Provisioning is the line item people get most wrong, in both directions. Some crews spend $2,000 stocking a boat for six and throw half of it away on Saturday. Others show up with two bags of chips and a case of beer and spend the week eating $28 burgers ashore.
Here's the actual math and the actual decisions.
The two numbers, and why they don't match
If you order provisioning through your charter company, budget $50–$75 per person per day. That's the number every charter operator quotes, and it's real.
If you walk into a supermarket in Tortola and do it yourself, you're looking at closer to $28–$35 per person per day for full provisioning — every meal aboard. Somewhere around $24–$30 if you're eating ashore a couple of nights, and $18–$25 if you're only doing breakfast and lunch aboard.
That gap is the convenience premium. For a crew of six over seven days it's real money — roughly $1,200 to $1,500 depending where you land in the ranges. Whether it's worth it depends entirely on how you're arriving.
Order ahead if: you're landing late, you've got a tight check-out window, you're a first-timer, or your crew includes people who will not enjoy an hour in a grocery store in the heat.
Do it yourself if: you're arriving with a spare morning, you're price-sensitive, or you have specific tastes. Riteway is the largest supermarket on Tortola and it's close to most of the charter bases — a short walk from some of them.
Most experienced crews split it: order the heavy, boring stuff ahead (water, ice, staples, beer) and shop for the food you actually care about.
What people over-buy
Dinner ingredients. You will eat ashore more than you plan to. Foxy's, Soggy Dollar, Cooper Island, Saba Rock — the whole point of the BVI is that the bars are the itinerary. Plan four dinners aboard for a seven-night charter, not seven.
Fresh produce. Refrigeration on a charter boat is not your refrigerator at home. Buy for three or four days, not seven.
Liquor. Every crew over-buys liquor and under-buys mixers, ice, and water. Reverse that ratio.
What people under-buy
Water. Far more than you think. Heat, salt, and rum are a dehydrating combination, and you don't want to be rationing.
Ice. The single most requested mid-week resupply.
Breakfast. It's the meal you'll always eat aboard, and it's the one people forget to plan.
Snacks for the passage. Nobody wants to cook underway. Have things people can grab.
The stuff worth bringing from home
Spices and condiments, if you're particular. Good coffee. Reef-safe sunscreen — it's expensive on-island, and you'll use more than you brought. A decent knife if you actually cook.
One honest caveat
Prices move, stores change, and every charter base has its own arrangement with its own preferred provisioner. Treat all of the above as a planning framework rather than a quote, and confirm the current numbers with your charter company when you book.
The Logbook is where we keep notes from the water. If you've got a trip worth writing up, we want it.