good for 30 consecutive days, at a time. Not 30 days per calendar year."
"So we can visit here for up to 30 days..." I replied. "Then leave and go to the Spanish Virgins perhaps? Or wherever? And then still be able to come back here for another visit of up to 30 days?"
"Seems to be the case" said Dave.
There'd been, and there still seems to be, some confusion regarding this. We'd been googling many sites and they all pointed to the "no more than 30 consecutive days
at one time" rule, before you pay an additional fee. Yet in chatting with various cruisers, they all have stories that point to the "30 days per calendar year".
Perhaps it's dependant on the Customs Agent? Or perhaps it's the Office of Entry? Perhaps one needs to make sure that you leave for longer than 24 hours before you come back? In dealing with government R&R (that would read Rules and Regulations, not Rest and Relaxation, wink wink), there seems to be general agreement on one thing. We're all confused !
And with all that being said and done, our Q-Flag came down, our BVI flag went up,
and we chose to move across the way to drop anchor in Leverick Bay.