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Boat owners at VGYH....news?

Posted By: Tackmaster

Boat owners at VGYH....news? - 10/19/2017 12:15 PM

Do any of the TTOL members have a boat at the VGYH? My boat is on the hard there and we have not heard ONE WORD from anyone associated with the VGYH. I have only seen pics posted here and a few on line to assess any damage we have incurred.
We know things are devastated and everyone is working hard to recover...we want to come down and help out with that process but want to coordinate the travel so that we can take care of any boat issues as well...but we need to know a timeline from the VGYH personnel....I see Nanny Cay has kept their clients informed from almost day one....we have heard nothing...if anyone here knows the VG folks, please tap them on the shoulder or loan them a PC so that they can inform all the boat owners of their timeline and intentions....just frustrated to say the least...Hang in there BVI, we will return...BVISTRONG
Posted By: Bones

Re: Boat owners at VGYH....news? - 10/19/2017 02:19 PM

There are two, maybe three facebook posts from their page. Not much information but they did post a new email and phone number. They are in temporary spaces. Certainly not the kind of information Nanny Cay has provided from day one. Saw picture of our boat from one of the aerials. Got word from the insurance co that the surveyor was in VG. Called Geoff from Workbench and asked him to check on her. He said a lot of boats filling with water from rain and being on their sides. Has pumped out many of them. Saw Beans boat also which looked very sad with both mast broken.
Posted By: rita_irvine

Re: Boat owners at VGYH....news? - 10/19/2017 05:41 PM

Unfortunately the VGYH management have been illusive. They have not been kind to any of the tenants before or after the hurricane. They chased Bucks out this year as well as Rendezvous/Bath and Turtle in April. The manager then turned Rendezvous over to his wife to re-open. The reputation on island is not good. I know this is not what you want to hear but I'm getting information from locals. BVI Investment Club is involved, go ask them!! http://www.bviinvestmentclub.com/index.php
Posted By: gordaguy2

Re: Boat owners at VGYH....news? - 10/20/2017 01:22 PM

very transparent - NOT
Posted By: Elmtone1

Re: Boat owners at VGYH....news? - 10/21/2017 11:52 PM

I believe that are now lifting boats.
Surveyors have been up there a lot so your insurance co may have info..the vast majority have been displaced from their stands and fallen
Posted By: Tackmaster

Re: Boat owners at VGYH....news? - 10/22/2017 01:55 PM

Heard from another blog, that it's being reported (I can't confirm personally) by supposed reliable sources that VGYH is no more....they are closing their doors. I know they sent home ALL of their employees last week, now that's a sign! Hope it's not true for all of us who have boats in the yards....what now??
Posted By: sail2wind

Re: Boat owners at VGYH....news? - 10/22/2017 01:58 PM

that would be hard to believe. Geoff Williams will be backlogged for months
Posted By: Tackmaster

Re: Boat owners at VGYH....news? - 10/22/2017 02:10 PM

If you are talking about Geoff Cooke, he is not part of the VGYH organization, he and Chris (his son) rent or lease their facilities from VGYH (at least they did)...I do expect them continuing business, and yes...they will be very busy for years to come...two good guys!!
Posted By: rita_irvine

Re: Boat owners at VGYH....news? - 10/22/2017 10:28 PM

http://www.bviinvestmentclub.com/

BVI Investment Club currently lists VGHY as an investment. An article from 2012 say they have 100% ownership of Village Cay anfd VGHY.. obviously that could have changed over the last 5 years but with the currentl listing as an asset I would doubt they would have divested.

Tackmaster, what blog were you on? I would be interested in following that information. If I was in your position I would be contacting the BVIIC and putting the pressure on them. Clearly they have some if not all of the ownership and just hired the management team.
Posted By: RatmansWife

Re: Boat owners at VGYH....news? - 10/23/2017 12:04 AM

If a property manager is uncommunicative or unresponsive, there’s not much you can do - you get whatever information you can and you hope for the best. Your house is where it is.

If a boatyard manager is uncommunicative, and you realize other boatyards are much better run, you know you have options. That is one business where your customers can disappear overnight, literally.

The Investment Club gets bad press about some of their projects. It’s curious that they don’t seem to understand some basic realities.
Posted By: Deepcut

Re: Boat owners at VGYH....news? - 10/23/2017 12:55 AM

YEP!
Posted By: sail2wind

Re: Boat owners at VGYH....news? - 10/23/2017 01:57 PM

Quote
Tackmaster said:
If you are talking about Geoff Cooke, he is not part of the VGYH organization, he and Chris (his son) rent or lease their facilities from VGYH (at least they did)...I do expect them continuing business, and yes...they will be very busy for years to come...two good guys!!



No, Geoff Williams the surveyor. I have given Geoff and Chris plenty of my money as I had my boat there for 2 years.
Posted By: Sandsailsun

Re: Boat owners at VGYH....news? - 10/23/2017 04:30 PM

This was just posted on a Facebook group I'm part of by someone there now ... encouraging
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Update from VGYH.
We walked straight in to the yard from the ferry. No security, but there are people around doing work in both yards. A big tug is crane-ing boats out of the water.
Keith is here and working, we are having a meeting with him later. I haven’t asked if VGYH has gone under as that seems a bit of hearsay. Work is getting done, albeit slowly.
He will know when the big lift in the North yard will be going again today as parts are due to arrive on the ferry today. There is some power in the yard. Toilets and showers were locked. Keith is keen to get boats that can be put in the water back in the water ASAP.
The chandlery is open for business as are some of the workshops in the south yard. Keith said there was some looting but that seems to be stopped now. Our boat has not been damaged or looted since the pics we initially received. Other than gas canisters that we knew had been taken.
I have taken some pics as walking around so will post here.
If I can help in any way please ask. There have been so many rumours on here, being here and chatting with Keith, our experience is positive so far. The destruction to the island is like nothing I’ve seen before, it’s shocking. But we have been welcomed here and work is getting done, it feels safe and if you have somewhere to stay I think the BVI will only benefit from Crew returning. This is just my experience and my opinion though. I am hopeful.
Posted By: BTB

Re: Boat owners at VGYH....news? - 10/23/2017 08:46 PM

Hi Kim,

We have been hearing about the big crane coming for several weeks and still no crane. Rumors are flying everywhere and still no word from the yard. Today I have had two posts claiming the yard help was sent home. Waiting for final word on the subject - can you say for sure that everything is good?
Posted By: Sandsailsun

Re: Boat owners at VGYH....news? - 10/23/2017 09:06 PM

I am following some posts being made by a boat owner who is there now....will post again as she posts more
Posted By: Sandsailsun

Re: Boat owners at VGYH....news? - 10/23/2017 09:12 PM

Here is another message from someone else in the same chat group .
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I talked directly to Keith this morning. My first question was is Yacht Harbour going under or filing for bankruptcy. He Told me without a doubt it is not going under or filing bankruptcy. He has been waiting for parts for the Large left and to get someone to inspect it once it is repaired. Still working on getting a crane into Yacht Harbour Marina and each week he talks to the salvage company about when it will come and he’s hoping sometime this week they will be in Yacht Harbour Marina. As previously posted by someone that Marine stores open, security guards are walking around, there is a boat with a very small crane lifting a sunken boat out of the water which is a slow process. No work is being done at all in the north yard. Have seen adjusters/surveyors walking around the North yard. Talk to my surveyor Mike Hirst on the phone and should be coming to look at my catamaran sometime this week. It was told to me that it would be a preliminary survey. Things are improving slowly.

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Let's all try to stay positive <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Grin.gif" alt="" />
Posted By: gordaguy2

Re: Boat owners at VGYH....news? - 10/24/2017 12:12 AM

There is no reason why VGYH would go broke as a result of the storm -there were few tenants at the location and it was in process of being dismantled. I would guess that there is limited liability to boat owners because of the boats being on the hard. Most likely there is no Internet and therefore little word can get out.
Posted By: ski2play

Re: Boat owners at VGYH....news? - 10/24/2017 12:11 PM

Thanks Kim for the on island perspective. It is great to have the feet on the ground that this board has.

Take care.
Posted By: Sandsailsun

Re: Boat owners at VGYH....news? - 10/26/2017 04:08 PM

This is a post from Candy Cooke who lives in Spanish Town and family works at Workbench. Geoff and Chris have done lots of work on Reef Song and are great folks....she posted this today ..

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To answer a few questions I’ve read on this site. CRC Engines (located in the boat yard) has a 35 ton crane. Unfortunately it can only handle smaller boats. VGYH Management keep saying they have a larger crane arriving but seem not to know when.

The smaller travel lift is working. The larger blue lift at the north side of the marina was moved in that area, a week or more a go, but haven’t seen it moved since.

Landline phone communication is not working on VG. Even internet access, though improved, can be difficult at times.

For whatever reason (and there are lots of rumors) VGYH Management & owners are not forth coming with any information so it is difficult for anyone to know what is “actually” happening within the entire complex. Frustrating ? Yes. For everyone.

The boat yard is one huge bowl of tangled & twisted spaghetti. Until a plan is put forth & shared with the boat owners & concessionaires with businesses in the boat yard, by Management, it is extremely difficult to move forward.

There is power in numbers. Suggest you up the pressure to Management & owners of VGYH for action.

In the mean time all I can offer are pictures and some assistance with pumping water out of boats that may need via The Workbench. Email: [email]workbenchbvi@gmail.com.[/email]

We are truly sorry for your frustration. Wish there was more we could do
Posted By: Sandsailsun

Re: Boat owners at VGYH....news? - 11/07/2017 11:16 AM

This is a copied post from a Facebook chat group I am a part of ..he is a boat owner at VGYH who is there now....sharing for information for those of you not on Facebook .
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My husband and his friend have been on VG since last Thursday, they typed this up just for info purposes of what they have observed, it is long, the info for where they found a place to stay is listed...again this is just data to share : Our Experience in Virgin Gorda
This is longer, more informative message. Hopefully this helps others to better prepare for the task of salvaging personal property from their boats in Virgin Gorda Yacht Harbor. You may also be working to develop a boat salvage strategy.

DISCLOSURE
What is true today probably wasn’t true two weeks ago. And it may not be as accurate two weeks from now. But this is my assessment and experience being here on the ground since Thursday 11/2/17. Today is 11/6/17.

POWER AND UTILITIES
-Many locals still don’t have power, but most do.
-There is fuel at the fuel stations
-Natural gas is working in many places.

CLEAN UP
-Much of the debris has been collected moved to piles for burning and processing. Not very enviro friendly, but there aren’t a lot of options.
-There is a lot of damage and disaster all around.
-Many, if not most people are living with partial roofs. A huge amount have lost their entire homes.

LOOTING/THIEVERY
-I haven’t witnessed looting other than for genuine survival in the first few days for fuel to run generators. Others may have experienced something different, but we haven’t.

FOOD and WATER
The grocery stores have quite a bit of inventory. Never has been a lot of organic selection. But there is an abundance between a few stores. Municipal water is working in most places but not in the North Yard at VGYH.

TARPS/SUPPLIES
There doesn’t seem to be the needs for tarps as there was before. The feedback has been for thicker, heavier duty since the light duty units get destroyed quickly.

HOUSING
We connected with Bernadette George here in VG. She is well respected, hard working, and knows that she is in the hospitality business. She is technically a realtor that manages a variety of properties for investors and home owners here. She put us up in Windy Hill for an amazing price of $160 a night for a 2 bedroom/ 1 bath condo with a complete Kitchen. There is not a lot here for rentals. I HIGHLY recommend connecting with her in advance.
bernadettegeo@gmail.com
1 284 542 2118 and she uses WhatsApp. If you are not familiar with that app, I encourage people to download it. It allows people to make international calls and text using only data and not air time and long distance.

RENTAL CAR
We resisted the idea at first. But we got stranded down here with no out bound flights available. Bernadette hooked us up with a local provider and we were able to rent a Suzuki Jimny for only $45 a day all inclusive! We have enjoyed the mobility and savings.

OWNERS ARRIVING
There were no owners present when we arrived as best we could tell. We have begun to see a few more arriving. Rumor is that many are coming. This means that the laws of supply and demand will begin to work against boat owners.

GENERAL ATTITUDE OF THE LOCALS
We have had a blast connecting and conversation with a variety of locals. NO ONE has complained about their plight. Wow. Everyone has had a spirit of service and collaboration. It is easy to offer and receive favors here. Smiles and encouraging words go a long way.

RESTAURANTS
There is not a lot of choices. There is a little something most nights at Saucez across from the Marina. Coco Maya just actually opened Wed-Sun 4pm-10pm and has been amazing. Limited menu (including bar), but the food has been spectacular. Darien has been managing the kitchen and met my Vegan needs and wants. Food has been delicious. It was a big deal for them to open on Friday night. Big turn out.

YARD IN GENERAL
The yard is not really secure. We can pretend it is, but the fence is down near the ferry and foot traffic traverses the yard. But in the 5 days we have been on ground, we haven’t seen a single suspicious person. A few have come by offer condolences and support. Keith has been fun. He is really aware of the challenges and sees this all from a lot of perspectives. GM Eric has been communicating as well.

THE SALVAGE PLAN
It appears that VGYH was working to create a streamlined and responsible salvage plan. The issue is pretty massive. At last update, their insurance won’t cover the risk. It is not going to be easy untangling boats. Who accepts responsibility for extracting a boat that has penetrated 1 or more other boats?
The quote we received to crane the Rae Of Light off of another boat was staggering. There is not a lot of infrastructure here pre and post hurricane for this kind of stuff.
The current reality is that VGYH is going to have to interface with hundreds of boat owners, a variety of insurance companies, and a brand range of strategies for repair and salvage.

TIMING
It is my opinion that now is the time to take an active role in the assessment and salvage strategy for your property. It is not easy. It is hard to see the damage. But the reality is that this was a category 5 hurricane that decimated this island. Working together with an amazing attitude will accomplish a lot more than being obstinate or frustrated. Just my opinion. There is a lot to do and it will all be coming online very quickly. But no one has the crystal ball.
Posted By: gordaguy2

Re: Boat owners at VGYH....news? - 11/07/2017 03:25 PM

Thanks Kim - that echoes Marion's opinion after she got back on October 30th - she was down for 12 days to check on our villa and board up the door that was blown up pending us getting a new one from Florida. We hope to have the villa fully functioning in a couple of months so there may be more accommodation available soon - the time lag to get things ordered, manufactured and shipped is the biggest delay factor. cheers Brian
Posted By: Sandsailsun

Re: Boat owners at VGYH....news? - 11/12/2017 03:59 PM

VGYH Facebook page has posted that the big crane has arrived...good news

https://www.facebook.com/VGYHarbour/
Posted By: rita_irvine

Re: Boat owners at VGYH....news? - 11/12/2017 06:05 PM

They have had access to a crane like this for a month. It took an outing of the BVIIC to get any movement.

Upon arrival they promptly got this crane stuck in the mud.. It's out now,

Multiple boat owners who are saying their insurance is denying claims because the VGHY did not follow the hurricane plan for the policy. Even after people were assured that their plan would be implemented they failed to do so. Can you say cluster f$*k.
Posted By: Kupe

Re: Boat owners at VGYH....news? - 11/12/2017 08:13 PM

Quote
Bones said:
...Saw Beans boat also which looked very sad with both mast broken.


Oh dear heartbreaking to picture Mangele in such a state. Hoping Beans can bring us Happy Arrr this coming season!
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