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Presents BUILDERS OF TORTOLA |
Michael Royle Michael Royle hails from Manchester in the northern part of the United Kingdom but now lives in the Palestina area of Tortola. Mike’s father was an engineer and worked in a number of different countries. He moved the family to India when Mike was three months old and they stayed there for several years (1952-59) before living in Trinidad (1960-69) and then the Bahamas. Mike worked on his “A” levels in the UK before also moving to the Bahamas (1973-77). It was here that he got seriously involved with commercial diving – although his original plan had been to work in the North Sea! A minor career change saw him working out of St. Maarten as a diving instructor on the famous Flying Cloud by October 1977 – where he picked up the nickname of ‘Muffy’. He continued with this until 1980 when he began operating Blue Water Divers in the BVI with his brother Keith. Thus like so many others of our builders Mike moved into a long-term career path that was not part of any ‘grand plan’.
When Blue Water Divers began (in partnership at that time with well-known belonger Cyril Romney who was later ‘bought-out’) it was at that time the third diving operation on Tortola (there were two others on Virgin Gorda). There are now some ten operations in the BVI. The early days were tough as tourism was still in a relatively early stage in its growth cycle – and most of the customers for Blue Water Divers were tourists. Some stability was added as the financial sector of the economy grew, however, with trust companies and other related businesses providing a more stable customer base. About 15% of customers now live in the BVI and dive on a regular basis.
Along with many businesses in the BVI there is a difficulty in getting and keeping staff – in a section of the tourist industry where training and international certification are of crucial importance, and lives are at stake every day. To date, diving has not become an occupation that has proved to be attractive to belongers and most workers in the industry are expats. The effects of projected new labour legislation in the BVI may lead to further challenges in this respect. Other changes in the industry have been relatively few and minor. B.Cs (Bouyancy Compensators) have been improved over the years, and computers have entered the industry but the basic principles and equipment have not changed a lot. Operating the company has become easier, however, due to the advent of the internet and easier access to the BVI by modern transportation systems. In many ways we have First World amenities in what is still technically an ‘emerging’ nation and this helps businesses in the tourist industry.
Mike has seen a lot of changes in his nearly three decades in the BVI, with enormous increases in traffic, the accompanying problems of parking, the increase in crime, and the growth of modern Roadtown – plus the vast increase in residential construction elsewhere in the islands. But like many other ‘recent’ immigrants Michael Royle has no plans to leave the BVI even after retirement. Although his career path was unexpected, he ‘wouldn’t change a thing’.
Draft of July 10th, 2009 of interview of 2nd June, 2009.
Builders of Tortola Guide