Garry W wrote:
Off-topic question here, from curiosity... I was down in the USVI's some
years ago, and I distinctly remember the great damage that the sailboat
anchors were doing to the reefs and to the bay bottoms. Did they ever manage
to institute an anchorage system to limit the damage?

No anchoring along the south shore of St. John, USVI -- the Park Service
has installed lot's of moorings. In the BVI, there are balls in The
Bight, Norman Is; Great Harbor, JVD; Cane Garden Bay, Soper's Hole, and
Road Harbor Tortola; Trellis Bay, Beef Island; Marina Cay; Anegada;
North Sound, Virgin Gorda; and Cooper Island. The really good news is
that the anchorages with no mooring balls are practically empty at least
off-season. The water is clear and it is usually pretty easy to keep
anchor AND CHAIN off the coral and grass.

dave