[WWP] Reply to Catamaran towing a potter ( Sailing Caribbean - Antigua? )

From: solarfry@aol.com
Date: Tue Apr 25 2000 - 14:16:30 PDT


Have boat shipped to US Virgin Islands. Although Puerto Rico is cheaper it is
a pain in butt to offload boat there through US/local customs. They want to
tax it and make you register it locally if you remain more than 30 days. You
have to provide Affidavit and other stuff to prove you will not remain more
than 30 days. I think USVirgins may be diff. But, you should investigate.

Once in Puerto Rico it is easy to sail accross to Virgins. There are islands
all the way accross from Puerto Rico to Venezuela that are about 20 miles
from each other. Some inhabited some not. It is a grand cruise if you do it
before July and/or after October (HURRICANE SEASON!). Hell you can have it
Shipped to San Juan, Puerto Rico, trailered to Fajardo, Launched in Fajardo
and may remain in area sailing between
Fajardo/Icacos/culebrita/Culebra/Vieques/USVirgins/Brittish Virgins/Anegada
for months. It is a beautiful area with a zillion islands close to each other
about 3 hour sail from each other. There are local chandleries with anything
you might need. I believe both Boat US and WEst Marine are in Puerto Rico.
(Fajardo, San Juan or Isleta Marina). Fajardo is home to a huge sailing fleet
at its local ports. I believe movie "Captain Ron" shows the Fajardo (Sal de
higuera beach-or something like that) Ferry Docks. On weekends there are
hundreds of sailboats of all sizes sailing between Fajardo, Icacos,
Culebrita, Culebra, US Virgins (St. Thomas/Croix) so you will not be far from
help. US Coast Guard and Navy are close by in Roosevelt Roads, Puerto Rico
and Fajardo docks. Try to learn a bit of spanish. Natives love it when you
attempt to speak to them in spanish and go out of their way to help (they all
speak fluent if accented English). Use same amount of caution you would use
in anyplace USA. Don't walk slums at night. Don't leave stuff you don't want
to lose visible or dangling lose from boat.

You will find hundreds of Continentals (what they call mainlanders) anchored
in Culebra. This is a beautiful island. Vieques has beautiful beaches and
fluorescent bays.
 
The Anegada passage is a bitch. Only to be tried in excellent weather.

Or... once in San Juan you might find an interisland steamer to ship it to
Antigua. I believe Antigua is not US territory. Therefore you will need Visa,
Proof of ownership, etc. etc... Should contact the US consulate to find out.
Shipping to Antigua from Puerto Rico on interisland tramp steamers should
take a week. To sail from Puerto Rico to Antigua takes 3 months as you want
to stop at every island and investigate. If you don't stop along the way it
should take about 2 days on Catamaran or 3 days on regular monohull. You will
need passport I believe. Can't remember...

Been there did that! Was a hell of lot younger then...

Hope this helps...

Best
Solar Fry

In a message dated 4/25/00 9:43:49 AM Pacific Daylight Time, tbodine@onr.com
writes:

<< I want to take my boat Frimi, a potter 19 down to Antigua. I thought
 I'd have it shipped via container ship, but a listing of ports I found
 on the internet doesn't show Antigua as having a port.
 
 So I thought I'd have it shipped to a near by island with port
 facilities. I haven't identified a port yet, but I thought about
 sailing my little boat across 50 miles or more of open ocean and this
 thought gave me pause.
 
 Then I thought I might acquire a friend or hire someone with a longer
 boat that could tow Frimi to Antigua. How long would it take? Puerto
 Rico is 195 Mi. St Kitts is 70, Montiserrat is 35.
 
 Regards Tom Bodine, Skipper Frimi Hull # 1019
>>

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