I think most of us gripe about the good old days, and in many ways for good reasons. My first time down was 1986 and it stuck. So much has changed, and yet, I keep going and going and introducing others to the place and experience every year. And most of you are in the same boat. We still love it. Nonetheless, as I think about our upcoming charter, I'm doing some of my own "remember when" stuff. Here's one:
1991: We are sitting by the beach at Foxy's having some drinks and these 3 guys built like brick outhouses swim up to the beach, walk into the bar and order drinks. They sat down at a table next to us. We were wondering which boat they swam in from. "None of them," one guy said. Turns out they were Navy SEALS and decided to swim over from Cane Garden Bay. After a couple of hours, lots of good conversation and a fair share of painkillers, they ambled back to the beach and swam away. I guess they made it back.
Shifty
p.s. Don't start me on Tony Snell and his wild and unique talents at the Last Resort!
How 'bout when the EIS airport was only an outside hangar. There were less contingencies on airplane luggage. We flew to EIS around 1991. We brought an ice chest the size of a Volkswagen (no ice / mostly just "all our junk") . It didn't make the final flight with us. We charted our boat at the Moorings > sailed around to the airport > dinghied and walked up to the airport shack > there was the ice chest "untouched, complete" and no one around.
BTW - we saw Tony at the Last Resort later that evening, after watching a bunch of sailboats run up on the Last Resort reef all afternoon. You just can't get that "keel on reef" sound out of your mind.
And, by the time we reached BEYC > just like Tony's song > we thought we were true sailors and our best friends (on the boat) are now our "worst enemies"
How 'bout when the airstrip was dirt, as it was when Ratman first came about 1965. The plane made two passes, the first to chase the cattle. There was a sign, "Immigration closed, come back tomorrow."
The deal when we got power in the '70s was we had to give up our generators. Foxy, whose business was expanding and needed power, got wind of this and showed up with a bunch of guys and somehow loaded our cast-iron Lister generator into the back of a Rover and took it to Jost. A few years back we were cleaning our shed and our mechanic found the device for calibrating the generator. He used to work on the generator at Foxy's and said how useful that device would have been.
At one point Tony was talking about acquiring a house by us. Ratman convinced him it was a bad idea.
The first time we went to the Baths it was maybe 1990. We took a cab up from the Spanish Town/yacht harbor dock and the only thing at the top was the old Mad Dog. No Top Of the Baths shops/pool etc, no nearby villas like Las Brises (sp) and the ranger station was a small empty structure. The path down to the Baths was primitive without steps, hand rails and other things that are there now. At the beach there were no other tourists, just the wife and I. No locals, in fact no one there but us. Forget the bathrooms, storage lockers, park signs or gift tents. Nothing! What to do? Where do we go? Then we saw that someone had spray painted in red on a boulder "to the pool" with an arrow pointing to a narrow opening. We made it in and followed what we thought of as a between the rocks and boulders pathway and all of a sudden we were in the big boulder room, the main attraction. We were awed of course and waded in the pool of ocean water and felt like we were in the center of the universe. It was amazing and we were the only people there. After a while we went back out the way we came, not knowing about the complete walk through to Devil's Bay. Back on the beach I slipped in the sand and gashed my lower leg on a buried rock. There was blood and no way to stop it, so we headed back up the primitive pathway and went into MadDog. This was our first time meeting Edith. I excused myself and asked her if I could please have a paper towel with some water on it to address the bloody gash on my leg. Edith took one look at my wound and folded up several paper towel's and then poured some vodka on them and handed them to me. I wiped the gash with the alcohol fueled paper's. Thanks to Edith I did not get an infection and she became our best friend and still is after all of these years. She is now a security guard at yacht harbor. No bushwhackers but fun visiting with her every year. If you are there in May look for us. I am usually in a Hawaiian shirt with guitars on it and wearing a MadDog ball cap. To old to bare boat charter now we stay at Guavaberry Spring Bay and still go to the Baths despite the extensive changes over the years. Still fun for us!!!!!!
We’re relative newcomers, we do miss the Mineshaft Cafe and his signature drink…Bringing the bucket down and mixing up the “Cave In”. It’s All in The Juice!”
"Travel changes you. As you move through this life and this world you change things slightly, you leave marks behind, however small. And in return, life — and travel — leaves marks on you.” -Anthony Bourdain
My first trip was 1986. Some memories along the way include:
Going to Anegada pre GPS when there were basically a few water jugs sometimes marking the channel. Hanging with Lowell and Sue at the ARH (then an honor bar) as well as dinner at ARH and with Vernon at Neptune's. A highlight was late afternoons when Pam would come out in her dinghy selling baked goods late in the afternoon. A busy night at that time was 5 boats in the anchorage,
The honor bar at Sidney's. As some of you may know, Sidney had a heavy island patois and could be difficult to understand, Somehow I could talk with him for hours- rum helped. One time after paying our bill, we stayed for another few drinks. When I searched him out to pay the additional bill, he told me "Don't worry my friend, you spent enough here tonight"..
Wonderful dinners at the Conch Shell restaurant in Trellis. We were disappointed to go there one year to discover it was bulldozed for an airport expansion.
Cheeseburgers in Paradise at Stanley's in CGB and the tire swing.
Hiking Moskito Island to Honeymoon Bay when it was the Drakes Anchorage resort. Dinner there was the best in the islands at the time.
The Pirates Pub on Saba was a blast. I do not remember meeting Bert, but I think he was still around at that time.
Recent trips have been to the Grenadines and USVI/SVI/St. Croix.
We’re relative newcomers, we do miss the Mineshaft Cafe and his signature drink…Bringing the bucket down and mixing up the “Cave In”. It’s All in The Juice!”
We also miss the Mineshaft Cafe and the Sprauve brothers Elton and Lincoln!
-- one-hour, dial timer on the fridge in the monohull > make a softball size ice ball > all you had -- pasteurized, unrefrigerated milk (vacuum packed) which came in the size of a small cereal carton -- hardshell dinghy which threatened to capsize when towed behind your boat -- chicken feet and beaks for sale in the grocery store (still sell some) -- Rudi's all you can eat lobster dinner on Jost -- Toll bridge on leaving the airport -- Pretty decent shopping over in STT -- Being able to call home at BEYC and take a real shower -- Shark pen in front of BEYC -- Generator only power at Cooper -- Off the grid solitude
I have been living and sailing here in the Virgin Islands since 1975 and I think my favorite memory of sailing the BVI was all the different color green squares, like a checkerboard, on the Tortola hillsides, the little farms and grazing plots. The Foxy's Wooden Boat Regatta back in the seventies when there really was a wooden boat fleet, some of the most famous Wooden Boats would sail and they were so beautiful. Labor Day weekend in Jost. I had friends who had their wedding inside the Baths grotto, in waist deep water, and we all attended and had a wonderful time and were the only people there that day. Always anchored overnight in Devils Bay, stern too. Making sure we had an extra bottle of Cruzan Gold for Albert when dropping into JVD. Sailing with Charlie and Ginny and later dinner up the hill from the marina at a house/dining room where the owner would slide the roof open , enjoying some delicious West Indian foods. Heading down island by sailing through Eustatia Sound, and out through the reef leaving Virgin Gorda to starboard, after a night of stories recanted by Bert Kilbride at his Saba Rock outpost. Dropping a box of books and magazines off to the few residents on Salt I.
It is a bit different here now, but I still keep my eyes open for a wooden sailboat rail down or looking perfect on their hook.
Remember when there were virtually zero mooring balls?!
My dad reminded me that the first trip he and my mom went on that Tony Snell and his wife were at Little Jost, where they served a simple dinner and Tony played some guitar and sang a few songs. Circa 1970.
-- pasteurized, unrefrigerated milk (vacuum packed) which came in the size of a small cereal carton
I remember it being irradiated, unrefrigerated milk. Was the strangest thing. It kinda made sense but I wondered what kind of dose I was getting in my cereal.
Thank you tothedogs for mentioning Drakes Anchorage. We were on our second trip to the BVI's in 1997. We stayed at Drakes for what was called a Yachtsman's Special. We had just come off a boat and stayed there for 3 days. The best food we ever had in the BVI's was in their beautiful waterside restaurant. If I recall correctly, the hotel manager was named Wheatly. Our rooms came with a dinghy to explore the North Sound, and we spent much time at the original Saba Rock with it's dart board and flying fish sandwich, Drake's would pack even you a box lunch to take to Honeymoon Beach. Beautiful memories for sure!
Drakes was, hands down, the best restaurant in the BVI. The chef was Brutus. We had many wonderful nights there at the table by the open window overlooking the water beneath full of fish in the lights.
The food was so good that whenever we went to another restaurant and thought the food was good, the measure was "Yes, but it is Drakes good?" It seldom was.
We flew from Aguadilla to Anegada during an island hopping trip in 1992 in a Piper Archer. (I would not do this now in my “old” age - lol). The Anegada Reef hotel was THE place. Rum Smoothies were the drink. The Wheatleys were running it then as they still are today. It was idyllic. Wish I could recapture that feeling of being at the end of the world surrounded by the intense beauty of that water with so very few people around. It feels mobbed up there now by comparison. 😎
In '91, anchored in Little Harbor, woke to Sydney's son knocking on the side our boat. We handed over our garbage and he opened what we thought was an empty vodka bottle but he drank the last ounce or two ... I'm note sure it was 8 am yet. At this point we realized we had someone else's dinghy and ... none of us could remember paying the bill from the night before. None of this was a problem. We went to shore a bit later, found Sydney and paid the bill. As we waited on the seawall waiting for someone to (hopefully) bring our dinghy back in, Sydney brought us out a couple of beer. And yes, our dinghy came back in.
It's unfortunate that many of the newbies wouldn't know about the 'binder' on the drink counter at Sydney's, let alone being able to pay the next day.
Okay, I’m obviously a rookie compared to you all. We started our BVI run in ‘05. So much has changed for us. I’m sure those of you prior to ‘05 have seen much more. What we have seen in 18 years is good and bad. We tend to be a bit selfish in wanting the old days to be the norm. But Anegada has shown that still exists. Yes there have been some changes, I.e.Sid’s and Tipsy’s. But the long ago vibe still exists there.
I first came to the BVI around 1980 Loved it so much, I found land in South Sound and bought it. Took several years before I told my wife that If we did not build we would be too old to build. So we built in 2000 and then in 2004 , expanded the villa to 6 bedrooms. Irma destroyed it all. So after fighting the insurance company for our funds ,we rebuilt in 2019 and finished it in 2021. We overran our budget 1M dollars., but the villa is fantastic. Now I am building a tennis /pickleball court.. I am 85 now and am still very busy, but age is starting to slow me down. Remember Air BVI and the original small airport. Remember all of North Sound and all the changes that have taken place. My children are slowly taking over my assets in the BVI, so we will be in the BVI for years. My son's daughter is building a new home in South Sound. I am now a great, grandpa to a lovely young boy born this year. I am very happy that I invested in the BVI , and it has been a joy to see Virgin Gorda come back after IRMA. We now also have a turboprop plane which we fly from Vero Beach directly to Virgin Gorda and land at the airport.
Wow, that's a fantastic and heartwarming narrative! I can only imagine all of the personal and family memories you and your gang have made along the way.
Remember staying at Bitter End and taking a dingy over to Oil Nut Bay to snorkel and have our own private beach. Nothing back there then but coralheads and a gorgeous sandy beach.
I grew up on a sailboat based out of Grenada. We sailed the island chain up and down from Grenada to Puerto Rico often as my stepfather was retired military and we took advantage of the medical and commissary perks at Roosevelt Roads. We were often the only boat in White Bay, the coral and sea life was still beautiful most everywhere, we played hide and seek in the rocks at The Baths and often didn't run into any other people. Another core memory is helping my mom carry an enormous wrench through the airport in St. Thomas to help our friend "fix" the prop on the plane he had given us a ride on. Today, you can't even get a bottle of sunscreen through the airport! I definitely miss those days but also appreciate the refrigerator/freezer on my catamaran compared to our ice box, having 200+ gallons of water instead of 25 and being able to take a fresh water shower on the boat!
Just returned a week ago from a 9 day bareboat charter. First time in decades I did NOT take the crew to the Baths. I've been longing for that! When dad took me there for the first time, we landed the dinghy on the beach, pulled up to higher ground and tied the painter to a rock in the sand. Wandered through the meandering trail, with no ropes, no ladders, no signs and no crowds. I think we saw 6 or 8 people.
I remember also from the earlier days the "cocktail hour" routine... Drop a hook, open a beer, sit back and watch the procession of other arguing crews going through the same process--often with humorous effects.
On at least one occasion, WE were the humorous effect. Arrived late in the afternoon at Trellis Bay in hopes of seeing Tony at the Last Resort. Anchorage was pretty full, but we all agreed there was room at the east end of the anchorage for one more boat. To the certain entertaining delight of all other vessels, we were wrong... grounded the keel to a halt on the sandy bottom.
When a steel pan band played every night at Stanleys Welcome Bar on CGB and Quito used to play a couple of songs and then serve you a beer..when Bomba used to make spicy "Manpot" stew from the left over bar b q the night before.And yes he gave me that moniker!
First trip in 1988... There were no mooring balls but also, it would never have crossed my mind to lock the boat when going ashore. Theft was virtually unknown... In a way I regret that the BVI Gov has transformed this paradise into a very touristic area, with cruise ships etc... Greed has no limits, unfortunately. But I still love my BVIs... Most beautiful memories in my life...
Cow Wreck was just Carol and her son. Bar was honor and if you asked she would cook you up a burger and homemade fries. Spent entire day with just my crew and a few lost souls.
First time was 1987 out of St. Johns as my friend's dad lived there developing the east end. We rented power boats to hop around the BVI and I remember being at Pelicans and the British Coast Guard squawking at us that we needed to check in at the West End. Ignored them for awhile as we were in the water snorkeling. They said the Queen required our attention. Ignored. Finally we realized they were serious and that we were in BVI waters so we went and checked in. Island hopped the next 3 days and fell in love.
My first charter was an Irwin 37 out of Fleet Indigo in Soper’s Hole in 1975. We were 3 young twenty something girls and they didn’t believe I qualified so they put on a local skipper. Thank God they did because within hours the steering broke and we were drifting into the rocks off somewhere, can’t remember exactly where. Had to get out the emergency tiller which required someone below and someone in cockpit to operate. We limped into the Moorings base.
But the rest of the charter was unbelievable. The local skipper knew all the late nite dance spots in the back streets of Road Town. We ended up squished into a live concert of Sparrow from Trinidad doing calypso at the old Fishers Cove on VG. We were the only visitors there. We ran out of food, had no money. No problem! He dove over and brought up conch and lobster (right in the Marina Cay anchorage) We learned how to pick sea snails out of the rocks. At the end we wanted to stay longer. Found pay phones and called our bosses and parents and claimed flights cancelled and we had to stay another week. Then the local guy and his friend ‘borrowed’ a Moorings boat and we sailed over to St Thomas because the friend was going for his captain’s test.
One sad thing during that trip was we pulled into Peter Island, the only fancy place in those days (before we ran out of money). Girls dressed up and we went into the fancy brunch. They refused entrance to our local skipper (black), even though he was a charter captain. We turned around and left, but not before using the only hot showers we found the whole time.
Other favorite memories: Honeymoon charter 1987 for 3 weeks out of Bimini Yachts on St Thomas. The boat had ‘Bimini’ on the side. We were anchored in Hawksnest Bay St John and a thunder boat came speeding straight at us, crew dressed like Miami Vice. They pulled up and jumped on with guns, and shoved my new husband down below. Scared out of our minds. They were DEA agents in disguise that thought we were running drugs from Bimini. What a bunch of idiots!! Later we saw them in Cruz Bay at Carnival and blew their ‘cover’
Anchoring alone in Devil’s Bay for 2 nights.
5th anniversary dinner at Drake’s Anchorage. A real splurge for us in those days
Playing live music and dancing hula at Corsairs for the ‘luau’ on one of Saildoggie’s traveltalkonline group trips.
One great memory. First time to Tortola was 2002 for my 50th. Stayed in a beautiful beachfront unit at Long Bay Beach Resort. Found the empty cinder block building at the end of Long Bay that had an old sign inside that said Nathan’s Restaurant. We drove to the hardware store near West End and bought a large plastic bucket with an attached rope as this would be our “cooler”😂. Went to Sopers and got sandwiches, rum, cokes, ice and went back to “Nathan’s” where I pulled up a plastic table and two chairs. We sat there tucked back in the trees and had lunch while people walked by on the beach and didn’t even know we were there.
Another memory is on Tortola early 2000’s and caught a cab with the driver named Clem. He also had a restaurant in Carrot Bay called Clem’s by the Sea and he invited us to come by the next night for dinner. We were the only one’s there and Clem made us our first taste of Goat Stew that was amazing👍🍷 Then he pulled out his steel drum and made music for us until the wee hours. A few days later we were at Myetts and there was Clem and his son on stage playing their steel drums!😊
When my then-girlfriend and I took the job at White Bay Sandcastle in 98, there was still no phone and no electricity. We turned the generator off around 9, Windy Callwood was the sometimes bartender, and 30 people and four boats was a busy day. No one stayed overnight in the Bay. We left the booze on the shelf overnight. A few months later the road came over the hill, the poles went up, and we were suddenly in the 20th century. Now we had phones as well, instead of the VHF radio. The old reservation system was Carol at Red Hook Mail Services calling us on the radio and telling us what our week looked like. Hard to believe that was only 26 years ago.
Great stories and memories! ...which makes this one quite trivial in comparison. But here goes.
Seagulls.
Through the mid 80's and into the 90's, we were annually inundated with seagulls in every anchorage, especially when grilling out. By the dozens, they would swarm the cockpit, occasionally perching on deck rails, the dinghy motor and bimini. And always lightning quick to steal an unattended morsel. Funny, I haven't thought about it in years and it now has me wondering why we haven't experienced that in over 20 years. Where'd they all go?
Great stories and memories! ...which makes this one quite trivial in comparison. But here goes.
Seagulls.
Through the mid 80's and into the 90's, we were annually inundated with seagulls in every anchorage, especially when grilling out. By the dozens, they would swarm the cockpit, occasionally perching on deck rails, the dinghy motor and bimini. And always lightning quick to steal an unattended morsel. Funny, I haven't thought about it in years and it now has me wondering why we haven't experienced that in over 20 years. Where'd they all go?
My two cents - People must have quit feeding them! This all got started by them being fed by people on boats who thought it was "cute". They got used to being fed by people throwing food for them off their boats. Hence, they grew to expect it and started swarming around random boats expecting to be fed!
First trip to BVIs was in 1982. Back then there were essentially no moorings in the anchorages. You had to actually anchor. Almost all boats were monos back then, very few cats. Some of our best memories are dancing to the steel drum band at Stanley’s and drinking pain killers out of whatever cups were on hand at Soggy Dollar when the Soggy Dollar was the only thing at White Bay and Daphane was the owner/bartender. Good times.
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