HURRICANE IRMA UPDATE - September 2017

Moonshadow lifting

Crane in place, vessels getting refloated!

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Nauti by Nature

Floating and ready to get out of the way... Hugh

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She got the house

Patched up and floating to be able to move her out of the way.

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Dear Owner,

Following yet another frantic week dealing with the ongoing local issues as well as with the insurance companies we are pleased to report the following progress has been made:

Marianne has managed to acquire the services of a local commercial dive company and they have assured us that they are “Mobilizing today should be running by lunch time with results by this evening‎"

They will be arriving later today to start refloating boats and to relocate them using his divers, his boat and his barge with a crane onboard. We have secured land between the dock and the office to lift the damaged boats onto so we can begin evaluate them more thoroughly and even begin initial repairs. Those vessels that are deemed to be a total loss will be moved to a site in the East End of the island that has already been arranged in advance.

There is a large cat that sunk during Irma that was blocking the entrance. Unfortunately she then moved during Maria so navigation around her is difficult so we have arranged for a pilot to bring the arriving new boats into the marina. The first new boat arrives tomorrow and will go to the Cruise Dock where Mynova will be waiting for them to get the crew cleared in with Customs and Immigration. The pilot will then go with the crew to bring them into our base at Hodges Creek. We have already moved some of our boats to the other side of the marina to create the space we need.

It has been a very long, slow process but we hope we are finally starting to see some progress and once again thank you for your continued patience and support.

Hugh Murray
PRESIDENT

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Currently all we have from the insurance company is a 1 line initial report of the boats that the surveyor was able to see and get onboard. We have circulated to each owner the photos he took but in most cases it was only 1 photo per boat.

The next step is to get a detailed report on each boat and we are trying to schedule when that is going to take place.

We were of the opinion that the facilities to do proper repairs en masse do not currently exist in the BVI so the initial plan was to put those boats that were determined to be "fixable" onto a barge, using a crane, and taking them to Puerto Rico for repairs. Mother nature decided to intervene and has now removed that option for us.

We are now pushing to have those boats brought back to Florida to have them repaired by Multitech, the Lagoon Factory Authorized repair center. As Multitech's largest customer, we are confident that we will be at the top of the list to get priority for repairs. The next step is to therefore find a ship or barge that can lift the vessels in the BVI to return them to Florida. That is proving to be a significant challenge as there only appears to be a couple of barges currently in the BVI and they are all fully booked and working constantly so we are one of many in a long line.

We are therefore trying to arrange for a ship to be sent in to achieve this and we are working closely with the insurance company on this project.

Hugh Murray.

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Insurance Update - 22 Sep 2017

complications From Successive Storms

Hurricane Irma’s storm track directly affected St Martin, BVI and USVI impacting almost every yacht charter company. The track of Hurricane Maria has complicated the situation by passing in close proximity to the hardest hit islands from Hurricane Irma but also expanding significant damage to islands that were not previously impacted such as Guadalupe and Puerto Rico. For Hurricane Irma damages, Falvey had deployed a number of surveyors in St Martin/Antigua, BVI and USVI, but the arrival of Hurricane Maria caused them to evacuate or seek shelter until it was safe to resume operations. Falvey continues to deploy more resources on each island to expedite vessel location and perform initial triage assessment.

Tui Marine Problem At Paraquita Bay

Paraquita Bay is the largest hurricane hole in the Northern Caribbean and housed a large majority of Tortola’s charter fleet vessels. Unfortunately, there is a single narrow entrance into the bay, which holds hundreds of vessels during a hurricane event. Currently, a majority of the vessels inside the bay are not yet accessible because the entrance is not wide enough for a reasonably sized salvage barge to enter. Preliminary efforts have been established to widen the entrance of the bay by at least 30’ in order to solve this problem. In addition, the majority of vessels within Paraquita Bay belong to TUI Marine there has been very little cooperation/involvement from TUI to contribute to this effort. Further complicating the situation is that TUI vessels are reportedly lying on top of other vessels and thus it is critical to get authorization/cooperation from TUI to allocate resources to start to move those vessels.

Preliminary Vessel Assessments For Charter Fleets

Falvey is using a simplified stratification scheme in the initial phase of damage assessment for charter fleets

• Level 1: vessel afloat and operational; no observed structural damages; rig intact; minor cosmetic damages
• Level 2: vessel afloat; rig damaged/down; no observed water intrusion/hull breach; substantial cosmetic damages; any damage to hull/structure are believed repairable
• Level 3: vessel aground or partially submerged; rig damaged/down; hull breached with intrusion of water; possible CTL
• Level 4: vessel aground, capsized or sunk; rig down; heavy structural damage with multiple or catastrophic hull breach; very likely CTL
• Level 5: vessel sunk; rig damaged/down; condition of hull/extent of damage unknown; very likely CTL

Repair Facilities To Be Determined

Falvey is also in the process of securing yard space for vessel storage/staging in various locations throughout the Caribbean. Falvey is aggressively attempting to finalize arrangements with a contractor for storage/staging/repair operations in Puerto Rico, and with tug/barge companies to provide “shuttle” services between the islands for the affected vessels. However, Falvey will need to re-assess this option due to the destructive force of Hurricane Maria on Puerto Rico. Initial indications are that the facility has remained intact, however Falvey will have to confirm this to be accurate. Falvey is also considering other options, including repair yards elsewhere, with transport by experienced yacht transport shipping companies.

St Martin

• Falvey is working with multiple surveyors on the ground to conduct vessel triage assessment and liaise with salvage contractors on site
• Falvey has been working with our on-scene survey coordinator to complete all preliminary vessel triage assessments this week

BVI

• Two firms have been contracted to manage all surveys for vessel location and initial triage assessments. All vessels in BVI have been assigned to surveyors for location, assessment and disposition recommendations.
• Falvey has retained two salvage contractors and has made significant progress using two barges on-scene in Hodges Creek and Nanny Cay for vessel salvage operations
• Situation is complicated by inadequate access to Paraquita Bay (see previous description of the issues on this matter)
• Now that Hurricane Maria has cleared, Falvey is re-assessing operational requirements and salvage plans in order to establish a prioritization process to identify what additional equipment and resources are needed in each of the affected areas.
• Falvey will also need to identify which vessels require the most immediate attention and the source of that requirement (i.e. governmental intervention/instruction, preservation of residual value, safety concerns).

USVI

• Falvey continues to work with contractors and local resources in the USVI to locate damaged vessels and conduct triage assessment.
• The situation on the ground has been slowed and complicated due to the damage caused by Irma and Maria which have depleted resources and accommodations for contractors working on the ground.
• Now that Maria has passed, Falvey is deploying an accommodation vessel to USVI from which field operations will be coordinated and surveyors on the ground will use for quarters. Accommodation vessel will be capable of assisting in small vessel towing operations and will have a tender to use to shuttle surveyors to affected areas.
• Assessments made after Maria have resulted in decision to add resources to the USVI with primary focus of St Thomas

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“How Do We Solve a Problem like Maria” – Sept 21, 2017

Dear Owner,

I am sorry for the delay in recent postings but as you are no doubt aware, Tortola has been in a bit of a holding pattern for the last few days as we prepared for the arrival of Maria. Just as things were starting to get a little more organized in Tortola and some semblance of the new normality was returning, we got the terrible news of yet another ‘uninvited’ guest.

As you can no doubt imagine, it was doubly worrying for those on the island due to the existing debris everywhere that had been left by Irma and all of this garbage becomes instant missiles during a hurricane. Here in Ft Lauderdale when you drive through most neighborhoods there are still piles of tree limbs, broken signs and general foliage lying around from when we were hit 10 days ago so I cannot even contemplate what fuel for potential destruction is lying around in Tortola.

Regardless, the good news is that we actually managed to reestablish contact, albeit briefly, with Marianne this afternoon and were informed that the team are all OK despite having had a rather long and eventful evening. Unfortunately Marianne now has even more roof leaks than this time last week but we think there might be light at the end of the tunnel. Fingers crossed!

One of the priorities for us was to have the docks and channel inspected so we could handle the arrival of catamarans on standby from Fort Lauderdale with supplies and this had been scheduled for the end of last week.

However we realized that would not make any sense to carry out those inspections if we were simply going to have to inspect them all over again after Maria had passed through so we delayed this.

We can now get back to trying to reschedule them as soon as possible. We have boats here in Ft Lauderdale ready to go down as soon as we get the OK from Marianne.

We will fill it with supplies, parts and equipment and generators for our staff members to take home with them. We intend making this the biggest smuggling run since the days of the bootleggers! Whatever they ask for, we intend sending. We’ll worry about the fines later.

We want to express our utmost thanks to all of you for the best wishes and offers of help, physical and financially, especially with regard to our staff.

Some of the other charter companies have set up ‘Go Fund Me’ accounts for their owners and guests to contribute for their staff. We were rather uncomfortable doing this and discussed this internally at The Catamaran company and tried to work out what we felt was best for our staff.

We felt the financial responsibility for taking care of them was ours and that our people needed to know that so immediately after the hurricane hit and we were able to make contact, we advised our staff that no one would be losing their job and everyone would be paid in full, even if they could not make it to work each day.

Our commission-only reservation staff were all immediately put on salary for the remainder of the year, even though they would have to handle as many cancellations as they would new bookings.

We will be shipping our staff the materials they need to rebuild their homes and to help them improve their quality of life. A generator each should be a good start! We do this not just because it is our duty but more so because we want to.

What we need everyone else to do is to return to the BVI’s and enjoy them just as much as before……. .but bring even more friends with you next time!

As always, thank you again for your patience, your continued support and your best wishes. We’re coming back, we promise!

Hugh Murray
PRESIDENT.

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Post Hurricane Irma Update from TMM Yacht Charters – Sept 19, 2017

Dear TMM Friends,

Our heartfelt thanks to everyone who has reached out with emails, phone calls, prayers, and offers to assist or donate post-Irma. We have come to realize TMM is more than just a company – it is a community of caring people who share the love of salt, sea, and winds of the beautiful islands we call home. Many of you have asked how to help – so we have provided details and a link to the TMM YouCaring site at the bottom of this email.

Today is Day 14 post-Irma. We experienced the biggest Atlantic hurricane in recorded history and are grateful for the most important thing -- we are still here to write this update. Thankfully our friends and families are also, for most part, okay. As one of our clients said, “You can rebuild, repair, and replace things…but not loved ones.”

The news organizations and social media have been quite thorough reporting the devastation from the storm. Therefore, we shall not go into detail about the damage and losses suffered by us personally or TMM, except to characterize the entire ordeal as “unprecedented” and ”catastrophic.” The BVI relief and recovery effort is happening now in both big and small ways. Large-scale humanitarian supply ships from the UK and elsewhere have arrived or are on their way, while neighbors are helping neighbors survive and move forward day-to-day. We evacuated to our stateside office in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin 7 days after the storm, which now enables us to communicate effectively, regroup and begin to rebuild TMM whilst having a roof over our heads.

As for TMM Road Reef, huge thanks to MARK, RORY, and TIM, who have stayed in Tortola to work on clean up, damage assessment, security, and relief. SANDRA is holding down the fort in the TMM office and five other employees are also working tirelessly for TMM on site - Joe, Elvis, Dee, Dion, Giovani. Our heartfelt thanks to these dedicated members of staff for their ongoing efforts to ensure TMM once again becomes a thriving charter company.

YouCaring to Benefit TMM Employees

Elvis has worked as an engineer and rigger for TMM for 5 years. His 10-year daughter has sickle-cell disease (SCD) which is challenging enough. The week before Irma hit, she had a stroke and was being cared for at Peebles Hospital. Now she requires brain scans that will involve time off for Elvis, travel expenses, and who knows what other costs. She has since been evacuated to St. Vincent and Elvis will remain in 24/7 on-site at TMM BVI maintaining security there. This is only one of many heartbreaking stories. Several of our employees’ homes, cars, and other personal property were destroyed, so they too will need funds for the basics of survival.

Two of our amazing yacht owners, Mark Welsh (S/V Orion), and Graeme McEvoy (S/V Ariadne), have created a YouCaring site for donations. Please consider donating so that we can assist those TMM staff members and their families in need.

Charters

We will be contacting all charterers via e-mail within the next 2 weeks to update you on your TMM charter booking. Please be patient as we will be corresponding with everyone.

As we move forward it is certainly our intent to re-build TMM and continue to operate in the BVI as soon as possible. At this time we cannot say exactly when we will be fully operational. We will do our best to keep everyone informed as we move forward.

As most of you have no doubt heard, Hurricane Maria will be headed towards the BVI Tuesday evening and we only hope that she stays far to the south. We will send out another update after she passes the islands. Please continue to keep everyone and every island in your thoughts and prayers.

We sincerely thank each and every one of you for your support and understanding during this very difficult time,

Barney and Lin Crook
TMM Yacht Charters

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September 18, 2017 - Conch Charters

“Dear Owners, This message below is from Conch Charters.

Thank you to everyone for your patience while we were assessing the damages occurred during Hurricane Irma and for your overwhelming amount of support for our Conch Charters family.

We are relieved to report that all of our staff are safe and accounted for.

We are sure you are aware that Hurricane Irma passed over the BVI as the most powerful Atlantic storm in history and damage to the Virgin Islands is catastrophic.

Unfortunately, we are not in a position to offer our charter services at this time. Until power, water and communications are restored, no real progress in rebuilding can be accomplished. The office will be contacting every booked charterer for this year within the next few days. Again, thank you for your patience.

Boats and roofs will be rebuilt. Vegetation will grow back, as will Conch Charters.

Our thoughts are with those who have lost their homes and possessions, especially several of our employess. Sadly we have had to lay off our staff and although they are all safe, many have lost everything, their homes and belongings and now their livelihood. We would greatly apreciate you donating (any little bit helps) to the fund we have set up for them at https://www.gofundme.com/conch-charters-staff

We will update you on our progress along the way. Again, we thank you for support shown to us.

On the 6th September Hurricane Irma passed over the BVI as the most powerful Atlantic hurricane in history rated as a category 5 plus causing widespread catastrophic damage. A state of emergency has been declared in the BVI.

All Conch Charters yachts were tied up in Paraquita Bay Marine Shelter however, due to the intensity of the storm the majority of the yachts broke free and have suffered major damage, most beyond repair.

Due to this Conch Charters will not be re-opening for business in the near future and unfortunately have had to lay off the work force as there is no work for them. Many of them have already lost their homes and now their liveihood.

We are hoping to raise $30,000 as soon as possible which will go to helping them re-build their lives and find a way forward during this very challenging time.

If you are able there are also many other ways to donate to re-building the BVI which will help speed the process of restoring infrastructure. This will improve living conditions and making it possible for business to get back up and running

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September 18, 2017 - BVI Yacht Charters UPDATE

The following was posted on Facebook by BVI Yacht Charters based in Port Purcell, Road Town and St Martin We know many of you are anxious for an update from BVI Yacht Charters. We thank you for your patience during what has been an extremely difficult time.

On the 6th of September 2017, hurricane Irma passed directly over the BVI. As a category 5 hurricane, she left a trail of destruction in her path. All means of communication with the islands were wiped out, and whilst they are slowly being restored, information is still very limited at this time.

First and foremost, with great relief we can confirm that all our staff and their families are safe and unharmed, including Blackie, our beloved dock dog.

We are still working to complete full assessments of all of our boats. With many areas under lock down, this is extremely difficult. As you can imagine many of our boats were damaged, but thankfully most can be repaired. As communications and road access improves we will be able to provide more specific details of our fleet.

At this point we can confirm that we will not be offering charters in October or November. The whole team is working very hard to ensure that we repair, replace and rebuild in time for Christmas. We will be back in December, stronger than ever! We would like to encourage all of our guests with charters booked in October and November to consider rescheduling their trip. We will be reaching out to all of our customers individually as soon as we can.

Our team has been absolutely overwhelmed with the outpouring of love and support we continue to receive. The best way you can help us, and the rest of the BVI, is to come and charter with us soon. We have no doubt that the bars and restaurants will be back up and running in no time, the beaches will be cleared and the water is the same beautiful color it's always been.

For the time being Abbie and Cassie will be responding to emails remotely. Access is extremely limited so please be patient while we restore systems at base. Kirstie, Anthony, Chris and Arjan are on the ground in Tortola working tirelessly, in extremely difficult conditions, to rebuild our business and the community.

Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers as we now brace ourselves for Hurricane Maria on Tuesday. We will provide another update once the storm has safely passed.

Thank you for your ongoing support.

Kind Regards

The BVI Yacht Charters Team

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September 16, 2017

Dear Owner,

Attached below is the latest update from the BVI’s. We continue to work on the plan to get supplies to them as quickly as possible but we are very sensitive to acting too quickly and making a difficult situation even worse. We have a cat ready to head to the BVI with whatever they need but we cannot leave Florida until we find out where they can dock upon arrival and how we can unload the supplies. We also need to make sure that they can securely store the supplies to ensure they do not get stolen. Tortola was never one of those places where you could leave a door unlocked and expect your possessions to still be there when you returned so you can surmise what conditions exist today.

I think below is highlighting the start of the return to normality in terms of the banks reopening, stores accepting credit cards rather than cash-only and each day that goes past I think we will see it get better and better but no one should think this will be an instant recovery.

But another few steps forward...

Best regards,

Hugh Murray
PRESIDENT.

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The Below is from Marianne

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What do or will we need
-portable generators for the staff (this is quite urgent)
-Bigger generator(s) to run the office space downstairs to include AC units. (maybe 2 separate gensets).
-AC units
-Scanner, 2 printers
-some building material (I need to check this next week) for office
-Cleats for the docks
-Pedestals
-possibly floating docks (no fingers left but we can use the docks alongside and bulkhead).
-Dessalinator for the boats. The boats will need fuel and water to go on charter. I need to figure if the fuel pump at Hodge’s creek can be operational (the dock is there but I don’t remember about the pump) and water. We rely on island water for the boats and I’m not sure if that is going to be working so if it is not, a dessalinator so we can fill boats with water might be good. It’s expansive so let’s hope we can do without.
-skilled manpower to help rebuild some of the office so we can operate. My contractor cannot even help me with my house.

The main unknown at this time is the owner of the marina who has not been around to meet with and discuss what his plan is.

I need to meet with Sue –Aude has been assisting me these past days- to get our accounts back to normal as soon as we have a connection. Mynova said that all the worksheets and invoices had been all scanned before the storm. Gisela, can you check that it is all there (e.g. last scans you received were from?);

Banks should be opening Monday (some opened for an hour or so.. but we don’t always know).

The island lives on cash at the moment. We have used most of the petty cash we had. Indeed, I had asked Aude not to deposit before the storm (in case). It was a good move but we are running out quickly. All the staff have been paid etc.

Now, yesterday I was able to pay my food at Rite Way with my visa (first time) so things are moving.

Now, until we have access to a connection and therefore QB, I will have to keep the old excel accounting back and going!

The rain has stopped and I see a little of blue sky.

Marianne

September 15, 2017

Dear Owner,

Attached is the most recent archive received from Marianne highlighting life currently on Tortola.

As bad as it might seem, it is heading in the right direction and spirits seem high as good people tend to find each other in times of crisis. Unfortunately the worst also comes out in others and we end up with looting, robbery and theft but history has tended to prove that good usually win out in the end.

I will forward you more updates in the next day or so as I receive them.

Thank you for your continued support.

Hugh Murray
PRESIDENT.

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The Below is from Marianne

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Confined at home this morning (pouring rain) so I’m going to try to go through things.

Living conditions on the island:

In general, it’s probably as you see on TV or/and in social media (you must see a lot more than we do). It still looks like a war zone with destructed houses, buildings, cars upside down and debris all over. Some parts of town are a complete disaster. For example, the wind blew the big 4 story admin. building huge glass windows front to back and destroyed everything inside.. Same for Scotia Bank and more…
There are debris all over but cleaning is under way at a fast pace although it will take a long time to get to everything and even longer to repair. The goal for now would be to make it safe and somehow presentable.
The garbage is collected daily or even twice daily but piles up quickly
The big construction equipment trucks are working their way everywhere they can. Curfew helps when they need to have clear roads to move freely.
Special note to Teo and his friend Leo: they worked 2 days with machetes and chainsaws to clear the road to our house and help some neighbors along the way.

The road going uphill to avoid going through town if you go from Nanny Cay (our house) to Hodge’s creek is damaged. You must go through town and it gets mad. Between the lines for fuel and the people who need to get around, the damages, the floods, it makes it very difficult to cross. The fuel situation is also an issue as you must always be careful using your car and your generator so you don’t run out of fuel.
Now, to add to the difficulty, we have been on flood flash warnings for 2 days now. 2 nights ago, it poured, same yesterday afternoon and again now while I’m writing. This complicates things. First yesterday, town was flooded. I managed to go through but got water in my car… I have a 2 year old car looking like a 10 year old (impacts on every sides, flooded interior, plastic on the windows so I need a co-pilot..) but 96% of the cars in the island look the same (the other 3% are upside down and maybe 1% might be untouched!)
So yesterday to go to town to meet commercial Dive (40mns), then to Hodge’s Creek (1hr), then back to town (30mns), then line up for food and shop (1.5 hrs.), it was too late for fuel. I got home around 2:30pm, ate some lunch while trying to get my emails ready (pictures etc.…), go down to Nanny Cay –opens 4 to 5- to get a signal to send my emails and talk to Gisela. Rushed back up as the rain was getting bad. Got home in time to help Didier put buckets, towels etc.. in strategic places (remember lost 2 roofs so we have tarps, no gutters.. ) and waited for it to ease before starting cleaning up and drying the floor. Right now, it is 10:30am and it is pouring… again!!! Everything is wet except for 1 bedroom (Teo’s room) and as it rains, Didier finds out where the leaks can come from and tries patching.. Yippee

Few strategic stores are opening so people can get food, repair supplies, medicine, fuel
Now, in order to keep things smooth, they are not open continuously, they are guarded and access is regulated. You have to basically line up for everything. Count about 45mns in the best case (I lined up for food yesterday). Fuel can be much longer (usually min. 1 hr.). But so far and with patience, we can buy food, water, fuel and Tico has a full stock of wine!
There is water in the island. There is food in the island. Nanny Cay has a big desalination plan for their residents. They have run a pipe outside the entrance of nanny cay with 3 faucets and 2 military guards are filling up bottles (no restriction) for free. It is drinking water. I have never seen a queue there for water so the water supply in the island must be good (they were cases of water in Rite Way when I chopped yesterday. No restriction on how many you could take and no one was actually rushing to them).

The island is still out of connection except for some spots here and there. People keep going around trying to find a signal. Didier was able to call from a random spot but communication was bad. Aude and I didn’t and we were going through town. Data seems to work better. I could text G from town yesterday. I could email from Hodge’s Creek –not always- and Nanny Cay which is the most reliable signal but access to the marina is restricted. You also can only get in from 9 to 10 and 4 to 5. This is my ‘go-to’ place has it is 10mns from my house (in normal times!).

Electricity is another big issue and that is the one I have no idea when they will be able to solve but my guess is that it will be a very long time for some areas like ours. Only town has underground cables and they are still not up as one of the strategic generators (the one starting all the others that produce the electricity) was badly damaged. The day before Irma, Didier purchased the last small 5.5 KWH generator on island. We run it twice daily for our fridge, to charge batteries etc.… He has a 12V pump installation straight from our cistern so we have water to shower, flush, clean and do dishes. Obviously some houses have big generators but gas and diesel might become an issue. All others have nothing. Mynova took some batteries and one inverter from one of the boats to get some power for lights and charging but it is not working now. This is why small portable generators are going to become gold!

Trust companies and lawyers have worked evacuating their staff all week. Some made it mandatory. They have all work together with the military and chartered choppers and private planes (military authorization needed for landing here). This is how Teo managed to get out as his dad’s friends runs a big corporation here (Conyers). Some are temporary relocating their business to Bermuda, Cayman etc.. As far as the airport, my understand though, is that they are not letting anyone in unless you are a resident, a pre-approved rescue team or sort. However, if you come by boat, most don’t even bother clearing in. A ferry ran to St Thomas yesterday but US immigration is only accepting US passport or permanent residents so all the others had to turn back to Tortola. Most people who do not have to stay here for now are trying to leave or have managed to leave: wives and children etc.. This is pretty good as it eases the stress and circulation on the island but is quite depressing for families, as you can imagine.

Just so you know, I’m not complaining. I’m happy to have 1 leak-proof roof over my head and my family ok. We are also all helping each other which is wonderful and very comforting. It’s just some background to explain why it makes things difficult and because I have time to stop and write.

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MARIANNE DOUX-LAPLACE , BVI GENERAL MANAGER – September 13, 2017 4:32 PM

If I can find a signal! Here is a short report on yesterday’s progress and few next days.

At the moment, I have 2 teams:
Mynova
Didier
A third team also headed by Didier will hopefully start soon with the work on the boats and docks.

Mynova and team finished cleaning the office upstairs. Everything salvageable was stored in my office and we secured the doors and windows.
They started the downstairs which will be a bit longer because #1 the partition walls collapsed and #2 being downstairs it got looted and left over scattered around.
Aude was there to assess the needs and coordinate with Mynova. She is in charge of putting together what we need and prioritize. She will also be the one preparing the new boats when they arrive in FTL so they can be ready for the season.

Didier and team has finish the workshop and started the 2 storage rooms we had downstairs. They are also going through the boats as much as they can. FYI, French Maid is almost intact! Our plan (to be finalized) is to move the boat to another dock and put Sean to live aboard and keep an eye on our assets.

I met with Bill Bailey (surveyor) yesterday. He will be by our base tomorrow. This will give us a definite ok to start with the boats.
Today, we will be meeting with Christopher of commercial Dive. I will send you his email. His team does all the commercial dive work around the BVIs and also boat salvage. He has big equipment. The goal is to come up with the best plan: #1 to insure safety of the water at the entrance and in the marina itself coming to our docks. #2 to start untangling the boats, underwater patching the ones that can be, remove the mast that can be, find storage area for what we remove and a triage dock for the salvage boats. If we can have an idea on this, then I can also communicate with Bill Bailey.
Update: Didier met Christopher and he has all equipment and barges coming to start the job. We are first on his list but he needs a commitment. I’ll talk to him some more about this.
I am also trying to meet with Romney (or Ed Childs) to figure what the plan is for the marina. We all have contracts but Irma has changed things. It is obvious that all the efforts we are going through to get back in business as soon as possible although very limited as we will not have a full fleet for at least another 2 years. We all have to be reasonable.
This brings me to our financials.

We have all the new boats coming to Tortola, French Maid for sure, probably a couple of new Geminis (I can swap damage ones for new ones!!), not sure what you have in FTL and not sure what we can get going.

Finally, just met Miles at Nanny Cay and he was excited as he said YES to the November Tortola BS and the 1500!

There is so much to do and still no internet which doesn’t help. Every day is different. Today no fuel and we’re trying to find provisions (at least some fresh meats..)

I’ll get you more tomorrow.

Bye for now

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Hurricane Irma from VOYAGE YACHT CHARTERS in West End – Sept 12, 2017

Our thoughts and sympathies are with all those who are suffering or have been displaced by Harvey, Irma and Jose.

Thankfully, the BVIs were not impacted by Hurricane Jose as it passed east of the territory over the weekend. This certainly aided the relief and restoration operations which are yielding progress every day. We are greatly relieved to have receive phone calls from our VOYAGE charters BVI Base Manager, Rane Downing, over the past few days. Rane reported that road ways had been cleared to the extent that he and his wife Alice have been able to travel from Long Bay to Road Town where cell phone coverage has been restored. On Tuesday, progress was made with accessing Sopers Hole Yacht Services, where some of the fleet vessels were stored. An assessment of damages is in underway. Whilst conditions remain incredibly challenging, Rane said there is food, fuel and supplies available on Tortola. Travel around Tortola is still limited but machinery is working on clearing more roadways daily.

BVI Government officials announced on Sunday night that commercial flights into Beef Island airport could commence as soon as Monday and this has proved to be the case. Supply ships were said to be coming in on a regular basis too. There is also hope that some of the local financial and insurance institutions could be open this week, which is much needed.

Progress is being made but we also know of so many people that are enduring incredible hardship. Members of our VOYAGE charters BVI staff continue to check in from various locations and confirm their safety. Some of the younger and more vulnerable family members are expected to leave the island in the next few days.

David Beavis, from the US reservations office, has been able to secure a commercial flight via, San Juan, into Beef Island for later this week, with luck these travel arrangements will go to plan.

We continue to receive wonderful support from our clients, vessel owners and friends. This is much appreciated and will be needed though out the BVI community for some time to come.

Sincerely,

VOYAGE charters reservations inc

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Dream Yacht Charter: Tuesday, September 12, 2017 10:50 AM

Dear Partner,

We have been able to start measuring the extent of damage caused by the catastrophic Hurricane Irma in the BVI & St Martin.

To start with, it seems that all our clients and staff are safe, which as you can imagine was our primary concern.

Regarding material damages, over 80% of all charter fleets in St Martin & Tortola have been either destroyed or heavily damaged. We will send you updates on a weekly basis but in the meantime, please be aware that Dream Yacht Charter has started the reconstruction of these bases with new boat orders being placed with the main shipyards, and reallocation of boats which were planned for other destinations.

This situation is unprecedented, and will imply a major financial investment from Dream Yacht Charter, as much to replace boats & reconstruct bases, as to find solutions for existing booking commitments.As a result, we need our partners to participate to this reconstruction effort, and starting from Monday 11/09/2017, all bareboat commissions will be capped at a maximum of 15% for all agents in the Caribbean (from Puerto Rico to Grenada).

Here's our latest policy to protect the charters initially booked in St. Martin and Tortola:
Except for St. Martin and Tortola, all our Caribbean bases are open, we can assure the continuity of operations and provide service.
Clients with charter departing from St. Martin or Tortola in September & October can transfer their booking to any Dream Yacht Charter base worldwide except France / Corsica / UK / Brazil and Australia, provided departure takes place up to November 30th, 2017. In the event the new charter fee is higher than the initial booking, clients will have to pay for the difference. If the price is lower, there will be no refund.

We thank you for your help and cooperation during this very difficult period. Our sales teams are of course at your disposal to help with you the bookings affected by this situation. We will start to contact proactively brokers with concerned bookings from next week.

Sincerely yours,

Loic Bonnet
CEO

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September 12, 2.33 PM – Update From Hugh Murray

Over the weekend our offices and staff in Ft Lauderdale took a fairly hard knock from Hurricane Irma but compared to what our compatriots in the Caribbean islands went through, we have nothing to complain about. Power, internet and Wi-Fi have been spotty at best and we currently have none of the 3 in any of our offices but we got our generators connected up today and hope to be up and running efficiently by tomorrow.

Below is an email I received from Marianne yesterday that I wanted to share with you. I received this along with the photos that were put up on the site earlier today which we wanted you to have as soon as we got them. Again, we wish we had more to share with you but we hope the pace of communication will increase now that Irma is well and truly gone.

I was in 2 minds as to whether or not I should send this email to you in its entirety as some of it is very personal. Marianne’s reference to her 16 year old son Teo was because she and Didier were given the opportunity to put him on a helicopter out of Tortola to safety but it was one of those decisions that had to be made within 10 minutes and so as parents they decides their son was safer off the island. All of us parents know how tough a decision that must have been so I will apologize in advance if my decision to share this was insensitive but I felt it helped me better understand what the people down island are truly dealing with.

Hugh Murray

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From: Marianne Doux-Laplace
Sent: Monday, September 11, 2017 5:33 PM
Hi there,

Sorry about yesterday but I was really down after Teo left. Much better today.
I will try to find the connection again to send you this.
If we manage to get a connection, I will work with Aude to upload pictures on dropbox.

I really need to do a much better report but today we rushed around to find gas (out of gas in our car).
But the island seems to have gas now which is good. You have to queue and cannot fill up your tank but still.
There is an enforced curfew. 6am to 6pm. Yesterday Sean (our mechanic was out after and 2 army guys took him back home!). Very Good! While everyone is off the road, they are busy cleaning up. Today, almost all garbages had been emptied of the trash and big trucks are cleaning up the roads properly.
Airport is open apparently. If you can get a ticket out or had a ticket, you can take off. But not many flights so people are still using choppers to get families out (wives and kids).
Food is still a bit of an issue but there are few container been dropped so I think it will get better soon: we want a big steak!
Some stores are opening (hardware, groceries..) from at times and they have guards 24hr.

Work
I had a meeting with some of the staff yesterday morning (Mynova, Sean, Didier, Aude..).
Today they were busy at work. Mynova got a team together and started by clearing the office upstair. They have another day of work probably plus big cleaning but it gets everyone optimistic and happy. I organized the plan of action, Mynova is managing her team and it is very good.
Our workshop at the end of the dock was UNTOUCHED (small miracle). Didier and is staff have emptied it and put it on one of our guarded storage locker because of the robberies. While they were doing something else and had the workshop locked with a chain, 3 guys showed up with wire cutters and tried to cut it open.. 11am in the morning with people around.. I’ll spare you the welcome party they had. While this was going on, another guy was trying to climb on the boats to get in! Anyway, today was clearing and organizing and securing. Tomorrow will be to try and figure which boats are which and what we can do or not.

If we can upload the pictures, you might see what the issue is… trying to find our fleet which is literally scattered everywhere is …. I have no word. You have to lift a boat or dive to figure which one it is. I think best is to work by elimination and try to find the ones missing.

My staff and I are holding on for now so I really want to make sure we have exactly what we need when bringing BTS. The urgency is still here of course but not as much.. I know it is weird to write this.

I have a lot more but I need to go around find some signal

marianne

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September 12, 2017 – Email Message from VSV Vacations located in Nanny Cay

Hi all,

We are pleased to send you this update from our BVI based operations following hurricane IRMA.

Main BVI public services are starting to be back in place, thanks to the UK Army support that is providing for goods and people safety on the islands.
communications, provisionning and people transportation are gradually becoming operational.

At Nanny Cay Marina most services are now up and working (Water, power, sewage, comms).
VSV team is in a very favorable situation there with the help of UK Army, the permanent staff and specialists and the residents that are all working to set the operations back in place.

The marina has begun the site clean-up and is also moving boats from the older marina side to the outer/new marina.

As for VSV itself, we are receiving first summary reports from our sailboats condition, but more time will be needed to draw a clear picture of their detailed and complete condition.

We foresee being able to give you detailed information about our operations in around 10-14 days, the time for us to complete our evaluations, to receive marina’s operating plan and get a better picture of the services and operations recovery along the BVI.

Although we are confident to restart part of our regular of operations very soon VSV will contact you personally during the coming 10-14 days with your specific charter update.

We thank you for your patience and collaboration in that regards : your presence will be highly welcome during the BVI’s tourism and economic recovery process.

VENTES DE BATEAUX :: CROISIÈRES :: GESTION DES BATEAUX DE LOCATION

Fannie Landry
fannie.landry@vsvbvi.com
vsvbvi.com
Skype: vsv_fannielandry
CANADA
C: 514.999.2252

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Dream Yacht Charter: September 11th 2017

Dream Yacht Charter founder, Loic Bonnet, says: “Everyone at Dream Yacht Charter has been so truly touched by the messages of support and it’s humbling to see the best in community spirit coming together at a very challenging time. We know many of our customers have been concerned for those who work at Dream Yacht Charter and for those sailing in the Caribbean. We are so grateful our staff and guests are accounted for and safe, which was of course our first priority.”

“Our thoughts are with the people of BVI and St Martin as they come to terms with the impact of Hurricane Irma. The Caribbean economy depends on tourism and the islands need our support now more than ever. Keep faith in the wonderful Caribbean people to rebuild and recreate the paradise that we all know and hold so dear. You can support personally by continuing with your plans to visit and relief funds have been established to which you can donate using the links below.”

Operational Status

As you may appreciate, there are power outages and communication is still difficult. We have started to make an assessment of the damage and already begun to reorganize the fleet for forthcoming bookings. With the exception of St Martin and BVI, all of our Caribbean bases remain operational.

Customer Bookings

Customers with September and October bookings for St Martin and BVI should reschedule for other locations. Contact our team to reschedule and for advice and support. If our lines are busy bear with us, we will assist as quickly as possible, your patience is appreciated. Our Virgin Islands Dream and Tortola Dream Cabin Charters are not affected. Catamarans dedicated to these cruises are intact and the departures scheduled from October will be assured.

How You Can Help

Many people have asked how they can pledge their support. Here are some of the relief funds which have been established:

Global Giving:
Virgin Unite:
American Red Cross:

The effects of hurricane Irma have been truly devastating but, with support, the community that has led these islands to hold such a special place in many peoples’ hearts will once again thrive and flourish so they fill the hearts of many more in the years to come.

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Sept 10, 2017 11.52 AM

The British are coming, The British are coming!

After a dozen or so attempts to complete and reconnect the call, I was finally able to speak to Marianne personally this morning. She is starting the process of getting back to “normal” in terms of having finally finished covering her roof in tarps, hooking up their generator and clearing the downed trees from her road so they could get off the hill. She hopes to actually be able to make it to the base tomorrow if the roads are cleared. Up until now she had been very concerned for their security due to the looting and total lack of law and order on the island until yesterday when the British Army arrived and took control. There are now armed soldiers patrolling the island and military helicopters have landed and secured the airport. There are 3 British Navy warships offshore. Didier commented that it was the first time in his life that he was pleased to see “zee English”!

Marianne feels that from the information she has received from the other staff that the office can be made habitable pretty quickly. The docks are also intact and did not collapse. I highlight this simply to explain that we need these resources in place to be able to have a basis to start rebuilding from as if we had no docks or office then the situation for the remaining boats would be a lot worse and we would need to find somewhere else to operate from. She gave me some information on some of the boats but it was mostly third-hand information so rather than giving incomplete or erroneous information I would ask for another day or so to get you more precise information. Marianne is going to work on the report tomorrow so please bear with us just a little longer.

We are preparing one of the Lagoon 450’s we have in Ft Lauderdale to go to Tortola in the next week. We have already hired a delivery crew but did not want to mobilize anything until we cleared in with Marianne to ensure we were not sending her even more problems to deal with. She feels this is the right move and is preparing a list of the supplies she needs so we will load up this boat with everything she needs. If possible that delivery crew will bring back one on the damaged boats to Ft Lauderdale where we can start repairs. We are concerned at this point that Tortola may not have the resources to be able to carry out necessary repairs in a timely manner so we may need to make alternative repair plans just in case. We are also looking into using the delivery crews who arrive on the new boats over the next month to also bring boats back to Florida but again, we cannot make any definite decisions until we have accurate reports.

On a personal note, I am writing this as we ride out Hurricane Irma here in Ft Lauderdale. We are currently experiencing 80 mph winds and have been getting hammered for the past 16 hours and it is expected to last for at least another 10 hours. While this may be harrowing for our team in Florida, I simply cannot even fathom what Marianne and her team experienced when you consider that they were hit with winds at more than double what we are experiencing. We are all very fortunate to have simply made it through so we have a lot to be thankful for.

Many thanks for your continued patience and support,

Hugh Murray.
President.

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