Marine Max Vacations to BVI and the Bahamas

Day 7 we were back on schedule with a stop at The Indians for some snorkeling before we headed into Bight Bay at Norman Island. As Chris suggested the hike was a lot of fun before we had a few drinks and jumped off the Willy T’s boat. Dinner was excellent at the Pirate’s Bight restaurant.
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Day 8 we took the boat on a short trip past Peter Island and the infamous Deadchest Island where Blackbeard marooned 15 men with nothing but a bottle of rum. We passed Salt Island and stopped for the day and night at Cooper Island.
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Our final day in the BVI! We headed back to Nanny Cay and Marine Max. Refueled (burned 197 gallons of diesel and 3 gallons for the dinghy) and then checked out after breakfast at Omar’s. Deon pulled up next to our boat to load us up and take us to St. Thomas. Great vacation!!!!
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Excellent trip! Thanks for allowing us to ride along. I'm surprised you burned that much diesel. What engines are in that thing?
 
Excellent trip! Thanks for allowing us to ride along. I'm surprised you burned that much diesel. What engines are in that thing?
I’m not sure exactly, but I believe they were the Volvo D4s at 300 or 320hp each. We put 11 hours on them. The Kohler generator was run non-stop every time we stopped for the ACs and/or the water maker. I forgot to check the hours on the generator, but we put a lot of time on it.
 
Out here on the West Coast, I might run the generator 4 hours a day when we are on the hook, mainly to heat up the water for showers or to run the electric grill. In the BVI it sure was nice to have that AC on all night long. The only slight issue we had was the Kohler was very sensitive to any debris in the intake strainer basket. When we were in Virgin Gorda and Saba Rock, there was a lot of kelp that clogged that strainer and shut the generator down. I had that happen to me with my Westerbeke and I lost the impeller, so it was actually a nice safety feature of the Kohler. The Aquila strainer was easy to clean, but it quickly became a daily check in the starboard side engine room. Other than that, we had no issues at all with the boat.

A couple of cool features on the Aquila that apparently The Moorings power cats don't offer should be noted. First the Leopard boats offered by The Moorings don't have water makers (according to other people we spoke with on the trip). I'd much rather run the generator and make my own water than to rely on water from a marina. Nice long showers are a must in the BVI. The other cool feature on the Aquila was easy black water dumping with no valve to manually turn. The Leopard, like my Sea Ray requires a visit to the hull which is never fun. I'm not sure if the USCG would ever approve of the Aquila set up, but its fine and dandy to dump your crap a mere 1000 meters from shore (.6 of a mile) in the BVI.
 
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Great write up Jim! Brought back a lot of memories for me. Went on my honeymoon (20 years ago) to the BVI. We stayed at the Bitter End Yacht Club for 10 days with trips to Saba Rock, the Baths, etc. A trip back to the BVI was always running through my mind, you just made me want to start making plans now!!
 
That was a great write up...thanks. My question has to do with the current situation at Bitter End Yacht Club. Is it 100% rebuilt and functional? Are there any signs of hurricane damage? Does it look bare at all?
 
That was a great write up...thanks. My question has to do with the current situation at Bitter End Yacht Club. Is it 100% rebuilt and functional? Are there any signs of hurricane damage? Does it look bare at all?
There were construction crews at the Bitter End Yacht Club when we were there. Several of the structures appeared to be brand new and the docks also appeared to be new. We took our paddle boards over from our mooring at Saba Rock to check it out. It was not functional, however, with no trespassing signs everywhere on the shore and on the docks. There was an older 65-70' pilothouse cruiser in one of the slips, but other than that it was empty. I would say 75% of the structures in this artist rendering on the Bitter End website are in place.
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There were construction crews at the Bitter End Yacht Club when we were there. Several of the structures appeared to be brand new and the docks also appeared to be new. We took our paddle boards over from our mooring at Saba Rock to check it out. It was not functional, however, with no trespassing signs everywhere on the shore and on the docks. There was an older 65-70' pilothouse cruiser in one of the slips, but other than that it was empty. I would say 75% of the structures in this artist rendering on the Bitter End website are in place.
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Pretty sure the boat that is in the Marina is the where the owners are living during construction.

The old place was super cool, can't wait to see the revitalized Bitter End!
 
Thanks for taking us along.

I am a lake boater. What level of experience do you have to have to run one of these ? Or is a captain needed? Also what was your total cost all in for the boat , tips, mornings?

I have always wanted to do this trip... just dont know many that have done it.
 
Thanks for taking us along.

I am a lake boater. What level of experience do you have to have to run one of these ? Or is a captain needed? Also what was your total cost all in for the boat , tips, mornings?

I have always wanted to do this trip... just dont know many that have done it.
After 25 years of so of lake boating (including many trips to your beautiful Lake Powell), I started going off shore in July of 2020. I have a little more than 100 hours of experience now as the captain with our many trips to Catalina and around Southern California. Marine Max sent me a information sheet asking about my experience. They asked if had experience with navigation, the types of boats I had operated and and with moorings both as the captain or as a crew member. That was it. The other couple that went with us also have a boat with a little less time, but Marine Max didn't ask about that. There are a set of YouTube videos about the BVI hosted by the "The Wandering Hillbilly" that we watched. He has chartered power cats with both Marine Max and The Moorings. He said that he had zero experience before he chartered his first boat, so he was required to take some classes.

I would think you will do just fine on your own, but you can hire a captain with both companies to drive you around. Marine Max offers at no charge to have one of their captains take you outside the marina for a few hours on the first day to make sure you are comfortable should you decide to "bareback." The only thing that was a little different for me was using the single set of sticks for gear selection and throttle as opposed to the twins on the old Sea Ray. The navigation was easy with the new Raymarine chartplotter and you are never out of sight of land. I think we averaged 15-17 knots when going between the islands, so your longest trip might be an hour or so.

Costs were not bad for us going in early November, which is their off season. The boat was 11k ish (I posted the exact amount earlier in this thread). Fuel was 1k. We bought food to make on the boat for breakfast and lunch and ate dinner out each night. The food there is incredible and I would guess we averaged $50 to $150 per person per night for dinner and a lot of drinks. I think we provisioned 8 bottles of Caymus Select for the trip which was very nice. A mooring runs about $40 a night through BoatyBall.com (very convenient to reserve your spot). You also need to figure costs for transportation from the USVI to BVI and covid testing upon arrival to the BVI and 48 hours before you leave. The Scrub Island Resort was probably the priciest day of the trip. The Admiral knows the exact total, but I would say with our flights from the west coast we spent around 20K (split between two couples) for 10 days.


My favorite vacation has been Lake Powell since I first went there as a kid in 1976. My wife and I both agreed, our new favorite is this BVI trip on the Aquilla. We are planning to go again and charter the 54' boat next. :)
 
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For others interested, I exploring pricing about 4 weeks ago with them.

At that time they were filled through the beginning of August in all boat sizes. They had one week available in June, however, that is considered 'prime' season. Pricing there was around 13k for the same size 3 cabin boat. If you step up to the next size boat (4 cabin) it added another 2-3k. August 15th - October 15th was considered their off season/storm season. That included insurance and all transportation. No provisions were included at that price. With food the agent said you're knocking on about 20k (4 cabin) or 17k (3 cabin).
 
Pretty sure the boat that is in the Marina is the where the owners are living during construction.

The old place was super cool, can't wait to see the revitalized Bitter End!
From their website, it appears they are close to reopening. Here are a couple of nice videos.
 

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