10 Days on VG

Returned a week ago following a wonderful 10 day trip to Virgin Gorda. A very emotional trip as well as the devastation from Irma is still very present but the all the folks we talked to are doing ok and all seem to have a wonderful attitude. Repairs and construction are happening, but lots of time needed. Plenty of places to eat and water and power were not interrupted. The islands are still all "brown" vs "green", bushes and flowers are all back in full bloom, but the trees are still pretty beat up. As another poster mentioned, we noticed butterflies like never before. Thousands of them. The last two days we were there, we noticed some folks standing in front of Mad Dogs talking. Lets hope that they are considering rebuilding, it was quite sad to walk past that place, not to mention not being able to find another pina colada like Edith made! Flew into STT and took the ferries to VG, stopping in Road Town to clear customs. As we were standing in line and C&I, my wife started tearing up. The woman at immigration looked at her and said, "we'll be fine, don't worry".

tom

We were there in November and were completely devastated by what we saw and the stories from the Many people we love and consider family....what struck most however was the sheer determination and resilience of the people...yes they had no homes, no jobs, etc...but they were praising God because they had life....that trip changed me forever.

We return on Saturday to formerly say good bye to Reef Song....gonna be an Emotional trip no doubt.

Was Reef Song damaged by Irma??

Wow Kim, I guess that means Reef Song was damaged beyond repair. Sorry to hear that.

Dan

Total loss

I am so sorry to hear this. I read many of your trip reports and thoroughly enjoyed them. You certainly enjoyed the good times on that boat. We are usually land based BVI'ers since 1989. When I see all the destruction from that monster storm I want to cry. Well, hope you find a new adventure and good luck to you!!

So sorry Kim, we were sooo lucky, our Island Fun was secured so well she moved less than a foot Thur Irma. We lost our mast and basically that was all our damage. Still waiting for the new mast. We will be back in two weeks for our 3rd visit since Irma. BVI is an amazing, incredible people and amazing the progress we’ve seen since November I’ve seen and talked to Nick twice since Irma. Hated to see their loss on the retirement home but he is amazing positive.

So sorry to hear about your boat. The boat yards were one of the most depressing areas for us. As we were catching the ferry out of VG, we were talking to another couple who had said "good bye" to their boat. They had met with the insurance company and their boat was a total loss as well. Very sad. As the eye of the hurricane went over the island, several tornadoes spawned and in some areas, did more damage to property than the actual hurricane did. I feel for the children on the islands, wondering if they will have nightmares about that. The adults can rationalize that Irma was hopefully a "once in a lifetime" event, but the kids may not be able to see that. They do need our tourism dollars and that was one of the main reasons we kept our reservations at Guavaberry. We had a wonderful vacation, but this time, the trip was just as much for them as it was for us.

Yes when we were there in November I spent many a long chat trying to get folks to talk about what they had experienced.... I have lots of counselling and mental health background. Many were so happy to have an outsider that didn't go through it to talk to....and yes I also worry about the children.. PTSD is very real and I worry about the mental health of all of those seemingly very resilient people....heard a harrowing story of a young child almost being sucked out of his house after the ceiling and walls had collapsed and pulled back down by his terrified mom...undoubtedly one of those tornadoes you speak about.