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The Board of Governors
VICL
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The Virgin Islands Charteryacht League
Chartering Excellence Since 1968
U.S. passport cards expected to ease travel to BVI
By LYNN FREEHILL
The Virgin Islands Daily News: Friday, February 1st 2008

As passport rules continue to tighten in the United States, the U.S. State Department this spring will
begin issuing passport cards for frequent border-crossers, and the neighboring British Virgin Islands
will accept the new documents.

The cards will not be accepted for air travel. They are expected to be used especially at land borders
with Canada and Mexico.

But the passport cards also could be useful to local boat captains and other USVI residents who
often travel to the BVI and want to avoid filling their paper passports with stamps. Passport card
production is not expected to begin until Spring 2008.  The cost is expected to be $20.00 per card.

The passport card will be acceptable for both entry and exit by sea from Caribbean countries, the U.S.
State Department's assistant Consular Affairs spokesman Cyril Ferenchak said Thursday from
Washington, D.C.

"If you're going by ferry from the U.S. Virgin Islands to the British Virgin Islands, you will be granted
entry," Ferenchak said. "I don't know at what level they do that at country to country, but it was agreed
that they would accept that as a document."

Knowledge about the passport cards had not diffused to the local level by this week, however. Top
officials who deal with passports for both the USVI and BVI said they were not yet familiar with the
acceptability of the cards for use by sea in the territory.

Dennis Jennings, deputy chief immigration officer for BVI Immigration, said he was not aware of any
arrangements for passport cards.

In the USVI Lieutenant Governor's Office, which includes a passport section serving the territory,
spokeswoman Shawna Richards said she could not speak to the BVI government's acceptance of
passport cards. "It's a new product, and right now it appears there may be differing information as to
how and when and in what ways it will be accepted," she said. "It's a very fluid situation right now."

David Edgecombe, special assistant to the USVI governor for external affairs, said he expected the
issue to become a topic of discussion with BVI officials during coming weeks.

Meanwhile, the Lieutenant Governor's Office announced other changes to passport rules and
procedures, including fee hikes.

Passport fees today increase from $97 to $100 for adults age 16 and older, and from $82 to $85 for
children younger than 16.

Also effective today, both parents - or one parent with required documentation on the other's absence
-must appear in person to apply for a passport for a minor under age 16. Previously, the cutoff age
was 14.

Other passport rules were tightened on Thursday. U.S. customs officials stopped accepting verbal
declarations of citizenship at land borders and for cruise ship passengers.

That change will have little impact on island residents, area Customs Chief for U.S. Customs and
Border Protection Bill Westman said.

"For you and I and all the people who live in the V.I., it's really a non-issue right now," he said.

Step by step, Homeland Security rules governing passports have been stiffening since Sept. 11, 2001.

The Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative that went into effect in January 2007 left many travelers
confused about whether a passport was needed to return from the USVI. But because the islands are
a U.S. territory, no passport in fact is needed.

More Info: Contact Passport Divisions within the Office of the Lieutenant Governor at
(340)774-4024 for the St. Thomas/St. John district, (340)773-6449 on St. Croix or visit
www.ltg.gov.vi.  Also, please visit the State Department's website for a listing of frequently asked
questions. For those who already have passports, a passport card will cost $20 for an adult. Visit
the Lieutenant Governor's office or www.ltg.gov.vi for more details
Contact:
Shawna K. Richards, Director of Communications
Ph:  (340) 773-6459 ext. 3129
Fax: (340) 719-3801
shawna.richards@lgo-vi.gov
Yacht Haven Grande hosts its 'first' charter yacht show
by Carol Bareuther for The Triton
December 2007

The venue was familiar, but the look was totally new.
The Virgin Islands Charteryacht League (VICL) hosted its 33rd annual Charter Yacht Boat Show for the first time at the recently opened
megayacht marina Yacht Haven Grande in St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands. The show, launched on this eastern side of Charlotte
Amalie harbor, had been hosted at Crown Bay Marina to the west since 1998 due to hurricane damage and long-standing ownership
issues over the east harbor property and its docks.
The back-home feeling, yet all new aura of the upscale marina facility, brought crystal-ball comments from brokers, boaters and
businesses alike about how the show may evolve in the next few years.
"Originally, we said we'd like to schedule the show for a full week and include the megayachts," said Shelly Tucker, a VICL board
member and boat show organizer who, with husband Randy, charter their 72-foot Irwin Three Moons. "To do this, thought, we would
have had to move the dates later into the fall in order for many of the megayachts to be able to attend. "Then, we also saw the
date-conflict issues between the St. Maarten and Antigua shows and realized that we needed to let them finish working it out before we
made any changes," she said.
A date change would be necessary, thought, to attract many megayachts since it may be tough for them to reach the Caribbean by early
November.
"It's a struggle for megayachts coming form the Mediterranean to get to the St. Maarten show, even Antigua, in early December," said
Kathy Mullen, broker/owner of the Tortola-based Regency Yacht Vacations. "However, there are a few boats who spend their summers
in the Caribbean and could easily work their way up."
"We spent a couple of months in Trinidad doing repairs and easily motored up here for the show," First Mate/Engineer Phil Huff said. "I
should think a motoryacht could make it here from Ft. Lauderdale. Five days and you're here. But, the Med would be a haul."
Insurance restrictions hold some boats back.
"Many insurance companies write policies that keep yachts in New England until Dec. 1," said Dennis Vollmer, who with wife Sue own
the St. Thomas-based 1st Class Yacht Charters. "They need to realize that keeping them there can often be riskier than letting them
leave before this date."
In addition to insurance, other paperwork can make a megayacht's presence at an early November show impossible.
"Megayachts - as opposed to smaller, owner-operated yachts - are often staffed by non-U.S. crew, so there are immigration issues,"
said Gail Wasserman, senior director of Ashmead & White Consulting's St. Thomas branch. "Also, many megayachts coming from the
Mediterranean have commercial registrations due to VAT issues."And only private vessels are issued cruising permits in U.S. waters,
so a yacht may have to swap out its commercial registration before entering St. Thomas, she said.
More than 100 brokers from around the United States, Caribbean and Europe walked the docks to view 37 yachts ranging from 37 to
92 feet.
"We'd like to see a bigger number of boats as well as different types," said Elaine Stewart, broker/owner of Caribbean Sailing Charters
& Caribbean Yacht Charters based in Roswell, Ga. "This marina offers so much and could easily accommodate many more yachts of
all sizes."
Seventy-five is the magic number of yachts Tucker and fellow VICL board members would like to see."This is what we had many years
ago, and now with this world-class facility, we are capable of getting those numbers back up," she said.
In addition to increasing the number, exhibitors and attendee alike said they would like to see a more diverse mix of yachts showing.
"It would be great if the whole show could be here - megayachts, smaller yachts, power and sail," said Colorado based broker Sherry
Yates of Yates Yachts. "The BVI show was almost all cats [catamarans]."
Brokers need to know and see the market, the entire market, said Ann McHorney, a St. Maarten-based charter and yacht sales agent
for The Sacks Group of Ft. Lauderdale. "I'd like to see all boats here, something for every one,"she said.
YHG Marina Manager Kristin Fritz said the goal is to keep building the show. We would love to build this show into what it used to be,"
she said. Perhaps drawing more vessels from the British Virgin Islands as well as some boats from the North."
USVI Governor John P. deJongh and Lt. Governor Gregory Francis attended the show and spoke with brokers and crew. In addition, the
USVI's Department of Tourism was a show sponsor and has set its sights on continuing to back the show and the local yachting
industry's growth as well.
"The show has tremendous potential to increase awareness of the U.S. Virgin Islands as a top charter yacht destination," said tourism
commissioner Beverly Nicholson-Doty. "It is our hope that over the next few years, the show will attract even more brokers and  travel
professionals, helping it to gain even more momentum amongst yachting enthusiasts."
Local business owners who cater to charter yachts also support an expanded show.
"The show is definitely a shot in the arm for business," said Kent Doyle, general manager of the Island Water World store at Yacht
Haven Grande. "Our business is all about selling parts to a wide variety of boats and that's what we had in the show."

~Carol Bareuther is a freelance writer in St. Thomas. Comments on this story are welcome at editorial@the-triton.com
Tales from the Charter Cockpit
The Evolution of the USVI Charter Industry
Through the Eyes of a Charter Broker
By Jeannie Kuich Copyright 2007
Whatdayean there's a charter yacht with a BATHTUB! You gotta be kidding! What will they think of next! The St. Thomas charter
industry, showcased so successfully at Yacht Haven Grande during November's 33rd annual Virgins Islands Charteryacht League
show, was in its infancy in the early sixties.

The yachts were a hodge-podge, mostly old wooden boats that sailed beautifully buy whose accommodations were spares. Charter
guests were mostly those from the hotels and, for awhile, there was a "hot little charter wench trade" going on for the single charter
skippers with the newly unhitched ladies in St. Thomas.
In the eighties, Ronald Reagan's administration passed a law basically saying that people having a second home or business could
write off their expenses - that people having a second home or business could write off their expenses - and this law changed the
mostly owner-operated charter fleet to corporate-owned yachts. The boat builders got on the ball and Ted Irwin build his Irwin 52's,
moving the galley amidships, making bigger mains salons, separate cabins, etc. These were the yachts that had bathtubs.
With this new evolution of charter yachts, so did the captains and crews evolve. The U.S. Coast Guard had long required skippers to
have a captain's license so that they could tell that a bow was the pointy end and stern the square end. But what about the
double-enders? Hmmm.
The Virgin Islands Charteryacht League, founded by Bob Smith in 1969, improved the fleet and its business. Yachts and to be insured
and have a brochure.
Competition between charter yachts really heated up, largely because of the corporate-owned yachts. The first big toy was the
windsurfer advertised in the more expensive all-color brochures. About this time, fancy menus were included to show the guests that
they weren't gonna eat wieners and beans. More crews spruced up, wearing matching uniforms, particularly on the corporate-owned
yachts. Scuba diving, largely the business of strictly dive boats, began to be included on the more expensive yachts.
Verna Ruan came to St. Thomas in 1971 to teach French and to work for Jim Long who started Caribbean Boating, the first boating
magazine out of St. Thomas. She quit teaching after ten years to help Top Stamp with his brokerage business. In 1982 Verna started
her own charter business simply named Crewed Charters.
In the late 1970's, Charlie Peet, a wealthy entrepreneur, started Charter Services, a second St. Thomas clearinghouse which rivaled
Bob and Dorothy Smith's Ocean Enterprises, the leader of the charter fleet. This competition helped to increase the charter business
and bring more and better-suited yachts for chartering to St. Thomas. Business increased dramatically with Peet's instigation of the
Great Medical getaway program which offered seminars aboard charter yacht and later ashore. Airlines were encouraged to offer
discounts for the mass charter groups as were travel agents.
In 1982, Charlie's wife Marty helped start a network with friends to share knowledge for marketing charters. Thus began the Charter
Brokers Yacht Association or CYBA which became an excellent organization to help promote the charter business with laid-out
procedures for attracting clients and booking yachts. Bigger and better yachts such as the Gulf Star 60s and the Irwin 65s increased
the business to that the charter industry was booming. So were the bareboat fleets such as The Moorings started by Charlie and Ginny
Cary out of Tortola.
Bob Smith had long encouraged the U.S. Virgin Islands Department of Tourism to help promote the charter business- such as
advertising in prominent magazines. Sadly, the USVI government was willing to do only scant advertising. In 1986 disaster struck. A
new tax reform law nixing the write-offs on second businesses drastically changed the charter fleet.
The corporate-owned yachts withdrew, leaving only yachts owned by a wealthy person who hired his crew or owner-operator yachts.
The industry went into a decline for about fifteen years and charter-oriented businesses with them. The USVI government did not
support the industry- there was no break on USVI taxes and little advertising even though charter guests spend at least one night and
up to a day on island before or after a charter and thus bring in dollars. Much of the fleet migrated to the BVI and Tortola became the
new yachting capital.
Recently, it became essential to have bigger and better boats shows to attract more brokers to both the USVI and BVI. Today there are
more regulations which are mostly good because they emphasized safety and how to handle guests properly in a general sense.
Megayachts with expensive overhead have sprung up, requiring mega facilities and purveyors. They have been going to islands other
than the USVI until recently when the Yacht Haven Grande opened in St. Thomas- and more support businesses will be needed to
accommodate them.
The new USVI government is actively working toward strengthening the local charter yacht fleet and marine industry and this year the
Department of Tourism became a major sponsor for the 2007 Fall VICL boat show.

~Published in December 2007 All At Sea-The Caribbean's Waterfront Magazine