BVI Sailing Trips

Understanding Island Life
When you get there, it will appear as if everything moves in slow motion. Sometimes service, food or a dockmaster seem to take too long to get there. It’s really that you are going too fast! About 4 days into your trip, you will slow down. Way down. Then you will see that in the heat and the overall picture, there is no rush. Pre-plan extra time into your event, like re-fueling, getting ice, or eating dinner. It’s not speed at which you enjoy the BVI, it’s the quality time you spend there.

The British Virgin Islands are located in the Caribbean, about 90 miles east of Puerto Rico and has a very temperate climate. The 60 islands, cays (pronounced keys) and rock formations and perfect sailing area make the BVI's the number one sailing destination in the world.

Just over 1,000 miles from the equator, the BVI have trade winds that vary by season. the winter season, has the most consistant 18-25 knots that make for great sailing. The temp hardly ever goes below 77º in winter or rise above 90º in summer.

Sunrise and sunset during the summer occur at 5 am and sunset around 7 pm. During the winter the sunrise is around 6 am and sunset at 5:50. The majority of the 40 inches of rain occur from April to October, (60-70% of total rainfall)

Hurricanes and Tropical Storms
The official hurricane season starts in June, 1st and ends November 30th, they are most likely to occur from August to mid October. In the 10+ years we have been sailing there, we have never encounteres a hurricane or tropical storm. Here are some sources to get weather information.

The Weather Channel - http://www.weather.com
Caribbean Weather Man - http://www.caribwx.com
The National Hurricane Center - http://www.nhc.noaa.gov

From Tortola
ZBVI Radio
780 kHz Marine - Forecast
8:05 am Monday-Friday
7:45 am Saturday and 9:45 am on Sundays.
Weather available every hour on the half hour from 7:30 am to 9:30 pm.

Caribbean SSB
8:30 - 8:45 ECT/AST 4003 kHz USB

Weather Net
8:45 - 9:15 ECT/AST 8104 kHz USB

BVI Parks
If you are interested in where parks are in the BVI here's a link to the National Parks Trust:
http://www.bvinationalparkstrust.org/parks.html

Here is a great source of charterboats and charterboat companies that can provide you with a bareboat charter in the British Virgin Islands