Bahamas Hurricane Relief by Cruisers

[Palarran]

Originally Posted by MV Wanderlust

Heard about this relief organization today: http://yachtaidglobal.org/
They specialize in organizing yachts to provide relief supplies to disaster areas.

Originally Posted by Exile

Interesting outfit, and look well squared away. They seem more geared towards superyachts, however.

I had reached out to this organization a few days ago. They do appear to be more superyacht focused and more towards delivery of supplies rather that being a work group. They said at the time to contact them in a month so I will.

There are two facebook groups that seem to be getting closer to being able to provide on-site info / organization. They are:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/495049037962870/
https://www.facebook.com/groups/383145409068732/

Plus the HTVFR page:
https://www.facebook.com/HTVFR/

[Palarran]

This is from the Salty Dawgs:

David,

We have many Members anxious to get over to the Bahamas and help. We received this notice that has caused us to redirect how we and our Members are helping. Our fall rally includes a leg for boats wanting to do the offshore route from Virginia to the Bahamas, and we’ve shifted the arrival from Marsh Harbour for obvious reasons, to arrive in Harbour island, Eleuthera.

Regards, Hank George, President
Salty Dawg Sailing Association

[a64pilot]

Originally Posted by Palarran

I received this from HTVFR today. This, along with several other responses from aid agencies and cruisers has convinced me that I can't somehow communicate very well. Nearly every single person has responded with "We can't use anyone right now, maybe in the future" or "I don't think now is the best time to go there because of BLAH BLAH BLAH". When I send the info or request, it always has that this wouldn't be something we would do until after hurricane season, or around December, but that must be overlooked, misunderstood, or not read. Does anyone have any desire to help draft some type of letter or program statement that would be more clear than what I'm producing?
David.

Good morning David,

Thank you so much for your offer of assistance to the people of The Bahamas. I have included a few links below.

At this time we do not need man power on the island, however, in the future we definitely will. Please access the link below and that will put your name(s) and skillset(s) in our data base.

https://forms.gle/285QK75QVzrqdYHg7

Monetary Donations - -
Immediate
Monetary Donations for
flight/boat deployment and extraction costs - Please send to:
https://www.gofundme.com/f/hurricane...-marsh-harbour

Hope Town specific donations can be delivered to

Prince Development
Attn: Bahamas Relief
3608 E. Industrial Way
Riviera Beach, Florida 33404


Sincerely,

Scott Patterson @ HTVFR




On Sat, Sep 7, 2019 at 11:08 PM <david@belaire.com> wrote:
Hello Hope Town. It made me so happy to see a post today that you had a simple upside today. I am a member of a sailing forum with 180,000 members and we are interested in assisting the Abaco area in relief efforts. We are not emergency personnel or a professional relief organization but rather the cruisers you would have mooring or anchored in your harbor or bays in a normal year. We want to give back. While you may not know us personally you know our lot, skilled mechanics, workers, cleaners, hard workers. If there is a way we can open a dialog with someone to start to organize we are ready. I don’t think our assistance will be able to mobilize until after the hurricane season is over and the normal migration of us cruisers starts to arrive. Please contact me if there is anything we can do now or in the future.
David Lambright
SV Palarran

http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...rs-223455.html

I’m not nearly talented enough to help you draft a letter, but I think your running into a couple of different problems.
First they are likely overwhelmed by letters and are essentially just scanning, I’m surprised truthfully you even got a reply, I can only imagine it’s chaos over there.

Then, I am frankly confused about the Governments reaction support wise, the Bahamas is the wealthiest nation around, I’m not saying the people are well off, but apparently the Government has means.
This has led me to think that their objective is to evacuate and or cause the people to leave, as opposed to helping them to rebuild housing and infrastructure etc.
Maybe that is a better plan, maybe the task is just so enormous that there would be suffering for an extended period, I don’t know, I’m guessing.

Maybe contacting business owners and friends you know directly and asking what you can do to help may be best?
Don’t shoot me, I’m just speculating is all, I am not saying I’m correct, I could very well be completely incorrect.

I have seen the effect of common folk loading up their pickup truck and mobile kitchens etc and coming to help. It’s seems more responsive and from a personal perspective more helpful than a government response team, so I think your plan has merit.

[Dots6363]

This is wonderful and we would participate in a heartbeat.

[geoleo]

Originally Posted by Suijin

I think it's a great idea. I also think that the effectiveness of it would be greatly enhanced if you could find a local contact in the area you're thinking of volunteering that could serve as project manager, liaison, and general organizer.

Long after the immediate short-term relief work there will still be a very chaotic environment. Money will be tight, priorities and materials fought over, logistical challenges such as building supplies that arrive late or not at all, etc. It's going to be like a war zone.

An outside informal organization that shows up may find it hard to "plug in" and get traction other than straight "ad hoc" jumping in on piecemeal projects. Maybe that is enough. But I think working with someone who knows the local scene, government folks, and general landscape of relief and rebuilding efforts would really maximize the return on volunteers' efforts and aid.

You know it Sir!

[gatorman49]

My brother has a home on one of the cays in the Abacos affected by Dorian. On his cay, at least, there are more relief supplies than they no what to do with. The current situation is the residents are beat, done in, can't take care of themselves. What they need is labor. Someone to get a tarp on a roof so no more damage is done, someone to start nailing shingles in place. There are virtually no habitable houses on the cays. There is no electricity. In many cases, there is no fuel for generators if you have one. It is pretty dire, especially for the elderly with no air conditioning. One must have a visa to enter the US, many don't, so they can't go there. Nassau is a hell-hole on its best day. There is no room there for refugees. I personally wouldn't give a dime to ANY relief organization. While it may be as honest as the day is long, the Bahamian politicians are generally not. Communications are a problem too. Unfortunately, in the entire Abacos and Grand Bahama there is only one licensed amateur radio operator. Well, you might ask about commercial SSB on sailboats, etc. Friends, virtually all of the boats are on the bottom, literally. If you've been to Green Turtle Cay and seen the large Albury ferry fleet, understand that only one is left. A friend took a boat over to Little Abaco (it is cut off from Great Abaco as the bridge is gone) and then took a look at Green Turtle Cay. He was unable to find gas, anywhere, none at Spanish Cay, etc. If you take a power boat over, make sure you have enough fuel to get back. I'm not even going to talk about Marsh Harbour. That is hell on earth.


So, my suggestion is to pick a place that you are familiar with, show up with a willingness to do manual labor and expect to be shocked beyond belief at the damage.

[Lifeajake]

There are several groups setup right now to collect and distribute $ to the Abacos.
P E R C inc.org a US based 501c3 non Profit
Team Rubicon another non Profit.
There will be a booth at The boat show">Annapolis Boat Show, Attached to the Cruise Abaco booth. There will be additional activities at the boat show as well.
Please participate.
Thanks,
Jim. Rooms
S/V Neverland

[thunder]

I took over 2500lbs of supplys to green turtle cay on Saturday Sept. 7. We are in south Florida, we went over in the 30 foot center console, as we didn't know what to expect. But we found, Channels are clear, debris are minimum in the sound. Friday September 6 the Bahamian Government wanted us to clear in and pay duty on any supplys that were brought in. My contact in Green turtle was Pastor Jony Lowe. Not knowing what to expect, we radio him on 16 and dropped the supply's onto one of the docks that was relatively intact. There is a lot of us heading over from s Florida with the same mission. As of Saturday morning the Bahamians where so upset about the government's stance on duty the government supposedly dropped the duty and clearance requirements'. (I cant verify because we dropped of the supply's and left ).
Marsh Harbor is being evacuated, There is no power grid, There is no Banks, there is no grocery stores, there is no hardware stores. Its going to take years to get the power back up, in fact the outer islands are talking about putting up there own power plants. There was no Bahamian government presence that I seen. only us military, U S coast guard and royal British.
We spend a lot of time in the Bahamas, And if I know one thing, is the Bahamian Government is never going to let you go over their and pound nails without a work permit. Even if you say you are not getting paid.
We put 4 pallets of supply's on the west palm to Freeport cruise ship last night, I am not sure it will leave because of the tropical storm watch that is over the islands now. BTW the ship charged us 150$ per pallet.
When I talked to Pastor Jony Lowe, he said they need building martials.
There is 17,000 people in marsh harbor. Not many have homes and none have jobs left. They need the work!! This is an island country, its run island style. What you think makes sense, doesn't work in the islands.

[mamasafari]

I visited the Abacos 3 years ago (sadly - just the 1 time). I met the Cruise Abaco owners then. Mark & Patti live on Lubbers, and Mark is part of the Hope Town Volunteer Fire group. He would be an excellent contact to coordinate projects this cruising season.



Here's their message about where to donate $$ now. There's also a note about an UNAUTHORIZED Go Fund Me campaign -- be sure to check who's getting your donations.


"One of our boat owners, Ted Dimbero (Leander, TX), has started a Go Fund Me page specifically to help get our staff through this difficult time. The Help Cruise Abaco Staff Go Fund Me page has been set up specifically to help with whatever needs they have - all of these contributions will go directly to the Cruise Abaco staff. We will post updates on where each and every one of your contributions are going and how they are helping make a difference in the lives of these wonderful people.

Please go to CruiseAbaco.com for updates on relief, rebuilding & staff fund distributions. We will also be sending updates via our newsletter. " - 9/11/19



"Many of you have been asking where you can donate. These are legit relief campaigns and websites that take donations. We thank you for all your love and support!!!


Bahamas Red Cross:
https://bahamasredcross.org


Overend:
http://elbowcayrelief-org.overend.com/index.html…


Matt Winslow GoFundMe, who will match donations
https://www.gofundme.com/f/hurricane-relief-for-elbow-cay-a…


Patrick Davis Songwriters in Paradise GoFundMe
https://www.gofundme.com/f/Hope4HopeTown…


HTVR PayPal: HTfirerescue@gmail.com


*When U.S. citizens are donating to HTVFR please remember that you can make your contribution of $250 or more tax deductible through PERC. https://www.percabaco.org/


Mark and Patti Gonsalves – Proud Owners of Cruise Abaco


www.CruiseAbaco.com

****We are dedicated to helping Abaco and the Bahamas. Any go fund me account created for Cruise Abaco was NOT created by the owners of Cruise Abaco (Mark & Patti). We will have more information for donations and relief efforts to follow. ****" - 9/7/19

[malyea]

I can contribute the Facebook page and website -

Blue Bahama Sails
https://www.facebook.com/Blue-Bahama...5139597536199/

[californiasusie]

Great idea. We (s/v Aurora)intend to help out when we pass through this winter. We follow Hopetown Bulletin on Facebook and many other fb folks who live and play there.

[harrynorman]

Count me in. I am an old residential builder, have cruised the Abacos off and on for 40 years, have been a full time captain for the last 9 years. About to head back to the real world but want to help The Abacos.

[Tropicrover]

Volunteering in the Bahamas can be tricky as you might be perceived as taking a paying job from a Bahamian. I suggest that you contact Matt Winslow via
Hurricane Relief for Elbow Cay - Hope Town Relief to see what help you can provide. I agree that it is a great idea.

[Sailor_Al]

I would like to join this thread and help out. I'm a bit of a handyman and electrical engineer.

[Capt. Ray]

International Rescue Group is working with the Relief Coordinator at NEMA (Bahamas National Emergency Management Agency). If you hear of any relief supplies or vessels that can help, do please send them to the Yacht Relief Alliance on the SSCA (Seven Seas Cruising Association) site. Pass the word! https://www.ssca.org/content.aspx?pa...dule_id=283986