ON SITE REPORT FROM ST MAARTEN

[atoll]

Originally Posted by rourkeh

First time I have been able to get internet access since Irma hit down here. Irma gave us a 268 mph enema, and this was followed up by Maria which had winds here in excess of 100 mph.
St Maarten has been knocked back to the stone age. I have been all around the island now and the devastation is unbelievable. All the marinas except mine at Poto Cupecoy have been destroyed. 90% of all the boats on the island were sunk or destroyed. Fortunately my 44' Cheoy Lee survived with almost no damage. The winds here were recorded with gusts to 268 mph. One of the big marinas had a huge number of their docks collapse, another all the cleats let go, and the yards look like they were carpet bombed. There are boats sunk everywhere ranging in size from 10' - 152'. I can not believe how many people did a poor job of preparation in tying down their vessels.
A large portion of the island still has no power, water, cell service, and there is no internet service anywhere. Food and water are scarce and the Goombahs here have looted and stolen everything that was not nailed down. Every store, business, and even the containers in the port were broken into. The looting is still going on although the military is cracking down
Friends from the BVI contacted me and 80% - 90% of all the boats there are destroyed. The charter fleets are gone at Moorings and all the other charter bases. The logistics of turning this around are mind blowing, and the government is stumbling around shell shocked and ineffectual. If the Dutch government does not step in and take over to run the restoration this will take a decade to fix if at all.
I will be checking my email sporadically and if anyone needs help or information on site here with the disposition of a boat I will try to help.
PM me on this site.
Cheers, Rourke

thank you for the update,no words can express,the futility and loss you guys must be feeling.

i hope the thread i started in the 72 hours of the immediate aftermath helped as i watched from a distance the disaster unfold.

http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...on-190765.html

if we at Cruisers Forum can in any way assist.
all the best Atoll

[Augi]

God Bless everyone effected.

What good does it do to tie a boat up well or not so well if what you tied up to blows away, does not hold, or is washed away?

If the max gusts mentioned in the initial post are accurate that is something incredible.

[safariKY]

Which charter company in the BVIs will be up and running in Nov? Having asked that question, what about the restaraunts and bars cruisers frequent? I.e.: Cooper Island Beach Club, Foxy's, Quitos, Soggy Dolllar, Ivan's, etc. if these tourist spots don't re-open soon, it is bound to have an effect on the charter industry.

[alansmith]

Contrail, I like your mentation. Factual without being argumentative. I agree that this storms damage will have all resources thrown at it. I also think we who travel there for any reason not change our plans so we can support their recovery. Good post.

[SierraHiker]

Thank you, Rourke, for your overview of what's happened on Sint Maarten. Can you give us a verbal report on Oyster Pond and it's boats and surrounding infrastructure? In particular, what is the status of the Sunsail/Moorings docks and offices? And whats happened to the many personal boats moored in the shallow waters of the Pond? While we were fortunate to send our Lagoon 380 to Antigua in June, we are seeking ways of reaching out to the many individuals who worked and lives around OP. Thanks again, SierraHiker

[aquadreams]

Originally Posted by safariKY

Which charter company in the BVIs will be up and running in Nov? Having asked that question, what about the restaraunts and bars cruisers frequent? I.e.: Cooper Island Beach Club, Foxy's, Quitos, Soggy Dolllar, Ivan's, etc. if these tourist spots don't re-open soon, it is bound to have an effect on the charter industry.

Regarding BVI, I received the following update today from an BVI based charter broker I use. Take it with a grain of salt since I'm sure they're putting the best spin in the situation. Fingers crossed for everyone there.

PS - I suppose I should find a BVI thread to post this to instead of the SXM topic.

- Joe
------------


Twenty-two days post-Hurricane Irma we are seeing daily rainbows by way of positive news coming to us from every area of the Virgin Islands.

• The Cyril E. King Airport on St. Thomas reopened to commercial flights today and there are plans to reopen St. Croix’s airport next week.

• The Native Son and Road Town Fast Ferry resumed their daily schedule run between Road Town, Tortola, BVI and Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas, USVI.

• Premier and Minister of Tourism Dr. D Orlando Smith said, “One of the British Virgin Islands’ main economic pillars, the tourism industry, will reopen for business as early as November. Despite losses, charter companies are already working to ensure guests enjoy the sailing capital of the world this coming tourist season. By the end of November, at least one property had made it clear that they will have 120 boats in the water. I have no doubt that others will do the same.”

• ARK, The Association of Reef Keepers, has been able to determine that the wreck of the RMS Rhone and some other sites were almost completely untouched by the hurricanes.

• The BVI Tourist Board team visited Anegada and “were energized to see the recovery in full swing.There is damage but the island fared better than its neighbors. Relief supplies have begun to arrive daily and ferry services have resumed.” The team believes Anegada will be ready for Lobster Fest in November.

• Need a beer and a burger on Tortola? No problem. Local establishments like The Watering Hole, The Chicken Bus, and Rudy's Bar are providing people with "a place to go" check emails, have a beer and meet with friends.

• We have many reports that Foxy's, Soggy Dollar, The Willy T, Myett's, and many other fan favorites will be open for business by November or December. And as always the natural beauty of islands shimmers on in the water at The Baths, The Indians, The Caves and beautiful beaches.

Many of our bareboat companies plan to be reopened by December. These include BVI Yacht Charters, The Catamaran Company (mid-November), Dream Yacht Charters (November), Footloose, Horizon Yacht Charters, MarineMax, The Moorings, The Moorings Power, Navigare Yachting, Sunsail, TMM Charters, and Virgin Motor Yachts.
Conch Charters, CYOA, and Voyage Charters plan to be up and running early 2018.
The majority of our Crewed Yachts fared well through both hurricanes and the crews are anxiously awaiting the day their yachts are once again filled with charter guests to cruise through the beautiful islands. Many yachts are now accepting reservations for charters as the gorgeous blue water, golden beaches, and newly refurbished establishments will soon be ready for enjoyment by welcomed guests.
In an email update, Virgin Motor Yachts said Only 1 day after the storm Nanny Cay had already ordered all new docks for the marina (which will be here in less than 4 weeks), power and water have been restored, and they have committed to hosting the large crewed yacht boat show in November. The surrounding islands that are visited mostly by tourists will recover quickly, foliage is already growing back, bars and restaurants have started to rebuild already so the forthcoming season will take place. We have also learned the first cruise ships will begin returning to Tortola in November.
Our hearts go out to all those affected by Irma and Maria; the residents who lost their homes, communities, and livelihoods, the crews, owners, and companies who lost their yachts, the local establishments and marinas that are working hard to clean up and repair for the upcoming season. We are honored to be a part of the rebuild by providing a way to help the economy by bringing tourism back to the people of our beautiful islands.
Please visit Hurricane Irma Relief to see many ways you can help make a difference to aide the people of the Virgin Islands.

[bobmcd625]

So sad to hear about St Maarten, but what about neighboring Anguilla? Hard to get news about those folks. Must be similar to St Maarten. So sad.

[RafaCavi]

I have my sailboat in Anse Marcel Marina, with very serious damage, without masts but floating. In my case, my boat were very well tied, prepared for hurricane, but the dock to which we were moored about 8 ships, broke and most of them sank. I could not visit the island. Several friends lost their boats. Mine is perhaps lost too. I am waiting for the report of the expert. Thank you for your information.

[rourkeh]

To clarify, the wind gusts were reported by hurricane hunter aircraft over St Maarten at 268 MILES PER HOUR. As previously stated by another poster this number is very believable from on the ground here. I saw a 15 ton refrigerated truck picked up off the top floor of a parking garage and dropped 2 blocks away.
Also a 44' catamaran was lifted, turned upside down and pushed through the SECOND STORY of a condo building. Irma was my 13th hurricane including having gone through "Andrew" in Florida, and this was another level of magnitude above that. Tornadoes did a huge amount of damage here including destroying all the large marinas. I believe we have entered a new era of the super storm, as evidenced by the new classification of Cat 6 hurricane adopted after Irma.

[sv Grateful]

Irma was a beast, but let's contain the hyperbole: there is no such thing as a "category six" hurricane in the Saffir–Simpson scale.

[leboyd]

Originally Posted by rourkeh

To clarify, the wind gusts were reported by hurricane hunter aircraft oveI believe we have entered a new era of the super storm, as evidenced by the new classification of Cat 6 hurricane adopted after Irma.

While there has been recent talk of a new Cat 6, especially by the news organizations, there still is no Cat 6 classification. The discussion was first raised in 2005, which saw Patricia in the Pacific and Katrina/Rita/Wilma in the Atlantic.

High speed (+170mph) storms have been recorded since the records have been kept, including the Labor Day storm of 1935 which also had 185mph sustained winds.

I'm not saying there is no warming or that worse storms won't be forthcoming. But about 100 years of recording there are several large storms. Which ones predicted the end of the world? We simply don't have near enough data to predict what the future holds. In the 70's the predictions were that we were entering a new ice age. Then we didn't... and two large Cat 5s hit in 1979 and 1980.

[Jdege]

Originally Posted by leboyd

We simply don't have near enough data to predict what the future holds. In the 70's the predictions were that we were entering a new ice age.

We can't predict the future.

But we can predict that whatever predictions people make will be used to argue that we should do what they wanted to do, anyway.

[RafaCavi]

Originally Posted by rourkeh

To clarify, the wind gusts were reported by hurricane hunter aircraft over St Maarten at 268 MILES PER HOUR. As previously stated by another poster this number is very believable from on the ground here. I saw a 15 ton refrigerated truck picked up off the top floor of a parking garage and dropped 2 blocks away.
Also a 44' catamaran was lifted, turned upside down and pushed through the SECOND STORY of a condo building. Irma was my 13th hurricane including having gone through "Andrew" in Florida, and this was another level of magnitude above that. Tornadoes did a huge amount of damage here including destroying all the large marinas. I believe we have entered a new era of the super storm, as evidenced by the new classification of Cat 6 hurricane adopted after Irma.

Do you have official meteorological information about this?
Thank you
Rafael

[Palarran]

Originally Posted by SierraHiker

Thank you, Rourke, for your overview of what's happened on Sint Maarten. Can you give us a verbal report on Oyster Pond and it's boats and surrounding infrastructure? In particular, what is the status of the Sunsail/Moorings docks and offices? And whats happened to the many personal boats moored in the shallow waters of the Pond? While we were fortunate to send our Lagoon 380 to Antigua in June, we are seeking ways of reaching out to the many individuals who worked and lives around OP. Thanks again, SierraHiker

You've probably seen this, but if not, it's destroyed.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WdW-Kw7x7Ew

[zeehag]

rourkeh welcome to the land of cat 7 cane survival. our blessing was that our patricia was not as large as irma or maria.
folks are asking what could they bring to help in the recovery ...
if you can provide a listing of that which private cruisers can manage to bring, please post.
thankyou fro the update.