Back to Rum, BOATS AND BEACHES

“The BVI is now a bit like it was 20 years ago,” Josie Tucci, vice president of sales and marketing for sister companies Sunsail and The Moorings, told me last December. “Instead of full bars, it may be a guy on the beach with a cooler and a barbeque, but the spirit of the place is still there.” So went the spin as the Leeward Islands of the Caribbean set out on a path to recovery just after being stomped by back-to-back Category 5 hurricanes Irma and Maria. After the storms pummeled the region, the BVI looked like a war zone. A year later, even the hardest hit islands and their charter companies are returning to some kind of normality. The effort has not been without its challenges, but it has also borne some benefits.

EARLY DAYS

Last September, some of the world’s most beautiful chartering grounds were demolished in the space of a couple weeks. The damage was devastating and the key to rebuilding was a matter of bringing back tourism. Much of that centered