my note to Kevis and a "be careful guys/gal at CGB

When were were down a few weeks ago, my wife fell through the dingy dock and had to go to the hospital. Stitches were required, as well as a VERY painful cleansing process.

The local business people try to keep repairs up, but their use of wrong sized boards and nails just makes it worse. Additionally we have people with 30 foot go-fast boats using it as a dock.

I would HEAVILY suggest that the dock be quarantined as a health risk until the appropriate, and on going maintenance is sorted.

As an aside, alcohol WAS NOT a factor, we had not been drinking the entire day.
The best part of this was I was WARNING my guests about being CAREFUL on the dock, as Linda went ta-da.

Please let me know who in the tourist board/government I should communicate this to.

Robert Dilmore

the dock has always been a mess, does someone own the dock, and who is responsible for the maintenance. Robert, hope your wife heals quickly.

You might consider communicating this to the BVI Premier.

Or how about take out a lawsuit against the ocean, for making waves that could injure someone... or against the boulders at the Baths on Virgin Gorda, for being slippery when wet...or perhaps the rocks beneath Bomba Shack for bruising the surfers who play there. Maybe unswept soft sand on the path from Ivan's to the beach on JVD caused a tourist to fall?

This is the BVI, not the litigious USA. Sometimes people slip and fall. You were right to warn your crew.

I am so sorry for what happened to Linda. What a terrible "event" to deal with.
thank you for making this known and for trying to notify some agency to alert of the problem.
The last hing I would think of during a BVI sailing vacation is to inspect a dock for structural soundness.

@Jakehound-MEH, new person to ignore

@HoosierDaddy-thank you for the kind thoughts

@Evan-again, thank you for the kind thoughts

The local businesses are at wits end. we know the risks of the dock being DESTROYED in north swells. + the usage of overly large boats. THEY want resolution. THEY are the ones that asked that I escalate this, as it is hurting THIER business.

Melvin "Mitch" Turnbull lives in CGB. He was elected to the House of Assembly in last election. Good place to start.

I'm sorry to hear about your wife's accident. The dock was in terrible condition last December. We are heading down on Friday with our 5 year old and I have been wondering about the dock. Looks like we will skip CGB this year. Too bad as we always look forward to Myetts.

The swell will probably be up and you would not go to cgb anyway

I will mention it to Ra Skelton in the morning he is with the Tourist board and presently on Anegada for the week. I will let you know his response. Sorry to hear about the wife hope she gets her dancing feet back soon.

What a despicable response. The dock has been in disrepair for years. Your analogies are pathetic.

PATHETIC <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/smashpc.gif" alt="" />

Bob, sorry to hear about Linda's mishap. Hope she feels better soon. Thanks for escalating the issue.

Tony

Even if that dock was in a good state of repair, which clearly anyone can see, it is not, Jakehounds comment is terrible.

The poor women hurt herself. How about some compassion or if too difficult, silence.

Robert, I hope your wife recovers quickly and maintains a strong desire to get back down south real soon.

Warren

Hi Robert,

We met on the dock at Leverick Bay last year when I was taking photos. I am the short blond charter broker that lives here on Tortola and represents Horizon, among others ... in case you forgot my name.

I am very sorry to hear of your wife's accident and I am certain that government would like to know about it.

Hillside's suggestion to contact the district rep (Mitch Turnbull) is a very good one. I suggest you write him a letter with a copy to the BVI Tourist Board and a copy to The Premier's office.

Unless I am mistaken, the dinghy dock is owned by government and should be properly repaired or removed to ensure no further injuries. At the very least, a sign should be posted saying "Use at your own risk", so that people are aware it is dangerous.

With the beginning of the season upon us, urgent action needs to be taken to avoid any repeat accidents. He has a face book page, perhaps you could message him and ask for his mailing address.

https://www.facebook.com/melvin.m.turnbull

Hallucination
Sorry to hear about your wife needing stitches, it must have been a pretty nasty injury.
Reporting the dock to the government is iffy, they might ask the owner to fix it but I believe the businesses should chip in and maintain them because it is a major part of their business.
I sliced my foot open abou ten years ago when I was changing my dinghy painter. I went to the government clinic in East End where they stitched it bandaged it along with a Tetanus shot and extra dressings to take with me,
Total cost blew me away a grand total of $14.00
I ask the nurse if she meant $400 she said no just $14.00
That's what I call affordable health care.
BTW in the BVI the only thing the owner of the dock is liable for is the medical bills.

That dock has been awful for years and we are always very careful.

My husband and I were just wondering if there is anywhere to beach and tie up (lock) the dinghy.

Of course it would have to be outside the roped off swimming area.

You can always beach your dinghy to the left of the dinghy dock. I know because some [censored] untied our dinghy and it ended up over there on the beach. <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/toast.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Joy.gif" alt="" />

I spoke with ra Skelton this morning in regard to the state of the dock and injury inflicted. He is contacting the person in the tourist board who deals with Cane Garden Bay to make sure the government fixes the dock ASAP. He suggested you contact the head of the tourist board Sharon Flax Mars to move the process along and report the injury to her.

The dock is a government dock . It is not owned by anyone in the bay. Many of us have helped temporarily repair it. The government workers occasionally repair it from what I have heard. Since we are not cruise ship people I guess they don't care. People get hurt all the time. Instead of the temporary fixes they need to replace it with a cement one.

All, thank you for the kind thoughts. Linda is good, no infection...the big worry. Stitches are out and now she just has to work really hard not to itch it as it is driving her nuts sometimes. Yes, the total bill for emergency room/transport and drugs was ~140 bucks, would have been 10x+ that in the states.

Most are correct, it is a government owned/poorly maintained property.

I will be posting to Mr. Turnbull's site, and writing a pleasant, yet stern letter to the others mentioned and will hand deliver them when we are down next. (which is never more than 2 months away....). And yes Liane, we do remember you, and all the other kind people above...and we choose a very select few to ignore.

Too bad "the cruise ship people" don't have to use it. It would be the most amazing piece of engineering ever placed in the islands.

I'm sure not too many of you realize the MASSIVE amount of road construction going on in Tortola. Driven largely by extortion from the two cruise companies.

I was recently in CGB for the first time in probably 2 years. It is not a place I like to go with guests but they needed an ATM. Walked them along the road from Quito's to the ATM at Myetts. What a dump CGB has become. Wrecked cars, trash, the guests were appalled by it all. Oh, and the dock was in shambles, with bolts sticking out, loose planks and so forth. It does look good from the water, though.

My Dad always told me...Itch is what you get, scratch is what you do about it! <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/jester.gif" alt="" />

I remember my first magical visit to Cane Garden Bay. I worked on the Flying Cloud at the time...and we had exactly 6 hours off...on Sunday before the next group of passengers arrived.

The ship was in West End, anchored out, and someone managed to borrow a Mini-Moke. It wasn't the best choice of vehicles, because the road to CGB from Sopers was all dirt and deeply rutted. We had to get out and carry the Moke over washed out gullies every half mile or so. Fueled by an ever diminishing $2 bottle of Cruzan rum, and the words of Jimmy ('they say it gets better...'[you know the words])we managed to arrive at the last overlook before we made the descent.

Oh my God! I had never seen anything so incredibly beautiful! A perfect crescent bay, with about 5 or 6 fishing boats pulled up on the beautiful white beach. There was one lone sailboat at anchor inside of a breaking reef. There was no sign of 'development' except a green and white shack (Stanley's) which was our destination.

We drank way too many pina coladas (quite the nouveau novelty at the time - using a blender...what?), played with the local kids in the surf, danced to a scratch band in the sand...and vowed to return.

Not too many months later I brought my soon-to-be fiancé (and now my wife of 36 years) to CGB. We laid on the beach with our pina coladas, and played in the surf. Some local pigs unfortunately learned the routine. As soon as we hit the surf, they hit our drinks...probably pursuing the tasty fruit which garnished the glass. We got a couple more.

Over the years I've brought hundreds of charter guests to CGB, as a bareboat skipper, a crewed charter boat skipper, and on our own boat.

Now I avoid it at all costs.

I can get Disney at Disney.

Wow Robert! I am so sorry to hear this. The SAME thing happened to me about 2-3 years ago. I dinghied over from Jost with a few friends and it was early evening (was going to CGB to have some drinks but hadn't had any yet) and was looking up admiring how sailors rest looked at lit up... and the next thing I know... straight through the dock.. glad she's ok. I believe the ground see will keep taking boards out but its still a public risk. Hillside's suggestion to notify District 2 rep Turnbull is a good one.. he's new but seems to be establishing a good track record as a man of his word.

Glad to hear your wife is recovering well. We were at CGB Nov 16th. I actually commented to our crew that I was surprised all the planks were there and to be careful getting in and out if the dinghy because of the rusted nails and bolts sticking up. It's definitely a hazard

So sorry to hear about the dock accident but mishaps like this were sure to happen what with the poor maintenance of the dock over the years. The suggestion of notifying the proper government official is perfect but until the repairs are made perhaps we all should go back to coming to the beach by dinghy. Not my favorite solution. I love CGB as a "no dinghy" beach plus the danger factor with all the tourists. However, cruisers do make up a large part of the buying dollar in the bay so let's get behind the repairs ASAP.

Love the stories of days past.. <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Thumbsup.gif" alt="" />

Update........I returned from BVI yesterday after a wonderful 10 day trip aboard Catamaran Company's Now or Never, awesome trip. I read this post before departing and warned my crew about dock condition when visiting (reluctantly) CGB. Eight of us made a trip for happy hour without incident. A few of us returned later to watch Steelers game at Myetts, which was grainy but at least televised. I again warned my crew upon returning to dinghy (after 1 beer mind you). As we were loading up I noticed the dink FULL of water. Seems i pulled the plug when removing cable to lock up. No worries, but distracted now, I turned back to load at rear where the bailing bucket was and WHAM, right through with my right leg. Fell partly into the dink and was then able to collect myself and check all my parts. Could have easily broken my leg and did knock the wind out of me and suffered some serious scrapes and a bad bruise. Still limping 4 days later. A less fit individual would have broken ribs or hand or leg or worse. My chest hit a few inches from one of the lovely bolts sticking out. My point is that I KNEW about this condition and STILL fell through. Felt stupid but after close examination of the dock came to the realization that it is not just an annoyance but really quite dangerous even for the most nimble, fit, young and sober individuals.

Anyway, 12/10 now and still not fixed. I would avoid at all costs.

So sorry to hear, amazing how close your story is to ours. My wife was taking in the trash, when a can fell out. She turned around and TaDA!

We have been down that dock a hundred times, and are well aware of the risks.

I was told that the BVIP person Kevis, did bring this up to the representative at the last meeting, the day later the tragic bus accident happened. So I suspect that it will be at the bottom of the docket again.

We skipped CGB last week because of the condition of the dock.

Perhaps if some of the CGB businesses were made aware that they were losing business they might lobby the right folks to get it fixed.

I am in Cane Garden Bay right now and happy to report that the repairs have been done and the dock looks great. It's actually better than it has been for quite some time. Don't give up on Cane as it's a great place filled with great people.

CGB on Thursday, about 30% planks replaced, new tie boards for the dinghy and rails being installed at the steps. Better than I have seen In 5 years.

Great news..sad to see folks write off CGB..its still lovely (when not overcrowded)..lets hope the dock can withstand some big winter swells as that seems to be the biggest problem.

Good news indeed. I may have the distinction of the LAST person to have fallen through the dock!

I sent a message to the Hon. Mitch Turnbull thanking him for the actions of repairing the dock at CGB following the Dec 7th meeting concerning safety and security of tourists and residents of the CGB location.

Thank you to the board members that suggested this route of action. <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Clapping.gif" alt="" />

This has been an ongoing problem at CGB for years. By the end of the winter the North Swells will have torn up the dock again. The business owners should ask that a few dollars from the cruise ship pier project be diverted to a long term fix for this dinghy dock. I do know that is wishful thinking...

funny HOW NO ONE HAS MENTIONED HOW MUCH OF A RISK YOU ALSO TAKE WHEN TIEING UP YOUR DINGY .. yOU HAVE A 50/50 CHANCE OF IT GETTING STOLEN,,,,AT LEAST THHAT WAS THE WAAY IT WAS WHEN I WAS LAST THERE ABOUT 10 YEARS AGO .. I CAN'T IMAGINE IT HAS GOTTEN BETTER <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Woof.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Woof.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Woof.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Woof.gif" alt="" />

You must not preview your posts as you might notice you have your CAPS LOCK ON.

Today we were thrilled to find the dinghy dock in great condition.

Best I have ever seen it! All planks in place and no protruding nails.

<img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Clapping.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Clapping.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Clapping.gif" alt="" />