The Development, Conservation and Preservation of the North Sound Harbour Area, Virgin Gorda

by

Ralph T. O'Neal
[undated, probably 1970]

During the heyday of Empire building in the West Indies and especially when the English cast envious eyes on the islands of the Greater Antilles, the North Sound Harbour in Virgin Gorda was very much used. During the 19th century when the President of the Virgin Islands was arguing with his bosses in London trying to convince them that the steam packet should come to Tortola rather than the more flourishing port of St. Thomas, North Sound Harbour was described as the best harbour in the Virgin Islands. However this argument was not sufficient to convince the British that the packet should come to their own islands.

In one publication the harbour is described as being big enough and so well protected that half of Her Majesty's fleet could fill the area. At one time when it was usual for 8 or 10 ships of the Royal Navy to visit the islands of the Empire in consort, they were accomodated easily in the Harbour.

It has been a long time since this harbour was used by the ships of the Royal Navy and it remained for years and years, undiscovered by even some of the indigenous people of the Territory.

Let us look for a moment and find where this area is. Virgin Gorda, an island of about eight square miles, lies straddled from Pajaros Point in the Northeast to Stoney Bay in the Northwest. The north part of the island from Pajaros Point to Pond Bay is mountainous and from Pond Bay to Little Dix Bay is hilly. From Little Dix Bay to Stoney Bay is flat. The North Sound Harbour Area is almost land-locked and several visitors have described it as being similar to Lake Gennerserat. The Harbour begins at Anguilla Point on the map attached, and is bounded on the south by the mainland of Virgin Gorda, on the east partly by the mainland of Virgin Gorda, partly by the islet known as Little Saba, to the North by the island of Prickly Pear and partly by a reef and west by the island of Mosquitoe. There are entrances between Mosquitoe and Anguilla Point, the mainland of Virgin Gorda and Little Saba, Little Saba and Prickly Pear and between Prickly Pear and the Reef. In fact there is a channel in the reef named King's channel because it’s deep enough to enable large ships to pass without any difficulty.

The harbour is very well protected and because it is protected naturally there is very small need if any for man made protection. Since artificial protection 1s expensive this is one of the many advantages the area has for development.

Unlike the harbour at St. Thomas Bay, Virgin Gorda which really should be contrasted to the North Sound Area and not compared with, there is no time of the year when a ship, boat or yacht cannot enter the harbour through the King’s channel. This by itself is a factor and an advantage that no other harbour on the island possesses except South Sound where it takes a much longer time to get and is further away from the settlements.

There are times in the year—September to March—when the islands experience "ground seas" high waves come in from the north irrespective of whether there are high winds or not and when these are at their worst no boats can go or come. These ground seas only affect the north side of the islands, but the best beaches are on the north side. Unfortunately they occur during the "winter season" the time of the year when it is the tourist season.

As stated in paragraph 3 the area remained undiscovered even by the people of the Territory for a long time. In 1952 one old resident of the North Sound, a man with a lot of faith and belief in the future of the Territory said "The harbour will one day be developed. It is too good to remain as it is". The area was then Virgin Territory.

Five years afterwards the first blow was struck. Mr. Stanley Washburn, an American citizen fell in love with Anguilla Point. Countryman Films Ltd., came out to the islands to shoot the film "Our Virgin Islands" and some of the actors fell in love with Eustatia, an island just behind Prickly Pear and in fact a part of the area. A Mr. W. Wagner wanted to buy Eustatia, and then a group headed by a Mr. Herbert Lee was granted a 99 year lease on Prickly Pear, Eustatia, and Little Saba. Fortunately this was afterwards surrendered and if it is thought that this was bad enough to be done without an overall plan of the area, below are listed other developments taken place without any overall planning.

Mr. Washburn has completed his house and a coconut grove, a Mr. Robert Eastham has a 99 year lease of some 5 acres of land at Blunder Bay on which a house has been completed. A group has bought some 22 acres of land at Mooney Bay so far nothing has been done. Mr. Leon Stackler has bought 36 acres at Levericks Bay on which some scars for roads have been put in, nothing further has taken place. The Areas listed so far are between Anguilla Point, (the entrance to the area) and Gun Creek where the meagre docking facilities for the North Sound settlements are built. Mr. Washburn and Mr. Eastham projects were developed on Crown Land, Mooney Bay and Levericks Bay were privately owned, the former was bought by an Englishman at that time an Englishman had no difficulty in obtaining a licence, and the latter was bought by an American who in accordance with the provisions of the Aliens Land Holding Regulation Act had to get a licence. Leaving Gun Creek and still on the mainland of Virgin Gorda, it is understood that negotiations are underway for the sale of an area of land with sea frontage just around Semper Point. From there, fortunately the Crown owns all the land until Biras Creek. There is a development carried out by Mr. & Mrs. Euan MacFarlane at Little Bay. Biras Creek was owned by a North Sound family, it was sold in 1965 for $60,000 to a group of Americans from Chicago, who did nothing despite the terms of the licence and in 1970 it changed hands for $400,000. The Government asked that they paid $100,000 in lieu of not carrying out the comitments. On the block of land known as Cleaning Point, three North Sound families owned about 130 acres of land' Twenty two acres have been sold to Mr. Bazil Symmonette, eighteen acres is under option to him and an area of 92 acres has been sold to a Norweigian group. Thus all the privately owned land from Anguilla Point to Cleaning Point with sea frontage has been sold or is under option to be sold. It would be good at this juncture to pause and consider how much better or worse the owners of the land are since the sale of the property.

At Cleaning Point about 3 acres of Crown Land have been leased to Mr. Basil Symmonette and he has constructed some guest facilities on it.

Little Saba is so small that no development has yet taken place there or will take place for some time. It is included in the lease to Mr. Alan 0. Hickok who has Eustatia Island also.

On Eustatia Island Mr. Alan 0. Hickok who took up the lease after the Lee group surrendered it, has been carrying out slowly a development which has not spoiled the island. Leaving Prickly Pear for a while and jumping to Mosquitoe Island, one comes across an all too familiar story.

Mosquitoe Island area 112 acres was bought by John Richard Vanterpool in 1888 on a public sale for £5.00. Owned by his children and grand children, an option was granted by one of the sons for $12,000 in 1960. Several other persons seemed to have had interest in the island and eventually the option for $12,000 was never taken up and in 1964 it was sold for $85,000. A small development took place on it and in 1969/70 it changed hands for 1/[?] million dollars. There is a talk that substantial development will take place there. We can only wait and see.

Necker Island is at the outer ring of the harbour. This island at one time belonged to a family from the North Sound but in the late forties or early fifties it was sold for $1,OOO (a big sum in those days) to one Stephen Cliff. Eventually Mr. Alan Cobham tenacles spread to the area and he bought it. The island has some lovely beaches especially on the western and southern coastline and is surrounded by beautifully coloured reefs and shoals a paradise for the snorkler. Under the Wild Birds Protection Ordinance it has been declared a Bird Sanctuary.

Prickly Pear some 212 acres is owned by the Crown and it lies between Mosquitoe and Eustatia. To be brief it is a beautiful island and together with the Reef just east of Mosquitoe forms the main northern protective barrier for the Sound or harbour. There are two long white beaches in addition to other coves, one having the name of Honeymoon Cove. Several people are in love or profess to be in love with this island, in some cases for speculation no doubt, in others perhaps for genuine development. However the present B.V.I. Government have decided and wisely so that no action should be taken to do anything about the island until 1972. By this time there should be good indications as to what will happen in the area.

It is proposed that by June 1971 electricity should be in the North Sound. Presently a surfaced road is being put in from the Valley to North Sound via the southern side of the mountain and a 500 acre tract of land on the mountain peak has been set aside as a National Park. These three amenities should give the area a push forward and if proper harbour facilities are developed at North Sound this would make a bigger impact on the area.

Since very little development has been done at North Sound area it is important now that a comprehensive plan should be prepared covering all aspects of the area. If for example Mosquitoe Island (Drakes Anchorage) is really developed and Symmonette development (The Bitter End) goes ahead, one can see what can happen with the sewage and other refuse from yachts and boats at the Bitter End. This will end up down at Drakes Anchorage which is at the western end of the Harbour or down wind and tide. Similarly Washburn and Eastham will be at the receiving in. This is just one small but important point.

At the moment the Government has a Town Planner on secondment from the United Nations Development Assistance Programme. He should be asked to prepare a master plan for the area. The Caribbean Research Institute of the College of the Virgin Islands should be approached now to carry out a survey of the area with special emphasis on the development of marinas, the effect on the harbour of cutting roads on the surrounding hillsides, cleaning of beaches in the area, and to make recommendations on the prevention of pollution and contamination in the area.

My own opinion is that this area could become the Yachting Mecca of the Virgin 1slands but before this takes place the necessary surveys and investigations should be done now not after. Even if electricity reaches to all the areas, building is going to take a long time and be a gigantic task. In the meantime the yachts and charter boats both bare boat and crewed could bring a large number of people to the area. Furthermore the Virgin Islands are well suited to yachting especially from Road Town or Hodges Creek where in each place there are charter boats. Leaving any of these two places it is a pleasant sail or boat ride to the North Sound where the day's trip can be terminated and with the facilities at Drakes Anchorage and the Bitter End, the yachtsmen can enjoy a refreshing night after a relaxing days sail. Since the North Sound is at the eastern end of the Virgin Islands, it has this further advantage that most yachts would end their trip through the Virgin Islands there. But apart from enjoying an evening at Drakes Anchorage or the Bitter End the whole area could be explored. In fact one could spend about 2 or 3 days visiting the islands and enjoy the swimming, snorkelling, fishing, skin diving, water skiing and other aqua sports that the area is well suited for. Once a yacht is anchored within the harbour as indicated on the map attached hereto the owner or charterer need never bother about her, she is safe.

To ensure that the area remains the tropical marine playground of the Virgin Islands certain action must be taken quickly.

It strongly recommend that Prickly Pear and Necker Island should as a matter of urgency be declared National Parks. The former is owned by the Crown and there can be very little difficulty in declaring this to be a Park. Necker 1sland as stated earlier is privately owned and would have to be acquired and the owner compensated. Land in the area has been selling for $2500 an acre, and the island is about 40 acres, a total of approximately $100,000, would be required.

In making this recommendation, one must consider whether it would be more profitable to keep the area as a marine playground or to wait and get more hotels. As stated earlier, large hotels will take a long time to reach the area, small hotels are uneconomic to operate. One therefore bases his assumptions on what the present position is and it is not possible to make projections since very little information is available.

Fortunately the Crown owns large tracts of land around the area and can lead the way in the development. The Development Control Authority should also concern itself with the area.

The owners of land around the area should get together to ensure that there is co-ordination of effort and that development takes place in a planned fashion. Even if development is slow, and this has advantages, the crux of the matter is to have planned development to ensure the orderly development of a beautiful area.

It would be a pity to loose an opportunity to have a model development.