Randy Keil Randy Keil first came to the Virgin Islands in 1981. He and his wife Maritha were married on Cooper Island and they now live in a house in the Hodges’ Creek area. They have also lived in the Waterfront Apartments, the Prospect Reef area, Havers, and near Treasure Island Hotel. Originally from Wayne Township, New Jersey (about 15 miles from Manhattan), Randy graduated from what is now Bemidji State University in Bemidji, Minnesota. He spent seven years teaching in California (where he met Maritha) before moving to the Virgin Islands. After over thirty years here Randy now has a work permit exemption making life a little easier in the paperwork area.
Randy dived with the US military (after a Special Forces Underwater Operations Course), as well as being heavily involved in diving in California. Not surprisingly, perhaps, he was attracted to the Virgin Islands by the opportunities for in the diving industry. The 1977 movie, The Deep, with Jacqueline Bissett and Nick Nolte was filmed on the RMS Rhone, and it was this event in particular that drew Randy and Maritha to the BVI. He sent letters to several potential employers and George Marler, who owned the Aquatic Centres (earlier the Undersea Centre) at Prospect Reef in Roadtown, hired him. George Marler sold the operation to Alan Baskin (it became ‘Baskin in the Sun’) in 1986 and moved back to the USA. After 7-8 years at Prospect Reef, Randy moved his workplace to Peter Island, running the dive shop there for Dive BVI. About seven years later he got his own trade licence to operate on Peter Island as Paradise Water Sports, the current trading name of the operation www.bviwatersports.com
One of the most noticeable changes for Randy since arriving in the BVI has been the deterioration of the reefs – with up to 80% of the corals being affected. As the Conservation and Fisheries Department indicates:
The major threats to coral reefs in the BVI are water pollution, sedimentation, coastal development, over-fishing, anchor damage and disease from sewage.These challenges to the reefs have been caused to a large extent by the recent ‘development’ of the Virgin Islands, with a massive and largely uncontrolled increase in the watersports industry, pollution in Roadtown harbour, Soper’s Hole, and other areas. . In the early days rules were lax, but now there is a problem with rules not being enforced. In addition the number of cruise ships coming to the Virgin Islands has grown, as has the overall number of boats in the Virgin Islands, and this has, at times, been problematical for the environment. More planning of the underwater regions of the BVI is needed, plus better enforcement of rules and regulations.Sediment is washed down from the hillsides during rain storms and smothers the corals, preventing their ability to photosynthesize. Overfishing and coral disease can change the structure of the coral reef community and result in algae taking over, which can prevent new corals from settling and the reef from growing. Development along the coastline can result in the destruction of corals by landfill, sewage and overuse. Water pollution can be caused by untreated sewage from boats and waste that has been washed off the land, containing chemicals, oils, fertilizers and household sewage. www.bvidef.org/main/content/view/55/114
The job of the dive shop owner has become more difficult over the years. There are more rules and regulations governing their operations, and the new Shipping Registry rules are also making life more challenging. It would definitely be harder to set up and operate a dive shop operation now, compared to in the past. In addition, there are fewer business opportunities and more people trying to capitalise on these operations. Randy believes that in general dive shop operations are a lot better now than they were in the past – and that they are largely self-policing. The operations of VISAR (http://visar.freshmango.com/) have helped to make the watersports industry safer, and the Marine Police operation is also working better than in the past. The involvement of the National Parks Trust in recent years has helped a lot, and the mangrove restoration project is encouraging. There have also been good responses to the threats of climate change.
Randy has gained a lot from the Virgin Islands but has also tried to give back whenever he could – particularly towards the environment in which he lives, and which provides his living. He has been on the board of the National Parks Trust for about ten years (http://www.bvi.gov.vg/statutory-boards/national-parks-trust). He has acted as President of the Dive Operators’ Association, has been involved with Reef Check, was a charter member of the Association of Reef Keepers, a charter member of, the Reef Guardians, and has been involved in the Island Resources Foundation and the Reef Environmental Education Foundation.
In his over thirty years, Randy has had many adventures while diving in the Virgin Islands. He most well-known is when he was “lost” over Santa Monica Rock for a couple of hours, and stimulated a major air-sea search operation. Others can be viewed in “Randy Keil's Dive Adventures to the Ends of the Earth” at http://www.scubamom.com/keil/
Although Randy loves his life in the BVI, if he ‘had his time over’ he would have bought land and a home sooner, and would have started his own business earlier. Assuming that he has no significant health care issues, he does not visualize any major life changes in the foreseeable future.First draft of January 29th, of interview of January 11th 2013.
