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Old 19-10-2016, 10:51   #1
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Cruising in the Bahamas post Hurricane Matthew?

I've been planning a trip to the Bahamas in late December early January, sailing over from Fort Lauderdale to Bimini, and then on to either the Abacos. Berry Islands or the Exumas. But Hurricane Matthew just passed through there, and I'm trying to get a feel for how bad the carnage was. Any thoughts from anyone with specific knowledge of the area and the damage inflicted by Matthew? I don't want to change plans for no good reason.

Thanks,
David.
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Old 19-10-2016, 15:17   #2
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Re: Cruising in the Bahamas post Hurricane Matthew?

I am on the northeast coast of Florida and we are waiting for the beaches to reopen. Right now they are closed but are going to reopen soon. I will report back once I see the carnage here.
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Old 19-10-2016, 18:57   #3
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Re: Cruising in the Bahamas post Hurricane Matthew?

I'm leaving for the Exumas via Miami and Nassau in a month. Also wondering about facilities and fuelling. I know that the eye went to the west of the Exumas and barely west of Nassau.
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Old 20-10-2016, 05:01   #4
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Re: Cruising in the Bahamas post Hurricane Matthew?

It might be wise to contact some of the marinas in the Exumas to see what their situations are, no? A partial listing of Exuma Marinas is here. Try email eh?
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Old 20-10-2016, 05:24   #5
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Re: Cruising in the Bahamas post Hurricane Matthew?

Right now the beaches in Northeast Florida are closed!?! That is a bit of a surprise to me, since I spent last weekend in Fernandina Beach, and my wife and I spent many hours with our toes in the sand. I'm sure it will be at least as large of a surprise to the many other people we saw there, to find that they were on a "closed" beach.

Okay, I'll turn off the sarcasm. The beaches in Northeast Florida are NOT closed! There may be a few, isolated spots that are closed, but for the most part they had relatively minor damage, and almost all (if not ALL) of the beaches have been open for more than a week now.

Obviously the Bahamas got hit much more directly than the coast of Florida did. I do not know the extent of the damage, but have not heard any reports of any really devastating problems. Haiti seems to have been hit the worst, but then they always are--mainly because of the terrible condition that their infrastructure is in even at the best of times.

I have absolutely no doubt that by late December (heck, probably by mid-November!) the Bahamas will have most things back to business as usual. Were I planning a trip over there for Thanksgiving, I wouldn't worry about it in the least.
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Old 20-10-2016, 09:00   #6
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Re: Cruising in the Bahamas post Hurricane Matthew?

I was at Great Harbour Cay marina in the Berrys with my boat as Matthew came through. Great Harbour Cay, including the marina, came through remarkably well. Power was back up within a couple of days and phone and internet are now back up as well. I suspect that by the time you get over there that Great Harbour Cay will be pretty much back to normal. Can't speak for the rest of the Bahamas, though.
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Old 20-10-2016, 09:54   #7
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Re: Cruising in the Bahamas post Hurricane Matthew?

Abaco is fine, come on over!
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Old 20-10-2016, 09:55   #8
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Re: Cruising in the Bahamas post Hurricane Matthew?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Armando95623 View Post
I was at Great Harbour Cay marina in the Berrys with my boat as Matthew came through. Great Harbour Cay, including the marina, came through remarkably well. Power was back up within a couple of days and phone and internet are now back up as well. I suspect that by the time you get over there that Great Harbour Cay will be pretty much back to normal. Can't speak for the rest of the Bahamas, though.
Thanks

I suspected that the Berrys and Abacos would likely be spared the worst of the damage, so more inclined to head that way than down to the Exumas - they seemed to get hit pretty hard.

-David
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Old 20-10-2016, 10:35   #9
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Re: Cruising in the Bahamas post Hurricane Matthew?

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Originally Posted by Tingum View Post
Abaco is fine, come on over!
Now that's what I wanted to hear
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Old 20-10-2016, 13:31   #10
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Re: Cruising in the Bahamas post Hurricane Matthew?

We're making the jump when a window opens to West End in a week or so then on through the Abacos. I spoke with Bahamas customs yesterday They said West End customs are clearing incoming but phones are still down. Heard that OBB Marina is open but haven't confirmed it yet. Anyone else heard?
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Old 20-10-2016, 14:17   #11
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Re: Cruising in the Bahamas post Hurricane Matthew?

From a friend with a condo in Freeport, "80% of the homes in West End were destroyed".
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Old 20-10-2016, 14:57   #12
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Re: Cruising in the Bahamas post Hurricane Matthew?

[QUOTE=denverd0n;2239006]Right now the beaches in Northeast Florida are closed!?! That is a bit of a surprise to me, since I spent last weekend in Fernandina Beach, and my wife and I spent many hours with our toes in the sand. I'm sure it will be at least as large of a surprise to the many other people we saw there, to find that they were on a "closed" beach.

Okay, I'll turn off the sarcasm. The beaches in Northeast Florida are NOT closed! There may be a few, isolated spots that are closed, but for the most part they had relatively minor damage, and almost all (if not ALL) of the beaches have been open for more than a week now.

Obviously the Bahamas got hit much more directly than the coast of Florida did. I do not know the extent of the damage, but have not heard any reports of any really devastating problems. Haiti seems to have been hit the worst, but then they always are--mainly because of the terrible condition that their infrastructure is in even at the best of times.

I have absolutely no doubt that by late December (heck, probably by mid-November!) the Bahamas will have most things back to business as usual. Were I planning a trip over there for Thanksgiving, I wouldn't worry about it in the least.[/QUOTEi have been flying over to Freeport for 2 weeks now doing relief flights . Freeport got hit the worst with over 1000 light/power poles down , little to no water pressure . So most if not all marinas are in bad shape , the abacos got hit hard also but not as bad as Freeport. Marsh harbor is in fair shape as is most of Eluthra both of which are still having some power issues , don't know much about the Berry islands (great harbor) so I'd call there . If you can't make a phone call to a marina your thinking about then that would be a fairly good indicator that things aren't right yet.
]
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Old 20-10-2016, 16:43   #13
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Re: Cruising in the Bahamas post Hurricane Matthew?

Received an email from Old Bahama Bay yesterday stating that they are open for business with minimal damage to their docks. However, they stated , no fuel, electricity or water was available!?!? So I really wouldn't consider them very much open for business!
Will be heading to Bimini then Exumas in mid to late January from Lauderdale and don't expect to have much of a problem then.
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Old 20-10-2016, 17:44   #14
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Re: Cruising in the Bahamas post Hurricane Matthew?

Thanks wannacat. I received the same message. Hopefully when we jump in a couple weeks, conditions will be improved. I can still clear-in but OBB is not very clear on dockage. At least they can't charge for power and water!!!!!
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Old 21-10-2016, 06:42   #15
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Re: Cruising in the Bahamas post Hurricane Matthew?

Quote:
Originally Posted by rastamon View Post
We're making the jump when a window opens to West End in a week or so then on through the Abacos. I spoke with Bahamas customs yesterday They said West End customs are clearing incoming but phones are still down. Heard that OBB Marina is open but haven't confirmed it yet. Anyone else heard?
Regarding Grand Bahama the following news article may be informative. Click on:
Tampa Electric crews assisting with Matthew power outages in Grand Bahama
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