Welcome Back to the BRITISH VIRGIN
ISLANDS The Islands Are Back & They Are Better Than Ever! By Bob Bitchin, with additional photos from Chuck Delabio, Debbie Kolod, Drew Gober, Joe Jablonowski, Kimber Hamilton, Ty Abston, Wayne Anselmo, and Jody Lipkin
We put on a Share The Sail every year. But, this year’s Share The Sail in the BVI had a secret agenda. We organized it to help bring people back to the BVI to show the world the islands were once again open for business after the horrific hurricanes that smashed them two years ago. Our group staggered in from all over the world over the period of about four days. While we waited for our fellow cruisers, Jody and I were lucky enough to have our very good friends Tommy and Sharon Brownell cruising the area on their beautiful Hylas 54, Distant Star. Like good friends, they offered us a place to stay as we awaited the day of boarding the boats. For a couple days we sailed over to Norman Island and acted as if we were leisurely cruisers, all the time putting out fires for the upcoming event. You may not believe it, but organizing ten boats for seven days can be a fulltime job! As it happens, Jody’s 60th was on February 1st, and we were in Nanny Cay, so an impromptu party was organized with old friends from the islands and new friends from the Share The Sail. It was held at Peg Leg’s and it was a complete success. About twenty people gathered to help her celebrate the day. It was a beautiful night, with perfect weather, and a lot of good friends!
58 Latitudes & Attitudes pg 58-65 BVI Share The Sail - Final.indd 2
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4/29/19 2:27 PM
