We have been in the BVI for 1.5 days. The trip from NY was easier than we expected. LuSea laid quietly in her bag for the entire flight to SJU. In the Admirals Club in SJU, she sat in her bag and waited patiently for our next flight. She made friends with a couple from NY who were also waiting for a flight.
We boarded our American Eagle flight and waited the typical 30minutes on the tarmac for take-off. We still have concerned as to what will happen when we get to Tortola and meet the BVI Vet. We land, clear immigration and there is no sign of the BVI Vet. All our luggage has arrived with us. Cool! However, the lock from one of our carry on’s is missing. This carry-on has to be plane checked in SJU as it is too big to fit into the overhead compartments. Suitcase is locked. Go figure, how the lock is missing. And now that we are in Tortola and unpacked, it appears that one of our cases from in that bag is also missing. All of our camera chargers were in that case. Bummer! This is a constant problem in SJU, stolen items from luggage. Locks mean nothing.
Well, we head over to the Customs agent to ask about the BVI vet. They look at me and say leave, he will catch up with you eventually. Nothing is asked about the dog, her age, her import papers. Hmmmmmmm. We are still deliberating the idea of just leaving, when the BVI Vet arrives. Paul takes all of our luggage and goes to the cab while I follow the BVI vet into a very small room. There he takes my latest copy of LuSeas USDA vet certificate and then asks for the import fee. $350. Now this fee was supposedly the quarantine fee so that she could be quarantined to us. I hand him the money and he says that he is going to go take care of Customs. He leaves the room with the money in his hand. He doesn’t head to Customs, but past them. I follow out of the room to see what he is doing. He turns around and does not have the $350 in his hand anymore. He walks to Customs and while he is going there he says to me to “Just leave”. Very interesting. Looks like that $350 went south so fast it made your head spin. He didn’t even bother to sign my import form, nor did he look at the dog. So we have no signed import form, no receipt for the monies, just his word and that we should call him when we go in and out to STT. Wonder what that will cost?
We are now on the boat and LuSea spending her day checking out her new home. Paul & I unpack, eat dinner (it is now 8pm) and head to bed. We all sleep like we are dead.
Sunday morning, now the work starts. I finish unpacking and Paul begins the work of putting the boat back together. Most outside items were taken off this time because of it being hurricane season. LuSea follows him around outside the entire day. He finally gets the dinghy put back together along with a new support back to keep the floor boards in. Meanwhile I finish up putting away the stuff inside and unpacking the clothing, foods, and linens, that were stored for the season. Late afternoon, I put up the sunscreens around the cockpit and then head up to the bridge to polish the bimini frame so that we can put the bimini back on. I do ¼ of it and it is now 5pm. We decide to call it a day and invite Gary, Kat, and Vince over for some Carib’s and to hear about the Cattitude debacle of boatwatching. These 3 people have been so wonderful in helping keep Cattitude safe during the season. After they leave, we have a quick dinner and head to bed.
In bed, LuSea tonite is NOT happy. She cries and whines incessantly. Tell her to stop, yell at her to stop, take her on a potty run to the litter box. Nothing. Put her crate back on the top shelf so that she can see us, still not working. Finally, Paul puts her in her crate in the salon and closes our bedroom door. Not sure what that is all about but as soon as she heard us this morning, she started whining again. We surely, are not going to tolerate that.
She has been funny, she jumps up of the cockpit seats to get up on the rear deck, runs up and down the steps to the bridge, but does not want to go down the steps to our bedroom. Just sits at the top and whines. Go figure.
She has been really good about using the litter box and then when Paul needs to find some wood, or put out the garbage, she gets to take a “land-based” walk.
New morning, and ready to start work again. I need to finish polishing the bimini, and we have some sort of leak in the STBD engine compartment. Hoping that it is just a hose that need tightening. It is still raining (the usual morning rain) so will have to wait a little for outdoor work. Paul woke up not feeling well. Sure hope he is not getting sick.
Hopefully, we will be able to leave the docks by tomorrow night.
We boarded our American Eagle flight and waited the typical 30minutes on the tarmac for take-off. We still have concerned as to what will happen when we get to Tortola and meet the BVI Vet. We land, clear immigration and there is no sign of the BVI Vet. All our luggage has arrived with us. Cool! However, the lock from one of our carry on’s is missing. This carry-on has to be plane checked in SJU as it is too big to fit into the overhead compartments. Suitcase is locked. Go figure, how the lock is missing. And now that we are in Tortola and unpacked, it appears that one of our cases from in that bag is also missing. All of our camera chargers were in that case. Bummer! This is a constant problem in SJU, stolen items from luggage. Locks mean nothing.
Well, we head over to the Customs agent to ask about the BVI vet. They look at me and say leave, he will catch up with you eventually. Nothing is asked about the dog, her age, her import papers. Hmmmmmmm. We are still deliberating the idea of just leaving, when the BVI Vet arrives. Paul takes all of our luggage and goes to the cab while I follow the BVI vet into a very small room. There he takes my latest copy of LuSeas USDA vet certificate and then asks for the import fee. $350. Now this fee was supposedly the quarantine fee so that she could be quarantined to us. I hand him the money and he says that he is going to go take care of Customs. He leaves the room with the money in his hand. He doesn’t head to Customs, but past them. I follow out of the room to see what he is doing. He turns around and does not have the $350 in his hand anymore. He walks to Customs and while he is going there he says to me to “Just leave”. Very interesting. Looks like that $350 went south so fast it made your head spin. He didn’t even bother to sign my import form, nor did he look at the dog. So we have no signed import form, no receipt for the monies, just his word and that we should call him when we go in and out to STT. Wonder what that will cost?
We are now on the boat and LuSea spending her day checking out her new home. Paul & I unpack, eat dinner (it is now 8pm) and head to bed. We all sleep like we are dead.
Sunday morning, now the work starts. I finish unpacking and Paul begins the work of putting the boat back together. Most outside items were taken off this time because of it being hurricane season. LuSea follows him around outside the entire day. He finally gets the dinghy put back together along with a new support back to keep the floor boards in. Meanwhile I finish up putting away the stuff inside and unpacking the clothing, foods, and linens, that were stored for the season. Late afternoon, I put up the sunscreens around the cockpit and then head up to the bridge to polish the bimini frame so that we can put the bimini back on. I do ¼ of it and it is now 5pm. We decide to call it a day and invite Gary, Kat, and Vince over for some Carib’s and to hear about the Cattitude debacle of boatwatching. These 3 people have been so wonderful in helping keep Cattitude safe during the season. After they leave, we have a quick dinner and head to bed.
In bed, LuSea tonite is NOT happy. She cries and whines incessantly. Tell her to stop, yell at her to stop, take her on a potty run to the litter box. Nothing. Put her crate back on the top shelf so that she can see us, still not working. Finally, Paul puts her in her crate in the salon and closes our bedroom door. Not sure what that is all about but as soon as she heard us this morning, she started whining again. We surely, are not going to tolerate that.
She has been funny, she jumps up of the cockpit seats to get up on the rear deck, runs up and down the steps to the bridge, but does not want to go down the steps to our bedroom. Just sits at the top and whines. Go figure.
She has been really good about using the litter box and then when Paul needs to find some wood, or put out the garbage, she gets to take a “land-based” walk.
New morning, and ready to start work again. I need to finish polishing the bimini, and we have some sort of leak in the STBD engine compartment. Hoping that it is just a hose that need tightening. It is still raining (the usual morning rain) so will have to wait a little for outdoor work. Paul woke up not feeling well. Sure hope he is not getting sick.
Hopefully, we will be able to leave the docks by tomorrow night.
