Chef Rosie at the helm in the BVI

A Crewed yacht charter in the British Virgin Islands during quarantine

After 9 months of closed borders, our professional crews in the British Virgin Islands were finally able to welcome guests on their yachts once more in December of 2020. Chef Rosie recalls the feelings and events of her first charter back out on the water for us:

With the borders open we couldn’t wait for our first charter, finally, the day arrived! “Allie Cat” (our Moorings 514PC) was stocked and ready to go with our guests’ preferences for food and beverages for the upcoming week-long Crewed charter in the British Virgin Islands.

As soon our guests arrived, we slipped lines and were off the dock heading towards Peter Island, a glass of Prosecco in hand for all our guests, the vacation had begun!

A Crewed yacht charter in the British Virgin Islands during quarantine

We arrived at Peter Island just before the yacht curfew (6 PM based on the current BVI travel restrictions) and hooked a mooring ball for the first night. All the worries our guests had of travelling to the BVI in times of COVID had evaporated as they were wined and dined on their private yacht. Social distancing at its best!

The following day the guests received their negative test results and we spent the next 3 days visiting beautiful secluded bays, where we were often the only boat around. Many of these bays our guests had never been to, although they are frequent travellers to the BVI. Our guests spent their time swimming off the boat within the 30ft allowance and had some amazing experiences; in Little Harbour, Peter Island the turtles swam with them whilst they sipped their drinks at Allie Cat’s floating bar. Captain Adam took the reef to the boat by hooking his favourite mooring ball at George Dog, where the snorkelling was incredible. Afternoons were spent relaxing and reading books. Each evening we sat watching the sunset whilst sipping Captain Adam’s cocktail of the day paired with a canapé made by myself. Every evening we would have dinner, paired with wine and followed by a delicious dessert.

A Crewed yacht charter in the British Virgin Islands during quarantine

Day 4 (COVID test day) came around very quickly, we moored at Nanny Cay where our guests visited the test center via private organized taxi, they were back on board within 30 minutes, just enough time for us to stock up on some ice! Once again, we were off exploring the 14 quarantine bays enjoying the relaxation, whilst having the bar with our guests’ favorite drinks with us at all times on board!

A Crewed yacht charter in the British Virgin Islands during quarantine

As the test results came in negative on day 5 and we could travel wherever we liked we headed round to Guana Island and visited our first non-quarantine bay. However, did our guests want to get off the boat? No. Why leave when you have your own private chef and bar with all the drinks you love!

For the rest of the week, we visited a couple of the more popular locations such as The Baths and Soggy Dollar Bar (we were the only boat anchored outside at White Bay for a while!)

A Crewed yacht charter in the British Virgin Islands during quarantine

The end of a perfect week of beautiful quiet bays with amazing wildlife paired with all the food and drink you could dream of came too soon.

Here’s to the next charter! We can’t wait to show you these hidden highlights of the BVI too.

Chef Rosie x

Contributor

Leslie Montenegro

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