American Tourists Detained for Accidently Sailing Into BVI Waters

[-JD-]

Wow!
Almost 2 weeks of arrest then denial of bail for crimes so heinous that they resulted in a $1000 fine as long as they plead.
Bored "cops", shakedown, followed by CYA judicial proceedings. I had never though of the BVI as a banana republic till now.

ETA: Given the timing, this comes to mind - "You can get anything you want at Alice's Restaurant ..."

 

[KathyV]

Just an aside, these people were traveling within the US Virgin Islands without plans to visit any non-US territories when they traveled into British territory and were detained. We've recently returned from St. Croix in the US Virgin Islands and the USVI frequently advertises that that "you won't even need a passport" to visit the islands - because they are part of the US.

That's true, but we brought our passports with us anyway. Over many years of traveling in the Caribbean we have sometimes found ourselves in places that we never intended to visit, or in unforeseen circumstances, because our planes or boats were diverted, etc.

For example, we've gone to Curacao twice unexpectantly, and once our plane landed in Venezuela without warning and my husband was escorted off and interrogated before he was released. Once I was detained by airport security in Provo while they tried to force my husband onto the departing plane without me.

Another time we were on a liveaboard in the Bahamas when we were boarded by the US Coast Guard. They lined all the passengers and crew up on the deck and demanded to see our passports while our cabins and possessions were being searched.

My advice is to always keep your passport close when you travel because you never know what may happen and it may come in handy! And keep a spare copy on your phone!

 

[ScubaWithTurk]

What sticks out to me is that the Captain realized his error and had turned back towards U.S. waters when they were then stopped and boarded. Why take them into custody? It was clearly a navigational error and when it was realized, they turned back. They were not trying to enter BVI and were zero threat.

What should have happened, IMO, is that they stopped the vessel, asked the Captain what was happening, it states navigational error hence why he was headed back to U.S. waters. The coast guard says "yup, dumb mistake but since you were heading back and not trying to enter, you are free to go with a warning."

 

[Miyaru]

Quite a difference in positions according to the statements. Captain claims to be at the upper left location, BVI claims they were at the lower right location.