TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums British Virgin Islands I miss the glory days of TTOL

I've been a member of this board since my first bareboat charter in 2005. The people here have always been friendly and helpful. The site has slowed down in recent years, presumably having lost viewers to the Facebook BVI chat. I have to say people on that other chat tend to be vicious and horrible to each other! We need to get the good people back here! Let's get the secret TTOL handshake going again!

Was there ever a secret handshake?? Yes, I miss those days also.

I'm with you Mark. Never had anything other than respect and good information from TTOL members. I've also met many TTOL people in real life and never met one I didn't get on with. I'm not on Facebook and I've seen enough while looking over my wife's shoulder to know I will never join.

I’ve learned so much from TTOL over the years and I’m grateful for all the members who have shared their experiences. Two of my favorite tips were Kelly’s Cove and Sid’s, both are a must stop on every trip. ❤️


OMG Desne is going to kill me, I also learned about Wonky Dog weeks after she and Peter opened thanks to TTOL.

I'll be back for my 11th charter in July and will stop at both! Thanks for the tips!

I really miss the days when so many ttol people would have a ttol flag in the sand at club o. That was a starter for so many conversations that became friendships. What we most enjoyed were the ttol “parties “ at various restaurants and bars. We met so many people e parties that Sheila (she14)arranged. Not only did she put on great times in Sxm,but she ran annual parties in R.I. that brought many of us from New England and NY together. Those were truly the days.

Coming up on 22 years on this forum, don't post much but always use it to stay up to date between trips on what's happening in the BVI. I agree about the Facebook BVI group, it's steadily devolving into a sh*tshow of arguments and stupid questions. Kudos to our forum moderators here at TTOL for keeping this one a worthwhile read!

I'm a relative new comer to TTOL (2020) and I could not agree more. Such a refreshingly friendly place to exchange thoughts and information. Tip of the hat to Carol for being a great monitor. FB is such a cesspool these days its not even useful anymore (not that it ever really was). I have been less active lately but will try and rectify that going forward.

Same thing for me ! The glory days were indeed glorious . Back land based and island hopping for a few months . Say hi if ya see me around.
Malcolm… trying to reach you for a visit over here on VG
Monzi wants to see you

Totally echo Husker's points...great place to get great advice, meet great people, and avoid the cesspool of social media....thanks Carol

Agreed with everything above and thank you all for the best advice available anywhere on BVI and USVI charter vacations. Just added Kelly's Cove to my list for consideration in July.

My wife and I have been visiting SXM for almost 20 years. I don't remember adding very many if any comments on TTOL, however, I do use the site to keep up with what is going on there especially a few months before we come back. (May 27th!) I don't have FB, I am sure I would get in trouble if I did. We did attend a TTOL happy hour years ago with my mother and father in law, it was a great time. So, please keep the info coming. We are bringing family this trip, so I might have to skip the far end of Orient this year, I did say "might". Can't wait to get back to GCBC again and LaVilla. Hope to run into some of you this summer.

I have used TTOL over the years especially when preparing for a trip. I do not post that much, mainly review and read.

What I like is that the site is organized and easy to use. I can easily search and ask about provisioning, restaurants, bars, anchorages, ferry, and all kinds of needs. The FB page is post on one subject than another and another a bit confusing in my mind.

If I need to learn and prepare for a trip, this is the place to go and will be doing so as I prepare for an early summer charter.

Dave

Dittos from here as well.
Yes, FB now has a couple of different sailing and USVI/BVI sites. But too many people asking the same stupid questions. This bulletin board format is superior. I skipped several years during Covid, but was back twice last year, and we have two trips planned for this year. I like reading from some of us old-timers, and miss the long-gone ones.

Web sites like this work and succeed on the people who post..give (good) advice)..tell (tall?) tales etc. That is what has slipped away. Too many lurkers and not enough (informed) posters..

Manpot, I was around on this board for years as a lurker before even registering as a user. I am guilty, still, of posting infrequently. Thank you for the reminder to pay-it-forward by attempting to contribute more. My experience in the BVI over the last 15+ years has been greatly impacted by those who contribute here.

"Too many lurkers and not enough posters", TRUTH. It's a problem not specific to just this travel site.

When I put together trip reports for TTOL or elsewhere, it's time consuming, but I used to enjoy it. I liked when there's interaction, positive and negative comments are welcome, even "hijacking a thread" was a fun moment. But strangely comments are extremely rare.

I didn't even finish my last report, stopped at part 5....figured that was a fine spot to stop.

Remember the days of TTOL parties! I believe Walker and Nancy hosted one in TX, we hosted one in MN...numerous parts of the country TTOLers we're getting together to talk about sailing the BVI.

We had a couple of memorable ones at CRC in Little Apple Bay in the summertime with our own beach, a catamaran or two anchored ,great food, drinks, music ....

Bill Hartzman, Lady Di, and Fran organized one for a couple of years in North Atlanta in the early 2000,s

Lots of options out there but there is only one TTOL.

Have you done a you tube search for "BVI" recently. Tons of amazing stuff.

Every Tom, Dick and Harry with a drone and a waterproof gopro and editing skills has posted a BVI video. Some of its amazing stuff.
How many times have I walked thru the Baths, let me count the ways.

My Sunday morning ritual has become, check out the soggy dollar cam, and look for the latest BVI flicks. This is all very "entertaining".

However,
I am getting ready for my 18th+ trip to the BVI since 1990 and for "real/current information from people I trust" and to prep for my upcoming trip, there is only one place I count/rely on............. TTOL (BVI)!

I was 36 when I first experienced the BVI and now 72. Have I changed? Not a bit. Has TTOL changed. Yep. All for the better.

See you all soon. ( and I will be flying my TTOL flag )

Hi All- I agree this is an invaluable forum for BVI cruisers. I always check TTOL BVI before heading down.

I did my first BVI charter about 1998, have logged more than 40 charters St. Vincent, USVI, Martinique, St. Lucia, BVIs.
I prefer monohulls on Chesapeake Bay and cats in Caribbean, though the big DuFours look tempting....

I was just down January 31 to Feb 8 2026, from Anegada to Little Harbor JVD and points in between.

This forum has really helped us plan wonderful trips, save money, avoid charter hassles, and find wonderful people and food. Thank you TTOL BVI!

I've never been a prominent figure in this forum, but I remember sitting on WT, and by happen chance meeting Rick from Sophisticated Lady at the bar. It was just after Rick and Beans had the hell trip deliver of engines to Haiti maybe? Not sure delivery location. Anyway, we're sitting there telling stories and a woman, who overheard us, walked up and told us she knew exactly who both of us were from the TTOL forum. This place has power to connect. Enjoyed that moment talking to both of them.

I wish this forum had been around for my first charter. In February of 1978 I chartered a Pearson 365 from St. Tropez Charters on St. Thomas for a cost of $994. We (2 couples) knew nothing about provisioning but learned there was a food market a few blocks from the harbor. We filled two shopping carts there and as we exited the market there was a young man whose job was to help load groceries into customer's cars. We gave him a very nice tip and he walked the carts with us right onto the pier and handed the groceries onto the boat. I had purchased some actual charts (from the original Lands End, which at that time was a small chandlery with a side room of nautical clothes located on the North Branch of the Chicago River) but at the chart briefing he had two place-map sized laminated charts of the USVI and BVI and that is what we used the entire trip - think about that as we now use our GPS based chart plotters, etc.

We cleared into BVI at West End and that receipt shows $.92 for Clearing, $2.06 for Overtime, $5 for Harbour Dues and $.60 Misc. We made it to BEYC and STILL have the T-shirt. On the run from North Sound to JVD the other guy wanted to nap and as we were making too much noise he decided to try to nap in the dinghy we were towing. He actually fell asleep so I tied ALL the dock lines end to end then to the dinghy and let it go probably 100 feet behind us. When he woke up he looked around and thought he was adrift in the ocean. That night we ate, drank and danced at Foxy's. It was one of those nights when everybody was dancing with everybody and a local gentleman had several dances with my wife. At the end of the evening he approached me and made it clear he expected me to tip him - for dancing with my wife! During the party my friend needed another nap and used a hammock outside Foxy's. The next day he was covered with red bites from the bugs living in that hammock.

After numerous charters in the BVI, USVI/Spanish VI, Grenadines, St. Martin, Belize (which I highly recommend), long distance trips on Jeannius, etc., I developed my own lists for provisioning, packing, boat inspection, chart briefing, etc.

Now all my sailing is vicarious. After 60 years of racing and cruising my doctor not-too-gently advised me to stay on dry land. So, this forum is greatly appreciated as one way of the ways to stay connected.

Great stories Nolan. Remember Redonda? Seared into my brain forever.

I've done lots of vicarious BVI sailing through this forum, thanks to the many contributions of you and others. Thanks!

Dan

This forum has always been far superior to the regular nonsense showing up at bvi charter chat. So many people there with ridiculous strong incorrect opinions. It sad.

I started another Facebook group called BVI all inclusive crewed yacht charter chat to try to separate out the endless bs.

The how much to tip a bareboat captain question shows up a couple times per week. Sadly most answers are wrong and the posts are aggressive.

I use to visit this page daily, but due to inactivity, only every few months.

Nice to see some familiar names in this thread.

I’ve been MIA for quite sometime, but still see many friends made here on TTOL. The days of Saildoggie were legendary. The infamous “DAWG ROCK” marker is behind Alibabas on JVD. Stop by and take a photo. IYKYK.

As a side note,for those who are on Facebook, please look into the charity funding project started by Dirk and Sandy on Le Reve and Jason Helmbrecht(rip) wife Tiffany. Something we can all get behind. Look for “Treasure the BVI” on FB and follow and share it if you can.
Once a website is created I’ll add that link.

I miss you all. First trip to BVI was 1979 with Fleet Indigo out of Sooner’s Hole. I was very active during the Saildoggie Days and participated in some of the flotillas (I brought the hula group at Corsair’s). Have only sailed a couple of times since Irma so now I’m an elderly lurker.

I was with Rick Moore and encountered this familiar boat in Montserrat. I think they were planning the invasion of Redonda.
Fred

That takes me back Fred. Don't think I've seen that photo before. The other two are, I think, Polaris' (Nolan) sons. Here's a video (low resolution but it is 20 years old!!!!) from the 'Redonda' trip with enough wind to need a reef and the lovely Laura on the bow...

What great times we had on Jeannius..what friends we made for life as we sailed down to Mustique and back..nothing can erase those memories.."Unchain my yacht and set me free!!"

Mike, I think you only pulled into Montserrat to clean some fish and perhaps for refreshments. Don't know if Redonda was on your agenda on that trip, but that video was great with Laura at the bow!

The Redonda expedition was on a trip from St Kitts to Antigua. Wind was right on the nose and Redonda kept getting in the way as we tacked back and forth for hour after hour. We did eventually make it but it wasn't a lot of fun. Fred, you sure the photo was Monserrat? I don't remember having that crew aboard except around the Martinique area but my memory isn't what it was so you may well be right .

Hi Mike, I'm definitely not positive, but my feeble memory seems to recall you only stopped in there briefly to clean the fish and then moved on.
Fred

I think we'll have to wait for Nolan to make one of his occasional visits to the site so that he can confirm firstly that they are his sons and then the location. The mystery continues.

Still havent heard back from that message in the bottle!! Great memories and friends for life made!!

I have been absent from TTOL for a bit, I need to check in here more and away from the FB drama! .....I was so excited to see this post!! Hard to believe I joined 23 years ago last month! This was our OG social media.

So funny note, Redondo Rock was also dubbed "Redundant Rock" because it just never seemed to go away LOL, anyone who makes long passages knows the "entertainment" is watching the open ocean world go by, this rock never seemed to leave our sight! That trip and moniker makes me laugh out loud literally when I think about it. It was my first long distance sail ever! And boy did that ever set a lifetime of memories in motion. I have now completed numerous passages with Tony and Melody on Utopia and Dirk and Sandy on Le Reve, as well as a recent down island trip again past Redundant Rock on a friends boat named Soggy Doggy. (also makes me laugh because that would have been a perfect name for Saildoggie's boat if he had ever had one in charter !)

I have made more true and dear friends as an adult from TTOL connections than I could have imagined. Not to mention everyone who has repped my shirts over the years and awesomely also became friends!

I am reminded of the TTOL party and gathering days by Dirk and Sandy's recent launch of Treasure the BVI, the idea of a community is taking off again, you can follow here and see how many new friendships are evolving from this new endeavor! There is actually a launch party this weekend at Saba that many who are there are attending and a lot of the chatter harkens back to the hey day of TTOL. The nice thing too is this page is a welcome respite from the FB Charter page, which is full of drama!
Treasure the BVI Community

Please check it out and join and this forum has been referenced numerous times there with great fondness and appreciation. Dirk posted a great video from the TTOL Dinghy Poker Run in 2011!!! If you go to page scroll back to March posts to see it.
I think the two sites will go hand in hand very well!!
Captain Kris from Sea Trek said it best there! "Hey everyone! Thanks for starting this page, it’s giving me the old TTOL day vibes! Can’t wait until the end of May when we kick off our 24th summer at SeaTrek BVI."


Dirk even created a new BVI drink that's a take on the painkiller! I had one last week when I was down and its a winner! Called "The Treasure"
[img]https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid...215107840&idorvanity=939473631809965[/img]

cheers all!
🍼 Official Base Recipe (The Treasure)
Dialed in to perfection…
2 oz dark rum (or aged Caribbean rum)
1 oz coconut rum 🥥
½ oz coconut cream
2 oz fresh pineapple juice 🍍
1 oz passionfruit juice 🌴
Dash fresh ground nutmeg

We certainly had some fun TTOL beach parties on Little Apple Bay at CRC for a couple of summers..ever had boats anchored off shore and VISAR gave a live demonstration..lots of fun,food, drink and cameraderie!

Yes, Mal, we have a TTOL flag (somewhere??) from one of those parties on Little Bay, with a bunch of signatures on it. Will need to look to see if I can find it.