Starting in June, American Airlines is offering daily nonstop flights from Miami to Tortola in the British Virgin Islands—reportedly the first time since the 1980s that visitors will have an everyday option without a connecting flight via Puerto Rico or St. Thomas.

The BVI is one of the world’s top cruising destinations. Multiple companies have bareboat bases there, and iconic spots such as the Bitter End Yacht Club and Foxy’s have been luring yachtsmen for decades.

The airline says the nonstop flights will be available through August 14, and then will restart in November, ahead of the winter cruising season. Planes will depart Miami at 10:07 a.m. and arrive in the BVI at 1:06 p.m. Return flights will take off at 1:47 p.m. and land back in the United States at 4:25 p.m.

“We have one of the most beautiful collections of isles and cays anywhere in the world, and look forward to offering our new and returning visitors an assortment of experiences in the Sailing Capital of the World,” said Clive McCoy, director of tourism for the British Virgin Islands Tourist Board & Film Commission.

Even for boaters who have cruised in the BVI before, there’s plenty to see and do. The Bitter End Yacht Club, which has been rebuilding after hurricane damage on Virgin Gorda, is celebrating its 50th anniversary. There’s also a new Dream Caribbean Blue bareboat base at Scrub Island Resort, Spa & Marina, with 14 sailing catamarans out of Tortola.

And, of course, there are longtime favorites like The Baths. Beautiful scenery simply never goes out of style.

He’s The Man

Philicianno “Foxy” Callwood set up a bar on Jost Van Dyke in 1968. He thought sailors in the British Virgin Islands might want to stop in for a drink. Today, his bar is a destination unto itself.

The Baths

Granite boulders at The Baths National Park on Virgin Gorda can be as big as 40 feet wide. Visitors can make their way around this protected piece of natural beauty by using steps and rope handrails to stay steady along the trail. Moorings and a dinghy dock are in place for cruising boats to use, and there are marked channels for swimming. Bring a snorkel for exploring the caverns, grottoes and waters off the beach.

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Willard John is a man of great stature on St. Croix—even when he is not wearing his 6½-foot-tall stilts.

John is the founder of Guardians of Culture Moko Jumbies, a group dedicated to preserving the art of stilt dancing in the US Virgin Islands. Since 1993, the group has trained young Crucians to carry on this centuries-old tradition, which started in Africa as a spiritual expression but evolved into a more colorful and festive form in the Virgin Islands.

“What’s important to me is that when visitors see these entities on stilts, dancing, they also understand its context and significance,” John says. A former high-school principal, he narrates the group’s Wednesday performances at the Palms at Pelican Cove in Christiansted to provide a primer on the art form’s history.

John was considered an “elder” in 1975 when he took up moko jumbie at age 24. He quickly made up for lost time, performing in the 1979 Super Bowl halftime show. Moko jumbie has since become a family affair. His wife, Curless, makes all Guardians of Culture costumes. And his son, Ayo, is among the next generation of dancers to strap on the stilts, made from Douglas fir purchased through Gold Coast Yachts.

“The current generation of dancers has taken the art form to a new level,” John says. “They’re a lot more fearless and creative in their moves, which allows the art form to expand.”

How tall is a moko jumbie? Usually 10 to 13 feet. It’s not about being as tall as you can, but getting to a height where you’re comfortable performing the acrobatics and choreography. 

What makes a good moko jumbie dancer? People who are very active and have a lot of energy that they need to channel. 

What is the most difficult aspect of moko jumbie to learn? When your desire to learn surpasses your fear of heights.

Willard John’s St. Croix hotspots

La Reine Chicken Shack: Rotisserie chicken is their forte; it has a unique taste. They also serve all kinds of local food from the Hispanic perspective.  

Savant: Their fish is excellent. The atmosphere is great. It’s right downtown, near Fort Christiansvaern.

Galangal: They serve good Asian fusion. It has West Indian ambience.  

Point Udall: It’s the easternmost point of the United States. There’s a big monument there where people go to watch the sunrise.

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Despite all the destruction that Hurricanes Irma, Jose and Maria wrought in the British Virgin Islands, the archipelago remains the most-requested destination among bareboaters who book through The Moorings. In fact, if those autumn 2017 storms hadn’t wrecked so many boats, even more bareboaters would’ve been in the islands this past winter.

“We literally can’t build the boats fast enough for people who want to go,” says Ian Pedersen, marketing manager of the Americas for The Moorings, which lost about a third of its Tortola fleet in the storms. “As soon as we can get more of the boats in, everything will be back to normal.”

MarineMax Vacations also was reporting surprisingly high demand soon after the cleanup began. New Year’s was sold out, with a near-normal level of inquiries by the end of January.

MarineMax lost just four of its 44 boats to the storms, and the company expected not only to be fully operational by March, but also to have 10 percent growth in the fleet’s size by June 1 — including the addition of a new 36-footer (shown on the previous page).

“It’s totally different: no flybridge, and outboard motors, with two cabins,” says Raul Bermudez, vice president of the MarineMax charter division. “There aren’t too many two-cabin boats out there. If you’re just a couple, it’s tough to find a boat that makes sense. That one, in high season, it will be about $5,000 a week.”

Bermudez has been visiting the BVI once a month since the storms, and he’s finding what bareboat clients are reporting: damage still being repaired on land, but harbors with water as clear as ever, and beach bars with open doors and rum specials ready.

“In the outer islands, now that everything’s green again, yeah, you see damage to the houses and roofs, but the beaches are all cleaned up, and it’s great,” he says. “I’ve been down to Soggy Dollar and had fun. Foxy’s looks like nothing happened to it. Some of the people who were repeat clients or owners, they’re loving it. There’s no worry about picking up a mooring ball. There’s plenty available right now.”

He also says more bareboaters than usual are leaving mainstays like Tortola and making the crossing to Anegada, which lies beyond the most popular islands.

“Being 13 miles away really made a difference,” he says of storm damage, or lack thereof.

The best news for The Moorings, Pedersen says, is that because so many of the boats in its fleet are being repaired or replaced, clients will have a ton of new rides this summer and for winter 2018-19.

“I’m looking at it like a wildfire effect,” he says. “Yes, we lost all these boats, but some of them were on the older side anyway. Now the majority of the fleet is going to be less than a year old. So in 2019, that’s the time to come charter with us. They’re all going to be brand-spanking new.”

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Ocean Independence has just welcomed the 83-foot Ferretti Dee Dee Lee to the charter market. The yacht is new to charter, according to Ocean Independence, and is the only Ferretti of her size based in the Virgin Islands.

Dee Dee Lee accommodates eight guests in four staterooms. She’s a 2005 build that is finishing a refit now, with zero-speed stabilizers being installed.

The Ferretti also has new water toys. She charters with a pair of Yamaha WaveRunners, paddleboards, kayaks and more.

Lowest weekly base rate to charter Dee Dee Lee: $35,000

Where to book a week on board: head to the Ocean Independence website.

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HMY Yachts Charter says the 116-foot Azimut Tail Lights has just a few days left of Caribbean charter availability, from April 21-30.

Tail Lights accommodates eight to 10 guests in five staterooms. Itineraries can be round-trip from St. Thomas in the U.S. Virgin Islands, or can start in the northern Caribbean island of Sint Maarten and finish in St. Thomas.

After she completes the current charter season in the Caribbean, Tail Lights is expected to move to Florida for the month of May, followed by New England for the summer yacht charter season there.

Lowest weekly base rate to charter Tail Lights: $75,000

Where to book her last available dates in the Caribbean: contact charter broker Kim Vickery.

The post Last Charter Dates for Azimut Tail Lights in the Caribbean appeared first on Yachting.

4You

Ocean Independence has the 180-foot Amels 4You available out of St. Barts or Sint Maarten for Christmas and New Year’s, taking 10 guests at a holiday weekly base rate of $330,000.

Bina

Edmiston says the 142-foot Mondomarine Bina is open for a Christmas charter ending December 26 in the British Virgin Islands. She accommodates 10 guests at a holiday weekly base rate of $175,000.

Lady Thuraya

For an exotic holiday adventure, Northrop and Johnson is marketing the 102-foot Lubbe-Voss Lady Thuraya for Christmas and New Year’s in the Maldives. Her weekly base rate is about $43,100 for eight guests.

Tiger’s Eye

Churchill Yacht Partners says the 98-foot Hargrave Tiger’s Eye is available for New Year’s in the Bahamas, at a weekly base rate of $42,500 for as many as nine guests in four staterooms.

The post Still Time to Book Christmas and New Year’s Yacht Charters appeared first on Yachting.

The 60-foot Horizon powercatamaran La Manguita is offering a 10-percent discount on Thanksgiving yacht charter in the British Virgin Islands, according to Regency Yacht Vacations.

La Manguita is a 2013 build that accommodates as many as seven guests in three staterooms (depending on whether you want to use the Pullman berth).

She has a top speed of 24 knots and bases in the Virgin Islands each winter, giving her crew a solid foundation of local knowledge for creating yacht charter itineraries.

Regular weekly base rate: $22,000

With the 10-percent discount: the lowest weekly base rate drops to $19,800

Click here to book now.

Want to learn more about the Horizon PC60? Click here.

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Lapping surf was the only sound I could pick out — no seagulls, distant beach bars or human voices. If it were possible to hear grains of sand being pulled back to sea with every wave that came ashore, or beams of sunshine turning the salt water’s surface into flickering diamonds, then this is the place I would have heard them. Right after I let out a full-chested, fully relaxed sigh.

As hard as it is to believe, the blissfully empty beaches of Anegada are just 15 miles north of Virgin Gorda, one of its sister waypoints in the British Virgin Islands. While many of us have enjoyed lots of fun at the Bitter End Yacht Club there, or at Foxy’s Tamarind Bar on Jost Van Dyke, or at Pusser’s Landing on Tortola, far fewer charter guests have bought a T-shirt at the Big Bamboo on Loblolly Bay in Anegada. The island’s Horseshoe Reef, the largest barrier coral reef in the Caribbean, has wrecked hundreds of ships and left many bareboaters wary.

But on a crewed yacht charter? No worries at all. My yacht’s crew had threaded the reef by tender to a dock, then arranged for a car to zip me across the island (I saw maybe six of the island’s less than 300 residents during the ride). I was far from the Big Bamboo and its standard fare of juicy local lobster and Jimmy Buffett cover songs, sinking my toes into the warm sand of a secret spot in total silence. I had a comfy folding chair, a cold drink, sunglasses and a book. And I was pretty sure, after about 10 minutes, that I would never need anything else ever again.

This part of Anegada is how nowhere is supposed to feel.

I had sought it out as many boaters do, requesting it on my BVI charter itinerary as a kind of tonic or balm, a spot on the planet that nature seemed to build as a way to heal the parts of the soul that civilization grates to their raw edges. To look left and see nothing, right and see nothing, back and see nothing, and ahead into endless ocean. To sit. To read. To bring my heartbeat back into rhythm with the pulse of that lapping surf.

Yes, the beach bar was there if I wanted it, but on this day, I didn’t need it. I’d found a whole other level of paradise.

GETTING THERE

Italian Style
Alandrea is a Ferretti Custom Line 108, a model that made her debut from the Italian builder just last year. One of her design features is a superyacht-style beach club aft. She also has a salon balcony and an out-door cinema.

Ready to Play
Fun toys can take a charter to the next level, and the 142-foot Trinity Bacchus has them: a 32-foot Davis tender rigged for fishing, an 18-foot Nautica tender for shorter gunkholing trips and water skiing with the kids, a pair of three-person Yamaha WaveRunners, kayaks, paddleboards, Seabobs and a waterslide.

The Grand Dame
While lots of great Westport 130s can be found in charter worldwide, the builder’s flagship 164 model is a rarer gem. Only a couple of 164s, including Aquavita, charter at all.

Major Music
The 140-foot King Baby, delivered last year, is the largest fiberglass build from IAG Yachts in China. An American owner commissioned her with a rock ‘n’ roll interior that uses guitars as artwork and features iconic photographs.

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The Moorings 514PC

The Moorings has registered its whole fleet of power catamarans in the British Virgin Islands as fishing vessels, which means charter clients can now fish from their vessels instead of having to organize rendezvous fishing with local providers.

The fleet ranges from 39 to 51 feet length overall, and each yacht now has a government-issued fishing registration number. Charter guests will still have to obtain a separate fishing license.

“Fishing is an important part of the charter experience for many of our guests, and we are excited that they can conveniently enjoy this activity while we have them aboard in the BVI,” Josie Tucci, general manager of The Moorings, stated in a press release.

The post The Moorings Fleet Adds Fishing appeared first on Yachting.

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The day revealed itself exactly like the previous six: slowly and softly. I slithered from the cozy stateroom into the salon, and absorbed the island sounds and smells. The waves cresting onto the white beach of Cooper Island a hundred yards off our stern encouraged me to double check the depth sounder. All was well and I settled back into my morning routine.

Then, as with the previous mornings of my British Virgin Island bareboat charter, I faced a difficult choice: Should I take a swim before or after breakfast?

“Wow, relaxing is tough work,” my friend Jim Astrachan commiserated, peering over his reading glasses. Yes indeed, but we were willing to accept the challenge. I made a decision. I would swim before breakfast and then go to the beach afterwards.

This was my eighth bareboat charter to the BVIs, and my second with The Moorings, the worldwide company specializing in sail charters (but now offering power, too)- although this year the BVI trip almost didn’t happen. For variety’s sake, I suggested another venue, such as the Grenadines or Mexico, to stir things up a bit. I mean, how many times can you cruise in idyllic waters, surrounded by stunning islands? However, Jim and his wife Julie had not cruised in the area before, so for them it would be, well, virgin. And my stepfather, Gordon Bjorkman, and mother Jane, liked the idea of returning to familiar haunts.

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In the end, the return concept grew on me and I warmed to the idea of making it an annual vacation to the BVIs. The underlying benefit was that we were thrust into instant relaxation mode the second the wheels lifted off from JFK International Airport. There was no stressful learning of the particulars of a new destination, planning itineraries, or navigation. We’ve already been through those hassles on previous trips. I also knew a few special spots that Jim and Julie would enjoy. Better yet, I was familiar with places that should be avoided. And there were still enough unexplored destinations from previous charters to promise a little adventure. I’ve been accused of being a creature of habit, but in this case, I’d say it worked to my advantage. Thanks to the decision to return, this charter was one of the most relaxing vacations I’ve had in years. So, here are a few things that I’ve learned during these charters-maybe they’ll help you find a shortcut to chill time

The Boat

There are several reputable charter companies based in the U.S. and British Virgin Islands. I’ve chartered with a few and generally have had good experiences with each. One of the reasons I selected The Moorings again is that I like their fleet. For the past two years, we’ve chartered the 474 power cat built by Leopard in South Africa. This year we were on board No Worries, powered by twin 150-horsepower Cummins diesels. The four-stateroom, four-head layout easily accommodates large groups. Outside lounging space is abundant, with a table and settee in the sheltered cockpit, a good-sized flying bridge, and forward deck seating. The relative stability of the ride reduces the risk of mal de mer for your less seasoned crew. In fact, each new 474 is delivered to the fleet on its own bottom from South Africa. That’s a heck of a shakedown cruise, as well as a testament to the smooth ride!

The boats are well equipped, from a coffee maker to snorkel gear. And most importantly, the company follows a rigorous maintenance program to help ensure you won’t be doubled over a hot engine trying to change a starter during your vacation.

The only issue on this past trip was a jellyfish clog in the generator’s raw-water intake. Jim fixed the problem by diving overboard and cleaning the intake from the water. There’s nothing like a morning adventure to give your day purpose.

Provisioning

I have learned a valuable lesson: Pay to have the boat provisioned. The Moorings, like most bareboat companies, offers a provisioning service. I’ve discovered that the per-person cost almost averages out to the same amount as shopping for yourself. Yes, a little of the choice goes away, but not having to deal with this task when you arrive is well worth the trade-off. I’ve seen friendships compromised by arguments over butter versus margarine. By the time you shop, load, and then unload your provisions, you’re down half a day. This year, we were cooling off in the pool when we would normally have been sweating through the cruising yachtsman aisles at the local market. Don’t think twice about it-just hire the provisioning service.

When To Go

Much to the chagrin of my friends, I’m going to let you in on our little secret. I like chartering during the off season. Yes, I know it’s Hurricane Season and, in fact, we had a close call last year. But we’ve been visiting during the last week of August for several years now and, in my opinion, the serenity of the islands off season is worth the risk. You don’t have to worry about racing to the next anchorage to secure a spot. There are no lines at bars or restaurants, and it becomes possible to imagine that you’ve been transported back in time 40 years, before the area began to boom. Yes, it was bloody hot, but the breeze was always kicking and No Worries was also fully air-conditioned.

Itinerary

This is a crucial part of any Virgin Island charter. I have learned from past mistakes. On one of my first charters on board a Grand Banks 42, we created an overly ambitious schedule. Every day we were off to a new destination, stopping along the way for lunch and a swim. There was just too much going on. This is especially tiresome if you’re the captain. I began to glare at my friends, lounging on the bow, cocktail in hand, while I drove us from destination to destination. I realized I had simply morphed into the designated driver. This had to change, fast.

Over the years, I’ve discovered the joy of hanging out in one spot for a few days. In a way, the charter begins to feel a little more like a beach holiday where guests can come and go as they please, and discover new experiences for themselves. And even better, I’m off watch.

To me, there is no better place to ease into island time than White Bay, Jost Van Dyke. It’s an easy run from the Moorings base in Tortola. There are two marked entrances between the reef. The eastern channel is easier to spot and offers more maneuvering room once you’re inside the anchorage. Pick up a mooring and enjoy the scenery. The nearby Soggy Dollar is where the Pain Killer originated and offers beachside food and drinks.

With a powerboat, you have a little more freedom to enjoy a flexible schedule. We usually head up to Virgin Gorda Sound and hang out between Saba Rock and The Bitter End Yacht Club. Both places close down after September first for a month or more, so plan accordingly. During the past few years, we’ve spent a few days here, twisting on a mooring-exploring, lounging, and taking a few day trips.

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From here, I’ve usually gone down island, trying to fit in a visit to The Baths, the rock formations and reefs at the southern end of Virgin Gorda. Personally, I’m now over The Baths. Even during the off season, it’s crowded, and securing a mooring and landing on the beach with a group can be a hassle, especially if there is any swell. (I’ve seen my friends take unintentional headers down the surf like they’re at a water park.) However, if you have guests that have never been to The Baths, I suppose you should make the effort. I’ve found a good alternative to mooring is to take a slip at Virgin Gorda Yacht Harbour and take a taxi from there.

This strategy also puts you a short cab ride away from luxurious Little Dix Bay. The meal we had during our visit was over the top, and the view was one of the best in the islands. The resort offered a pleasant respite from barbecuing and T-shirts. It got me thinking that the ultimate vacation might be a combo charter with a few days stay at Little Dix to break things up.

This year we stopped over at The Indians for lunch and some spectacular snorkeling. You’re in deep water, so you will be treated to larger fish and more variety. Afterwards, we made it into Cooper Island and moored outside of The Cooper Island Beach Club. This beachside resort could easily be the backdrop for “Don’t Stop the Carnival,” and has become one of my favorite stops. The open harbor looks west, down the Sir Francis Drake channel, providing front-row seats for spectacular sunsets. I’m a huge fan of St. John, U.S.V.I., especially the south coast, but this year we couldn’t make the schedule work. (You need to clear customs.) If you have more time, it’s worth a night or two.

It’s a sign of a great vacation when after ten days you begin to welcome the idea of returning home. I felt relaxed and ready to go. Perhaps it’s an even better sign of a great vacation when you start planning your return a few weeks after you get back to the real world.

The Moorings, (888) 952-8420; www.moorings.com

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