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Tortola and Virgin Gorda (BVI) Update
Happy birthday today to TONY SNELL of the Last Resort, BVI
Published: Fri, Mar 19 10:10 EDT
By DearMissMermaid at aol.com
The Last Resort at Trellis Bay
Owner, Tony Snell
Happy Birthday today to TONY SNELL,  owner
and long time entertainer at The
Last Resort, in Trellis
Bay, (though recently he did make an appearance there to a packed house, and
I wrote about it in an older post.) I do believe he is past 80 now and still
going strong! He is an important icon in BVI entertainment history. Back
in the early 80's on my first visit to the BVI, I of course went to the Last
Resort where Tony was singing hilarious songs about bareboaters who were friends
before they bareboated together and were now ready to kill each other after a
few days of vacation...
He had a singing dog, who later retired and went to live with a
friend of mine at Smugglers Cove, but true to his retirement, the dog never sang
another note. There were donkeys, Chocolate and Vanilla, one who loved to muzzle
guzzle beer. I think there were also sheep, goats, chickens and cats plus the
ubiquitous lizards (and lounge lizards too!) It was hands down the BEST
entertainment because Tony is crazy and his performance was outrageously
funny.
Years later when I ended up crewing on charter yachts, we stopped by there
almost every week so our guests could enjoy his show. Why the Queen hasn't
Knighted him yet, is still a mystery, (I'll ask her about that again...)  If you haven't seen Tony
perform, then you've missed one of the BVI's greatest legendary entertainers.
He watched the 'Battle of Britain' from the tennis court at home,
and when he turned eighteen he volunteered for the RAF.
He learned
to fly in the USA and was posted to a Spitfire squadron. Some of the story
depicts the wild life enjoyed by the young fighter pilots between sorties,
as each day could always have been their last one on earth.
The
squadron was in Malta covering the invasion of Sicily when he was shot down.
He crash-landed in a tiny field and set off to get back to the beach to try
and get a lift back to Malta. After two skirmishes with the enemy he was
finally captured and because of mistaken identity was shot as a spy. Seeing
what was about to happen he made a run for it and although hit five times
lived to tell the tale.
He finally escaped by jumping from a moving
prison train in Italy and joined the partisans to make maps for the dropping
of arms. He took them over the mountains to Switzerland. He was awarded the
D.S.O.
He returned to England and joined a jet fighter squadron.
After the war he became an actor, doing plays, TV, music hall, cabaret and a
few films.
He toured Africa and America doing a one man show on
piano and guitar, and has been performing at his own restaurant (THE
LAST RESORT) on a tiny island in the Caribbean for 37 years. His
inspiring wife produced wonderful meals.

Today in the BVI, still hazy with scattered
clouds, chance of sprinkles for 1-3 minutes now and then. 
Several readers sent Dear Miss Mermaid interesting
pictures and you can see these here at
my Other Blog.
Also
MESSAGE IN A BOTTLE:
Just an FYI although I am sure
you are more than prepared. We had a mini hurricane in NY the other day
with winds over 70 KTS in some places. Thousands of trees were knocked
down because the ground was saturated with heavy rains for 3 days. My boat
club on the North shore of Long Island was flooded from the tidal
surge. Stay safe out there! Mitch
Oh my gosh Mitch! You
might as well live in the Caribbean if you are suffering this fate in NY, this
is just incredible! Many folks find out too late: that the fine print in
their insurance doesn't cover floods. I hope your boat club was able to bail
out! 
Also Mitch shared a reprint from
Boat US: (Dear Miss Mermaid was a member for many decades, my gosh that makes me
sound older than I really am...)
First Hurricane Season Forecasts
Rattle Boaters, Marina Operators
BoatU.S. Can
Help You Prepare
ALEXANDRIA, VA,
March 17, 2010 - With the release of several early seasonal hurricane
forecasts for this year, boaters and marina operators are finding out they
could face a much different scenario than last year's relatively mild storm
season.
Accuweather, a nationwide weather service, recently reported
it expects 2010 to be an "extreme season" with as many as 18 named storms, a
100% increase over 2009. BoatU.S., a national boat owners group with
experience in hurricane preparation and post-hurricane recovery efforts says
that most boaters and marinas can survive by being better prepared. To help
with this task, the Association has some free online "tools" available at
the BoatU.S. "Hurricane Resource Center" at http://www.BoatUS.com/Hurricanes
.
The Web site offers easily downloadable storm planning materials
including a hurricane preparation worksheet, an in-depth Guide to
Preparing Boats and Marinas for Hurricanes, and checklists for what to
do before and after a hurricane strikes. Sample hurricane plans for boat and
yacht clubs as well as up-to-the-minute storm tracking tools with live
satellite images are also online in one convenient Web site.
While
the safest location for a boat during a storm is on land, boaters may also
want to ask their insurer now if their policy helps pay some of the costs of
a storm-related haul-out. Boat owners seeking the services of a professional
delivery captain to move a vessel to a safe "hurricane hole" can go to the
BoatU.S. Captains Locator at http://www.BoatUS.com/procaptains/
. If moving the boat is not possible, BoatU.S. suggests owners contact their
marina now to enroll in hurricane "clubs" and coordinate storm
preparations.
Help for Boat Clubs, Yards and
Marinas
The free 24-page What Works, A
Guide to Preparing Marinas, Yacht Clubs, and Boats for Hurricanes shares
success stories as well as failures of dozens of marinas and clubs that have
experienced a hurricane over last two decades. The guide covers floating
docks with tall pilings, strapping down boats ashore, developing hurricane
clubs for customers, dealing with boats at fixed docks, moving boats to
hurricane holes, and how to install better moorings.
A special legal
section, "Protecting Yourself from the Storm," offers information
equally important to any marina owner or yacht club leadership -- how to
protect themselves from vessel owners seeking compensation for
hurricane-related damage.
Also included is a sample Marina
Hurricane Preparation Plan that can be customized for any boating
facility, as well as a Hurricane Preparation Worksheet that can be
copied and given to individual boat owners.
To download a copy of
the guide, go to www.BoatUS.com/hurricanes . To
get a paper copy, call 703-823-9550 ext. 3525.
###
About
BoatU.S.: BoatU.S. - Boat Owners Association of The United States - is
the nation's leading advocate for recreational boaters providing over half a
million members with government representation, programs and money saving
services. For membership information visit www.BoatUS.com or call 800-395-2628.
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