To all concerned:
I just got off the
phone with Ed Newell who is a local Bahamian resident and heads the North Abaco Rebuilding Initiative (NARI). He sounds committed to working with cruisers who can come and help their projects, which span from Treasure Cay up to Cooperstown. They are receiving
funding and
purchasing large quantities of supplies, some of which arrived on a barge today. We (Palarran) are still almost 6 weeks away from arrival so it shouldn't be a problem for him to have jobs arranged. He mentioned transportation, which may be supplied or could require the rental of a car. That wasn't 100% clear but if there isn't transportation available, the need for work to be done in Treasure Cay proper is huge - years and years worth. Their goal right now though is to get the settlements up and livable, then hire the residents to
rebuild Treasure Cay.
There are multiple benefits of working with Treasure Cay and NARI that I see. First is that we can use the harbor at Treasure Cay as a base. It's protected and central. This is specially important to me as my
insurance coverage excludes Grand Bahama and Abacos so lessening risk is a good thing. And when I look at the individual names listed as leadership and support team members, it's easily apparent that this is a serious and local group. I stressed to Ed that it is, at least for Palarran, our desire to help those who won't receive much assistance otherwise and he said "No Problem".
I explained to Ed that there are multiple
boats looking at coming to the area as they either pass through or as a
destination in their cruising. He would prefer to get a list of arrival times, crew size, names,
phone numbers, specific skills if possible, etc. And, if he can get them as far ahead of time as possible it will allow them to plan better.
If any of you would like to join this effort at anytime, please PM me your Name, e-mail address, phone number, expected arrival date and planned duration, crew size, and any special skills you might have to offer. I'll get Ed this information as it comes in.
NARI
A few notes: Maxwells is supposed to reopen in a few weeks, gas and
diesel is available, there are a couple bars and restaurants open, and from what I've read, it is safe to travel to and work here.
Finally for this post, many people have posted names of organizations, people, and places as suggestions that need help. I've spent a substantial amount of time researching, calling, and thinking about almost all of them. While this is my suggestion and the course we are going to follow, there are a lot of others.
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