@Maria_and_Steve - unfortunately the overseas tourism representative jobs are effectively sinecure and looking at the surnames of those folks you might see a correlation to those currently wishing to keep the status quo. And those same families are earning from the cruise ships and charter companies and cruisers don't rank. Unfortunately, a bigger proportion of islanders don't profit from cruise ships but need income from cruisers and private visitors; but they don't have much of a say. Impolite and incompetent C&I/other officials are just a side-effect of the BVI's unemployment policy and a remnant of the "good old days" when IBC and offshore banking guaranteed a good income stream for the country.

I depart for a couple of months of sailing the Caribbean next week. I'll be in St. Martin shortly, and think I'll sail to the USVI while skipping the BVI completely. The reception at C&I that I expect to get is keeping me from planning on visiting, unless Mal happens to be there when I come past, in which case I might drop by and re-visit the BVI. It is unfortunate that despite the beauty of the islands and the friendliness of the majority the cruising community tends to avoid the BVI (at least until after the obligatory first visit).