As many of you know, this hurricane season has been pretty brutal on the islands and Southeastern US. We’ve had a lot of messages asking us how we fared and what the winter will hold. In short, our status report is All is Well, and Staying the Course. Details below.
Hurricane Irma affected Miami and southern Florida pretty immensely, but we were very lucky that we were sheltered in a great area in Biscayne Bay – you can actually watch a time-lapse video of the boat through the hurricane here. Since we have 2 generators on board, we were well supplied with power throughout, and no damage to report. The rest of Miami got power back within the week after the storm’s passing, and the Florida Keys is reopening to tourists this weekend. All great news for the local area.
The Virgin Islands is another story. Reports coming out of St. Croix are all good – some damage to areas of the island, but their airport reopens today to normal activity and they are restoring power to additional parts of the island daily. We don’t expect any change in our plan to return there this Winter, and we are looking forward to reconnecting with our island friends! Puerto Rico is struggling, however, and while we are still tentatively planning on our December 9 trip to Mona we are watching the news reports from the island closely. The airport has had power restored as of this writing, but flights are not back to normal and the rest of the island is still without power. Many are still stranded inland and have much damage to their properties, the roads, and no easy access to power, water, or food. Some of you have asked for ways you can offer help, PBS has a great collection of legitimate venues you can donate money or supplies to here.
The diving report from the Bahamas is good, and getting better every day. Fingers crossed that we are past the hump of hurricane season and can look forward to more settled weather from here on out.
Fair winds and following seas.
