Norman Island: Hotspot in the BVIs | Sailing Travel

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Norman Island: Hotspot in the BVIs

Art&Craft By Steve Blakely — January 5, 2009 Bicycling Wintertime in the north is always high season in tropics -- which is why Birding cold weather back home is a great excuse to go sailing the Caribbean. And in the British , one of the most popular cruising CasualEats destinations is Norman Island, just southwest of and the most GoingSolo southwestern island in the BVI archipelago. Steve Blakely Golf&Beyond Writer and Skipper Norman Island has so much going for it that it's too popular, sometimes: Steve Blakely has been Literary • It has one of the safest and most sheltered anchorages (the Bight) in exploring the Chesapeake Bay for 30 years. He Monasteries the entire BVIs, docks Bearboat, an Island with more than a Packet 26, in Galesville, Maryland. Sailing hundred moorings SelfDiscovery for cruising boats to tie up to. In Showcase high season, even Seeking A Sidetrips that is not enough Tortola Villa? on some Rent Your Own Spirits weekends. It's an Private & Sportslovers easy sail from the Luxurious Villa in Tortola. Book in charter boat bases Tango Advance! near Road Town Tortola.Caribbeanway… Tools&Tips (the BVI capital) Volunteer and a favorite Boat Show first-night Inventory Wildthings destination. The Bight, Norman Island (all photos S. Blakely) Pre-Shop the WineHunter baltimore Boat , just above the Bight Show! Exclusive • It has some of Sale Prices. View More to Explore: the best Online. Boats.BaltimoreBoatS… Sailing Travel snorkeling and Browse Sailing diving in the BVIs Private Villa Travel -- around Pelican Rentals Island and The Recommended Private Gay- Reading Indians (just to Friendly Villa Sailing Travel the north of the Rentals We Set- Links Bight), and the up Your Villa, three water-level Flights & Car Caves (on the www.wimco.com western shore of Ads by Google Norman Island, just around the corner from the Bight). Frenchmans Island Lookout Kitchen Bar Island • It has dramatic history: Buried was, in fact, once found on Private Villa on Boat Charter Norman Island (although not for a long time), and Tortola, BVI Plese Yacht Boat used Norman as the model for his world-famous novel, , contact us at: the gripping tale of pirates and buried gold. www.frenchmanslook… Destinations

The William Thornton (Willie T) boat bar Annapolis (4) • It has two of Recent Posts

http://www.travelbeat.net/sailing/archives/2009/01/norman-island-bvi-hotspot.html[1/19/2011 12:17:54 PM] Norman Island: Hotspot in the BVIs | Sailing Travel

Antarctica (2) the most Antilles (1) legendary and Bermuda's 400th Birthday Party Argentina (2) infamous bars in Norman Island: Bahamas (2) the BVIs -- the Hotspot in the BVIs Baltimore (5) William Thorton Portugese Skywatch: Belfast (1) (aka the "Willie From Moonrise to T"), a floating Sunset Bermuda (2) boat bar and Washington on the Boston (3) Potomac: A River restaurant, and, Cruise Through Brazil (1) just a short way History British Columbia (1) away on shore, Dockside Dreams: the Pirates Bight From Annapois to (6) L.A., Fall Boat Shows bar. Late at night Strut Their Expensive Cabo San Lucas (1) when the rum and Stuff California (4) the rowdiness kick in, the Willie T is known (among other things) for its Virgin Islands Redux: My Dream Trip Canada (2) naked diving parties off the stern roof. On shore, with lively bands driving Through British and Caribbean (8) the beat, Pirates offers its own brand of beach-based hedonism. Given the U.S. Waters Catalina Island (1) allure of group nudity on Norman Island, pirate treasure no longer is the Catching Up: New- Fangled Boats Using Charleston, SC (1) kind of booty that many visitors come here looking for. Waves and Sails Complete Their Chesapeake Bay (16) Maiden Journeys Which is why, if you visit Norman Island on a busy weekend, and are old Chicago (2) (or married) enough to want merely a decent night's sleep, it's a good Mystic Seaport: A Chile (1) 'Moby-Dick Marathon' idea to pick a mooring as far away from the noise of Willie T and Pirates in Connecticut's China (1) Bight as you can possibly find. That's if you can even find a mooring: In Museum of the Sea Connecticut (1) high season, sometimes more boats arrive than can fit into the Bight, Chicago-Mackinac Race: 'The Mac' Hits Copenhagen (2) and the competition for a mooring ball can get ugly. 100 with 5,000 Sailors Dead Chest (1) Traversing Lake Michigan Denmark (1) A Piratical Past Bastion of Baltimore: Dominican Republic (2) was a major part of Caribbean history in the 17th and 18th Fort McHenry Still Stands as a Harbor Dublin (2) centuries, and Norman Island (said to be named for a pirate) does indeed Gateway have a piratical past. In the early 1700s, a mutinous crew from a Spanish England (2) treasure galleon called Nuestra Senora de Guadelope buried 55 chests of Florida (2) Archives coins on Norman Island, most of which was later recovered by local France (2) residents from Tortola and British authorities. Inevitably, more buried February 2009 Germany (2) pirate treasure is rumored to still exist on the island. Sir Francis Drake January 2009 Great Britain (1) Channel -- the main maritime "highway" in the BVIs -- is named for the Grenada (1) most successful British (a government-sanctioned pirate), who November 2008 Halifax (2) preyed on Spanish ships in the Virgin Islands as they brought back gold October 2008 Hamilton, Bermuda (1) and silver from South America. September 2008 Hawaii (1) August 2008 (Amazon.com) Honolulu (1) July 2008 In writing Tresure Island (1833), Robert Louis Iceland (1) June 2008 Stevenson drew inspiration from many different India (1) May 2008 sources, but chiefly from the true tale of buried April 2008 Ireland (2) treasure on Norman Island. Stevenson is said March 2008 Jamestown, Virginia to have heard details of the island from a (1) mariner uncle who knew the region. February 2008 Japan (1) January 2008 Key West (1) The book's famous pirate sea-shanty has December 2007 Leningrad (1) historical roots: "Fifteen men on a Dead Man's November 2007 Liverpool (1) Chest -- yo-ho-ho and a bottle of rum -- Drink October 2007 London (2) and the devil had done for the rest!" The name Mackinac Island (1) and story come from a small uninhabited island Maryland (8) called Dead Chest (just a few miles east of Norman Island), where the infamous pirate once marooned a Massachusetts (1) handful of mutinous crew, supplied only with a single bottle of rum. When Mediterranian (1) the pirates attempted to swim off the Mexico (1) waterless island to nearby Miami (1) , they all drowned. Michigan (1) All this, long before Capt. Jack

http://www.travelbeat.net/sailing/archives/2009/01/norman-island-bvi-hotspot.html[1/19/2011 12:17:54 PM] Norman Island: Hotspot in the BVIs | Sailing Travel

Monaco (1) Sparrow had been invented by New York (2) the Disney marketing Newport, RI (1) department! Norfolk (1) Today, Peter Island Resort is Norman Island, BVI (1) one of the most luxurious Normandy (1) places to stay anywhere in the (1) BVIs. And the most beautiful Norway (1) crescent beach on Peter Island Nova Scotia (1) is located at Deadman's Bay -- Peter Island, BVI (1) named for the marooned Portugal (2) pirates who died trying to Rhode Island (1) escape Dead Chest. Rio De Janeiro (1) Dead Chest, from Peter Road Town (1) Island Roskilde (1) Russia (2) The Island Today San Diego (2) Norman Island, at roughly 600 acres, is covered in low dense forest and San Francisco (2) scrub. Wild goats are its only permanent residents. It is privately owned San Francisco Bay (1) by Dr. Henry Jarecki, who also owns , a deluxe private island Santa Cruz (1) resort on the north shore of Tortola (cheapest room: $700 per night; the Scandinavia (1) whole island goes for $31,000 nightly). Scotland (1) Locals say that Jarecki has plans to turn Norman Island into another high- Singapore (1) end resort like Guana, although the low-end decadence of the Willie T and South Africa (1) Pirates Bight will be permitted to remain. Currently, Jarecki is having South America (4) some dirt roads cut across Norman Island, which make for good hiking Southern Ocean (2) trails. Spain (1) St. Croix (1) If you are boating in the U.S. Virgin Islands, be warned that BVI Marine St. George's, Bermuda Patrol keeps an eye out for boats entering their country illegally from (1) nearby St. John in the USVI, which is seductively close to the playgrounds St. John (1) at Norman Island. St. John's (1) St. Petersburg, FL (1) One such case involves a USVI party boat busted in December 2007 at St. Petersburg, Russia Norman Island, where the six Americans entered illegally for drinks at the (1) Willie T. By the end of the day, they'd definitely need a Painkiller: The St. Thomas (1) boats collided during the arrest, a couple of the Americans were seriously St. Vincent (1) injured, and those not hospitalized were thrown in the BVI jail. The entire Sweden (1) crew was later convicted and fined. Terra del Fuego (2) BVI police had simply watched the boat (appropriately named Guilt Trip) Tortola (1) leave St. John and head to Norman Island without first clearing BVI U.S. Virgin Islands (6) Customs. Venezuela (2) Virgin Islands (3) Experience At-a-Glance Virginia (5)

Washington (1) Norman Island, BVIs Washington, D.C. (4) William Thorton Floating Bar and Restaurant Index Pirates Bight adventure, adventure travel, aircraft carriers, American history, Norman Island Wikipedia amusement parks, anthropology, aquarium, archeology, architecture, The Real "Treasure Island" (The Islomaniac) art, art museums, astronomy, B&Bs, bareboat,

http://www.travelbeat.net/sailing/archives/2009/01/norman-island-bvi-hotspot.html[1/19/2011 12:17:54 PM] Norman Island: Hotspot in the BVIs | Sailing Travel

barque, bars, beaches, blue British Virgin Islands tourist board crab, blue crabs, boardwalks, boat gear, boat racing, boat shows, boating, Robert Louis Stevenson boatmaking, books, bridges, , Capt. John Smith, carbon emissions, My favorite printing of Treasure Island is the one illustrated by N.C. cargo ships, Caribbean, Wyeth, but a free version is available online catamaran, charter, chartering, charts, Chesapeake Bay, cities, Lyrics to the 1901 poem by Young Alison, "Fifteen Men on a Coast Guard, coastal, conservation, coral reefs, Deadman's Chest (the Derelict)" creationism, crewed, cruises, cruising, cultures, disasters, eco-friendly, Guana Island Resort ecosystems, ecotourism, environment, estuaries, evolution, ferries, festivals, fireworks, First Thanksgiving, Florida Keys, forts, fuel prices, gardens, grand bahama island, Great Permalink | Leave a Comment Lakes, green commerce, guided tours, historic Destinations: British Virgin Islands, Dead Chest, Norman Island, landmarks, historic BVI, Peter Island, BVI, Road Town, St. John, Tortola, U.S. Virgin reconstruction, history, hotels, hurricane noel, Islands, Virgin Islands hurricanes, intelligent design, Intracoastal Related Stories: buried treasure, Pelican Island, Peter Island Waterway, islands, Resort, pirate booty, pirates, pirates bight, Robert Louis Stevenson, Jamestown, labor strife, lakes, lighthouses, luxury snorkeling, the Indians, Treasure Island, William Thornton, Willie T travel, marinas, marine archeology, Marine Corps, marine ecosystems, maritime history, maritime museums, marsh harbor, massau, merchant marine, military history, Your Comments monuments, motorboating, museums, national parks, natural history, navigation, Navy, nuclear power, oceans, oil spill, osprey, outrigger canoe, oysters, Add a Comment paradise island, Pelican Island, Peter Island Resort, photography, pirate booty, Sign in to comment on this entry. pirates, pirates bight, pollution, ports, preservation, rally, rivers, Robert Louis Stevenson, Robotic sailing, sailboat design, sailboat racing, sailboats, sailing associations, sailing records, sailing school, sails, Santa Ana, science, scuba diving, sea burials, Sept. 11, shipping, ships, shipwrecks, shipyards, shopping, skywatch, Smith Island, snorkeling, Special Olympics, sports, square- rigger, state parks, storms, surfing, tall ships, Tangier Island, technology, the Indians, Treasure Island, tropical storms, U.S. Navy, underwater archeology, , warships, watermen, waves, whaleships, wildlife, William Thornton, Willie T, wine, wine-tasting, winter, women sailing, writers, yacht, yacht clubs

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