International Travel
We could become ardent sailors. All things water fascinate and captivate us. We decided to charter a crewed yacht because of this fascination. Our vacation at Peter Island was then moved to after the charter. Boat chartering is a new experience, perhaps a life changing one. As with most international travel there is usually a bit of a back story. This story is about the need to Remember to bring along your passport. Little did we know that breaking and entering would become a part of our vacation.
No Passport, No Entry
We flew from Tampa to San Juan on the first leg of our journey. We had no problems. Our BIG problem started with our flight out of San Juan, Puerto Rico to Beef Island in the British Virgin Islands (BVI). We are both extremely well traveled and know the first requirement for international travel; Remember Your Passport. On this particular adventure one of us managed to leave a passport at home on my desk. We initially did not view this as a problem at all. And we did not have a problem as long as we were in San Juan. We did have a very BIG problem trying to enter another country, the BVI. We were trying to board our puddle jumper to Beef Island on Tortola, BVI. No passport, no BVI.
The Scramble
We had a major problem because our yacht Captain was scheduled to pick us up on Tortola in the BVI. We could not get there without our passports. The only viable solution was for us to fly closer to the BVI, to St. Thomas (USVI). We hoped we could convince a friend that Breaking and Entering into our home was a good idea. This friend would then need to retrieve the passport and express mail it to us in the East End of St. Thomas.
The Results
Our Catamaran Captain graciously picked us up on the East End of St Thomas (pictured above). We sailed to St Johns and anchored off Cruz Bay. Our Captain lowered his sailboat dingy and motored to Red Hook, on the east end of St Thomas. He waited outside the FedEx Office for our package to arrive. Fortunately, our package arrived on time. After his return we were able to clear customs in the BVI and live happily ever after. So please, do yourself a favor, remember your passport! Make sure you have a friend for Breaking into Your Own Home.
