TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums British Virgin Islands Word is Wily T being evicted again.

I have not been able to verify this but I have heard from two independent sources that the very conservative DeVos family, (ne Betsy) feels that the debauchery of the Willy T is inaproprate for Peter Isalnd and has found a way to have the Willy T served with eviction from Great Harbor within 30 days. As I said, this is not verified but would certainly appreciate any supporting or contridicting facts.

One can only hope! Not sure where the Willy T should move to, but certainly away from the tranquility of one of the last pristine mooring fields in the island. I am not, and never have been, a fan of the Willy T. But I know many are. I hope a workable solution can be found.

Well crap.....we are bringing a couple of newbies down in 25 days....hopefully we can find Willy wherever ends up!

There are plenty of pristine anchorages if that's what you want. Peter Island already had mooring balls, cruise ship traffic, and a shoreside establishment. Can't see how Willy T impacts Great Harbor. Now you can go to Norman Island and have basically what Peter Island Great Harbour was.

Looking, I don't see the DeVos family owning it now. It appears the Van Andel family currently own it.

Both families are the founders of Amway.

It seems that money, money and more money talks once again in the BVI's. First the WillyT gets thrown out of Norman because of big money and now may be out from Peter Island because of even bigger money. The government will always side with the rich, or so it seems.

The WillyT would fit right in at Christmas Cove, USVI if they want to leave the BVI's! Just a thought 😜

Christmas Cove is under the US flag and the boat would have to be inspected by the US Coast Guard and have all kinds of safety equipment that’s not required in the BVI.
There would most likely be issues with the VI Natural Resources Department

I think Christmas Cove would be an awesome place for it too. Pizza Pi for dinner and then drinks at the Willie T. But I agree with sail445 that the logistics of it and trying to maintain it's character in the USVI might be a challenge.

Maybe North-Sound is an option now. Sounds like the majority of resorts there still have a while until they are operational so it might be a great place to bring in an instant restaurant/bar. Could locate it just south of Prickly Pear or it might fit really nicely in Brias Bay.

My personal opinion is that the Willy T has to be in crystal clear waters like Norman or Peter due to the fact that people dive off the boat.
There have been two cases one that I know of where a diver was drunk and knocked the wind out his lungs and sunk to the bottom and would have died if a group of Britts weren’t there and one dove in and recovered him.
North Sounds waters are too murky

I agree totally

An aside: any word on the redevelopment of the resort.

Glenn,

I'm not sure that the PI Resort has any ownership of Great Harbor. The LaFontaine family owns the eastern end of the harbor, and I think the Romney family owns the western end, including Oceans Seven.

Of course things could have changed recently!

The deVos family never owned PI Resort. It was always owned by Amway. (Granted, a technicality) I don't know why the vanAndels ended up with the resort...sometime around the early 2000s. But there has never been any involvement by the resort in Great Harbor.

I too wish that the Willy T would drift over to the USVI and stay there. Great Harbor used to be one of my favorite anchorages!

The Willy T of old would not be suitable for Christmas Cove but the new one is fully up to date with all required safety equipment for the US Coastguard.

It is Amway who are playing naughty saying they won't open the resort if Willy T is allowed to stay.

..except the resort is about two years away from reopening..just what we need right now..lose yet another tourist attraction.Disgusting. I say put the " T" in Soper's and you get the charter folks with moorings and anchorage and you can shuttle land based tourists from the dock at the wrecked " Fish N Lime" (which Heather and Ewan, owners of the "T" also owned). I think that would be great for everyone and f$%k AmWay and Peter.

Wow that’s a major upgrade! I hope it didn’t lose it’s flavor.

^^^Great idea....

No loss if they don’t reopen. Keep the WT

Sopers is not really a viable place for the WillyT. The Mooring balls are almost always full and anchoring is difficult due to depth. The North sound could be viable but the owner would probably be concerned about losing the USVI business. The best place for it is easy. The Bight on Norman Island. If not there it should be relocated further out in the bay in Great harbor. I am not sure why they tucked it right into the Mooring area.
G

During the winter months it sometimes gets rolly at the entrance to Great Harbor PI, the center of the bay is around 80’deep.
The Bight was the Best spot.

Maybe some belongers will start a petition getting visitors to sign on.

If you could only reach the " T" in a taxivan then the Gov. would never interfere for fear of turning off their big voting bloc. As the " T" is owned by non-belongers ( lovely term, right?) they really dont care and just go with the big $$ that is AmWay..or ScamWay or whatever they are now.

I say put the " T" in Soper's and you get the charter folks with moorings and anchorage and you can shuttle land based tourists from the dock at the wrecked " Fish N Lime" (which Heather and Ewan, owners of the "T" also owned). I think that would be great for everyone and f$%k AmWay and Peter.

Great idea!

Hi The Willy T is owned by Belongers

Heather and Ewan are belongers?

Heather for more than a decade as far as I'm aware

Delighted to hear that..might help them.

Shuttling people from land would turn the T into an nightmare.

Willy T needs to be back at Norman. It has been there for years, a landmark. It's like Saba Rock moving to Marina Cay.
Just my opinion.

I guess the word heard was correct.

Here's the article - http://bvibeacon.com/willy-t-is-being-told-to-move-again/

The last thing the BVIs need at this time is the loss of another attraction. While not for everyone the trip reports over the years clearly suggest that for many boaters a night on the WT was a significant part of their island experience. The charter operators should bring pressure to bear to encourage the government to reconsider.

Might be another temporary move, but until Saba and Bitter End reopen, the east side of North Sound might be a good spot.

There should be no reason to move from the current location. It is well removed and out of sight relative to the resort location. The customer base is not the same so the resort can't fear loss of customers. Oceans 7 is rarely open and seems to have operated primarily as a day trip location for cruise ship passengers. It is nice to have an option of an inexpensive meal in a fun venue. The directive for them to move should be rescinded.

Unfortunately, money talks and the local government listens. We have a charter planned for Feb. 2019 so we are following this situation closely to see where the Willy T ends up.

Well if money talks then the government needs to be reminded that the charter industry is a major contributor to the BVI economy. What is good for the charter industry is good for the BVI and the Willie T has long been a big part of the boating world experience. The narrow interests of a few deep pockets should not take precedence of the many spending their tourist dollars on a charter boat.

I don't disagree, but apparently the local govt cares more about the interests of the deep pockets.

Actually the local govt seems to care more about money put into THEIR individual pockets, as evidenced by the Willy-T fiascos, Normal Island development plans, Mosquito Island development, etc., etc. etc. Just sayin' 😳

Hi everyone. I have been visiting the Virgin Islands since the 1980’s and have been to the Willy T on several occasions. My husband and I recently purchased a 45’ Catamaran that is in the charter fleet and this past March we took our “adult” children (ages 20-25) to the BVI and visited Little Harbor. I think Little Harbor would be a great location for the Willie T and would love to hear your opinions.

Assuming Little Harbour Peter Island...No mooring balls...

Sorry, Jost