The BVI's
11 July 2015 | Virgin Gorda
Andy / Sunny and Hot
We were very much looking forward to visiting the BVI’s. The sailing is some of the best in the world. The wind is 15 to 20 knots out of the east and the seas are 1-3 feet every day. However, it will likely be a long time before we ever return…IF we ever return.
I have thought about how to write this portion of the blog for a long time. I have decided to just tell our side of the story and let you all make up your own minds.
We entered Sopers Hole in West End Tortolla to clear customs. We were instructed to grab a mooring and dinghy ashore. We filled out all the forms and handed over our paperwork. At this point we were asked if we had a dog or cat on board. Zoe is with us so we said yes we had a cat. They asked if we had filled out the importation documents for the cat. I told them she was not being imported and that we are a vessel in transit. Zoe is not allowed off the boat but we do have a health certificate and she is microchipped. Customs then seized our passports and told us to standby on VHF16. 4 hours later, they told us we had to bring the cat ashore as they had called a vet. The vet looked at her health certificate, checked her for fleas, looked at her eyes and teeth and said “She’s health and she can stay on your boat but she is not allowed ashore”. That’s what I said 4 hours ago! For this we were charged an extra $60 and told that when we return we should fill out the paperwork and email it to them 30 days in advance. I asked where I could find these form as we were not aware of this rule and had never had a problem with the cat. He said “They are on our website.”
So at every opportunity to have internet, I looked for these forms. After all, we don’t want to have to go through this every time we come to the BVI’s. But try as I could I could not find them. So, I filled out an online request for information through the BVI tourism link. I got a reply right away saying they would help me find any information I needed. Now I made the mistake of saying that after all my searching, I was beginning to think no such forms existed and that my experience to date had “left a bad taste in my mouth”. Three days later as we were about to leave the BVI’s, I was cc’d on the reply by tourism. In the reply the gave the link to the website that had the form but that stated that it had to be sent in 48 hours in advance. I could have been given the option to return to the USVI and submit the paperwork and come back in 2 days. Oh well, cash for them, shame on me. Then I continued reading. The balance of the email was nothing short of threatening. In it the officer from the department of Agriculture said that they could now seize the cat, have it quarantined for 30 days and charge me $360 per day. In fact, perhaps they should track me down and do that now so they could bill me an additional $1000 and if I didn’t pay it, euthanize the cat!
We departed the BVI’s 6 hours after receiving that email and will never return. Some may say they are entitled to treat us like that for not following their rules, I say nobody should be treated like that.
So what was it like, now that my rant is over? Anchorages are few and far between. They have mooring balls everywhere and charge $30 per night. The Baths in Virgin Gorda were amazing and we were glad we went (this was before the email). The sailing was fantastic with lots of entertainment compliments of charter boats, and there are hundreds of them scurrying from one mooring ball to the next. Virgin Gorda was the best stop for us with lots to see. I couldn’t care less if I ever saw Jost Van Dyke or Tortolla again. Like I said, Virgin Gorda we liked. Most of what people seem to rave about the BVI’s is bars and restaurants and there are a ton of them and some very good ones too. For us, it was the great sailing, which we can enjoy as we go right through them on our way to the USVI’s or on the St Martin if we desire.