SEA Words and photography by Geoffrey Brooks, Curator – Virgin Islands Maritime Museum
Smuggling has been an integral part of Virgin Islands’ life since the
region. They would sail off with livestock, ground provisions, fish,
early eighteenth century. The large number of sparse or uninhabited
charcoal, and many other craft items to exchange for the goods and
islands and cays make for ideal places to hide, exchange, or transfer
products unavailable here.
goods and people.
On their return, they were required to pay a tax—or duty to the
Our close proximity to the Danish West Indies and now the US
Crown as it is called—on the goods they were importing. It is still
Virgin Islands, can make this a lucrative enterprise. Also, for well over
the same today and the revenue collected is what helps fund our
a 100 years, boat building and trade have been the mainstays of our
government and the services they provide to us. It is the collection, or
economy; we are in daily contact with people and products from
avoidance of collection, of these customs duties that brings us to the
other nations.
subject of this article.
Every village and family—usually groups of families—had locally built sloops in which they traded goods with other islands in the
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VI PROPERTY & YACHT
Published by aLookingGlass Ltd.
When a vessel checked back in from a voyage abroad, it was inspected to see if everything that was declared by the Captain was