Provisioning in BVIs'

[SQUIRRELS]

Provisioning in BVIs\'

Has anyone experience of using The Moorings provisioning service in the BVIs'? Or indeed provisioning in Tortola using one of the on-line supermarkets? Any other relevant tips/suggestions appreicated that can make the most BVI flotilla then bare boat charter this coming November - thanks!

 

[catmandoo]

Re: Provisioning in BVIs\'

Yes , watch out for mosquitos , floods , power and water cuts . $25 Charges to moor on fixed buoys . No anchoring

Food in restaurants mainly american junk Spanish town on Virgin Gorda great so is Sopers Hole Not much on Islands except for coral Island Anegada. Attraction is in and under the water .

Say hello to Vanilla at the last Resort Tortola by kissing his ass

 

[SQUIRRELS]

Re: Provisioning in BVIs\'

I'd rather not.

 

[tcm]

Re: Provisioning in BVIs\'

not used moorings but otherwise i wrote a longish bvi piece a while back now listed at http://www.bluemoment.com/bvi.html

you defineitely CAN anchor in loads of places tho obv not in the actual mooring trots. Trouble is the flotilla leaders might say ooer you shd use a mooring buoy, depends. Mosquito-wise it's best to hang back from the shore in bays rather than snuggle in close unless you like being first course for the mossies. You will defintely have a fab fab fab time. The only reason you might want pre-provisioning is to get the heavy gear loaded but there's usually loads of time on day one etc etc, supermarkets with trolleys and so on, and with preovisioning you might oops forget this or that, or they might, in which case you'd be much better off doing it yerself. You need reasonable rum and mixers, mainly. Self catering isn't easy but you can buy stuff to make spag bol at least.

 

[SQUIRRELS]

Re: Provisioning in BVIs\'

Thanks very much for the link; very interesting to read 'how it is' without having to extract the marketing gloss.

As we head over there a few days before the flotilla leaves I'll give consideration to self provisioning, mainly because its a bit of a pain thinking about what you want to eat way in advance (bit like on-line food shopping here), guess I just didn't want to go all that way to spend time in a supermarket, hence my question about the on-line supermarkets who would appear to have lots of choice. As far as the heavy stuff goes, well Mr Squirrels will mostly likely enjoy the exercise!!

 

[tcm]

Re: Provisioning in BVIs\'

yep, and with preprovisioning the stuff can get delivered on the morning that you arrive so it's been baking in the boat all day. Much better to have a look round the supermarket really to see what's what, and organise the heavy lifting crew to do the transport back to the boat.

We took and slept in mosquito nets, which sounds a bit extreme but it is often so hot at nights that the alternative is with no sheets at all, hence get bitten, ouch.

Also re provisioing, you sort-of want to see what the stuff actually is (brands, ingredients etc) rather than just tick the blimmin boxes.

 

[SQUIRRELS]

Re: Provisioning in BVIs\'

I'll sort out some mosquito nets before we go. Recently bought one of those mosquito weighted hatch covers for our boat because they just love me - on the boat, in the garden, you name it! Actually I even bought one of those brim nets for my tilley hat; looks lovely!

Anyway, the stores hanging around in the sun for hours before we arrive does not impress me one bit and yes I'd much prefer to pick out brands (watch for those E numbers that my PT of a sister goes on about). Apart from that its nice to see the selection of foods available; just didn't want to be only silly sod lugging provisions around when the norm was getting them delivered!

 

[Bat21]

Re: Provisioning in BVIs\'

Mr Squirrels will most likely be spending the time sampeling the rum! /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif Old Mount Gay is to be recommended I believe

 

[SQUIRRELS]

Re: Provisioning in BVIs\'

Squirrels don't drink as much as bats!

 

[mirabriani]

Re: Provisioning in BVIs\'

Second that, after a few Mountgays you will not notice the mossies, sends you off a treat.

Regards Briani

 

[bbg]

Re: Provisioning in BVIs\'

We did a charter with Moorings in the BVIs a couple of years back, and had no problem provisioning on the morning of departure (most of the crew went provisioning while two of us went to the skippers' briefing). One thing we did find was that it was very difficult to find fresh seafood, surprisingly.

Although it looks like your mind is already made up against the Moorings provisioning, I will give you perhaps one more reason - the cost. The arranged provisioning is very expensive - maybe twice the price of doing it yourself.

We just provisioned in Mallorca, and the cost of doing the provisioning ourselves including beer, wine, bottled water etc was less than the "starter pack" from Moorings.

BTW there are places to anchor, but it would be safe to budget for a few nights on moorings. When you think about the cost of the charter, flights, food etc. an additional US$ 25 per night split 4, 6 or 8 ways is not that much.

Good luck and enjoy.

 

[SQUIRRELS]

Re: Provisioning in BVIs\'

Thank you; yes the cost is certainly a consideration, especially as the 'starter pack' is based on 4 people and there's only 2 of us!

I'm glad to hear from someone who obvioulsy enjoyed a Moorings charter. We're looking forward to getting away when its grey here (although its grey today), just hope we have no repeats of Lenny!

I expect to pay for moorings for some nights at least and although they are more expensive than mooring charges around the UK, guess it's the supply/demand factor, also they are a facility and as you say compared with the overall cost (especially as it only divided by 2) its not really an issue. However having seen the on-line prices for 'known' wines /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif, I guess we'll be listening to the two previous posts and sampling the rum; hard I know - but we'll do our best /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif

 

[Swagman]

Re: Provisioning in BVIs\'

All marinas have at least a small supermarket to hand - and bigger ones are not too far away.
We sadly found the food both in restaurants and supermarkets generally poor quality.
So IMHO the BVI's are definately not a gourmet destination.

If you do like a decent wine - buy it in the UK and carry it out. Spirits / mixers are best value drinkies.

Suggest you take out hanging mozzi nets you can rig over bunks - your charter will almost certainly be fitted with 12v fans that should cool through the net ok.
One trick is to not do what we all usually do when anchoring and seek shelter from an offshore breeze. If the breezes are light - consider anchoring into an ONSHORE wind. The mozzis find it hard to fly against such - and you'll get a mozzi free night.
All else aside - you'll have brilliant time - and don't forget to visit the US side.
Cheers
JOHN