Gonzalo

[MarkJ]

Highest wind gust recorded reliably in St Martin was 103 knots
But mostly lower, 80 sustained and gusts to 95 but is really difficult to tell.

It certainly seemed like more that a brisk Saturday sail.

At least 50 boats sunk or on the rocks, 1 person died and theres others not accounted for yet, but they may be in hospital or cant contact becauuse theyve lost their vhf and be on land somewhere.

Every marina had sinkings. One boat at anchor in Marigot bay survived and 12 on the beach there, 2 in Sandy Ground looted already.

All boats in Bobbies marina at the airport were sunk. Thats where the death occured.

About 6 boats went through the causeway bridge and were dismasted. Another 5 boats stuck under the bridge.

Not a happy time here at all!

You can count the totally undamaged boats on moorings/anchor on about one hand... Mine included.

[zeehag]

Originally Posted by MarkJ

Highest wind gust recorded reliably in St Martin was 103 knots
But mostly lower, 80 sustained and gusts to 95 but is really difficult to tell.

It certainly seemed like more that a brisk Saturday sail.

At least 50 boats sunk or on the rocks, 1 person died and theres others not accounted for yet, but they may be in hospital or cant contact becauuse theyve lost their vhf and be on land somewhere.

Every marina had sinkings. One boat at anchor in Marigot bay survived and 12 on the beach there, 2 in Sandy Ground looted already.

All boats in Bobbies marina at the airport were sunk. Thats where the death occured.

About 6 boats went through the causeway bridge and were dismasted. 5 boats stuck under the bridge.

Not a happy time here at all!

You can count the totally undamaged boats on moorings/anchor on about one hand... Mine included.

can someone start a gofundme site for this mess...or has someone already done so.
they did it for la paz and cabo after odile.. but needs a target for the collection....markj can ye do this?? i think this is a worthy cause ....

[MarkJ]

Originally Posted by zeehag

can someone start a gofundme site for this mess...or has someone already done so.
they did it for la paz and cabo after odile.. but needs a target for the collection....markj can ye do this?? i think this is a worthy cause ....

How could we distribute proceeds to the right people? 50 boats sunk/badly dammaged. Thats the difficulty. Sounds crazy. But I'd be interested in ideas how to do distribution thats fair.

[zeehag]

is there a general center for these to gather to whom the collection should be named -- to jumpstart or help cover costs of refloating boats and reconstruction of area??
or, as in la paz, a group who assists cruisers there??
who will be refloating boats-- perhaps something for them??

[avb3]

Originally Posted by MarkJ

Highest wind gust recorded reliably in St Martin was 103 knots
But mostly lower, 80 sustained and gusts to 95 but is really difficult to tell.

It certainly seemed like more that a brisk Saturday sail.

At least 50 boats sunk or on the rocks, 1 person died and theres others not accounted for yet, but they may be in hospital or cant contact becauuse theyve lost their vhf and be on land somewhere.

Every marina had sinkings. One boat at anchor in Marigot bay survived and 12 on the beach there, 2 in Sandy Ground looted already.

All boats in Bobbies marina at the airport were sunk. Thats where the death occured.

About 6 boats went through the causeway bridge and were dismasted. Another 5 boats stuck under the bridge.

Not a happy time here at all!

You can count the totally undamaged boats on moorings/anchor on about one hand... Mine included.

Mark, I couldn't help but notice there appeared to be no rodes on any of the damaged boats I saw in videos or pictures, so I am surmising that other than holding ability of anchors, that chafe may have been a major culprit.

Can you comment on the set up most boats have? And does that contribute to the problems. What is your setup?

[GordMay]

Originally Posted by MarkJ

... Not a happy time here at all!

You can count the totally undamaged boats on moorings/anchor on about one hand... Mine included.

Unhappy indeed!
Congratulations!!!

[atoll]

Originally Posted by MarkJ

How could we distribute proceeds to the right people? 50 boats sunk/badly dammaged. Thats the difficulty. Sounds crazy. But I'd be interested in ideas how to do distribution thats fair.

you could contact my very old friend south african Steve Coetzee and linda field who's company has one of the barges there that do the salvage work in the lagoon.

they have in the past rescued many hurricane damaged boats with their barge and a lot of the time either never got paid or done it out of the goodness of their hearts ,being yachties themselves .

glad you made it through okay mark

[dohenyboy]

i drove by English Harbour this morning and I did not see any masts sticking up out of the water

[MarkJ]

Midday




3pm




5pm




Then it got bad! Lol

[zeehag]

were you on boat during all of it??? wow markj...
brass ones....

[brownoarsman]

Wow. It looks like the field behind you was already cleared by 3 pm before the brunt hit (or maybe I can't see through the fog). It would be informative to hear about what you did before and during to stay secure (both the boat and yourself!), as well as what you saw going on behind you. Congratulations on staying safe

[John A]

Here's a report from Latitude38

Latitude 38 - 'Lectronic Latitude

[dohenyboy]

it started blowing from the North about 4 am and blowing hard starting at 8 am, in Falmouth. By about 11 it calmed a little, for an hour, then it started from the South and was worse. Since Falmouth is open to the South, there was more wave action in the second part. It started to lessen about 3 pm and finally got under 10 knots about 4 in the morning Tuesday. Southerly winds through today. Now, Wednesday night, first dead calm

[SVTatia]

Originally Posted by Blue Stocking

Now scheduled to hit us, Bermuda, as a Cat 3 or 4, Friday 1200 hrs. This will be 6 days after TS Fay developed into a hurricane right over us with gusts to 112, steady 80 knts.
I'M GETTING TOO OLD TO REMOVE AND REPLACE Stack-pack main and jib from Bluestocking 3 or 4 times a summer. Time for something smaller.

I hope after Fay you guys and Bluestocking came out ok Maurice.
Two in a row within a week must be hard to take. I was there during Fabian, pretty serious stuff, I can't even imagine two of them back to back. Good luck to you all - take care.

[Arthur Garfield]

Tough going for those with Gonzalo troubles-My heart goes out to you all.

MarkJ -- I would echo request of your preparations for your vessel at anchor ?
Between your "miday" and "5pm" photos it looks as is you came close (by dragging?) to that cat anchored off your stern ?

All the Best