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Presents BUILDERS OF TORTOLA |
John Michael Cope John Cope hails from the fishing and harbour town of Whitstable, Kent, England although he was born in Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada. (It’s a long story!) He spent 25 years with the RAF, and in June 1979 landed at Beef Island airport in Hercules aircraft on which he was ‘loadmaster’. The RAF Hercules had brought a British Army contingent to prepare for the Queen’s Birthday parade and engage in some military exercises. He was meant to stay in the BVI for five hours, but this stretched to seven days because of trouble with the plane – and eventually became a lifetime. After spending time in what were then some other far-flung outposts of Britain including Belize, John left the RAF in December 1979. He soon returned to the BVI having been offered a job with Tortola Yacht Charters – a contact he had made during his brief stay back in June. Although living in “the old condos” on Nanny Cay for many years he now owns a home at Hodge’s Creek/Maya Cove in Tortola’s East End where he works out of his home.
After working for Tortola Yacht Charters for a year, John operated a charter boat for British Caledonian Airlines – a newly amalgamated British company (begun in 1970 and taken over in 1987 by British Airways). Caledonian flew into San Juan, Puerto Rico. John’s job was to look after and entertain the aircrews during their ‘down time’ which they spent in the BVI. He then apprenticed to Bill Hurst as a Marine Surveyor (of small craft), getting his license in 1987. Marine Surveyors provide an expert evaluation of a vessel's value and/or seaworthiness. He remains in this profession, spurning retirement, and is a Member of the Society of Accredited Marine Surveyors (SAMS) (http://www.marinesurvey.org/). He is one of four ‘SAMS’ Marine Surveyors in the BVI. He finds his job easier to do now than in the past because of the way the new boats are built – maintenance is generally better and easier and thus inspections easier.
In addition to his day-to-day work, John has tried to give back to his adopted community. He has worked with BVI Police with their spotting plane, and is currently a member of the standing Ships Committee of the BVI. This committee, which is now a government committee, has been in existence since the Falklands War in 1982. It organizes and provides services to the crews of warships visiting the BVI. It caters chiefly to British ships, but also worked with the crews of US and Dutch vessels that have visited this country.
Major ‘landscape’ changes that John has seen include the great increase in small boats (good for him!) and cruise ships (perhaps not so). There is a lot more traffic and many more big buildings. If John were to do things over again, he would do little differently. He is living in a country he loves, with good friends, and has met a host of interesting people, and successfully survived a number of hurricanes. He plans to continue working in the BVI as long as he can and to stay here forever.
Draft of April 19th, 2009 of interview of 17th April 2009.
Builders of Tortola Guide