We arrived at Salt Pond/Thompson Bay on Long Island on Friday Feb. 5th. Before leaving George Town we had picked up even more donations from cruising boats that were not going on to Long Island.
The Ministry of Tourism Office is not open on the weekends so we spent Saturday morning at the Farmers Market and Sunday at a Happy Hour on the beach on Sunday.
We decided to take a dinghy ride up the bay to see what kind of damage had happened. Little did we know we were in for a shock. Long Island Breeze Resort had been closed and up for sale ($3+M) for over a year and it took a lot of damage. Unfortunately, I do not have a photo from the water before the hurricane but there was a beautiful deck around a very nice pool. Under the deck were fresh water tanks as there is no ‘city’ water in Salt Pond. Since the resort was closed these tanks were empty. As the storm surge rose, these empty tanks started to float and literally pushed out the pool which ended up a few hundred yards away resting against the fuel tanks for Long Island Petroleum.
The dock at LI Petroleum was gone. There was NO TRACE that a dock had ever been there. As an example of the spirit of the folks on Long Island the owners have decided to dredge before building a new dock so that deeper draft cruising boats may bring the big boat to the dock instead of using jerry cans to ferry the diesel. We continued on and here is some of what we saw.
Our mantra has become “We may not be skilled labor, but we are cheap!”
Notice all of the dead vegetation on the cays. The
salt water has killed it.The landscape has really changed.
On our 2nd night there we met two local fishermen, father & son and we traded a couple of Kalik’s for a couple of crawfish heads. Most folks throw these away but there is a lot of meat inside. That plus I clean & seal the horns to make earrings.
After speaking with Dawn & Samantha at the Ministry of Tourism we carried in boxes of school supplies to sort for the 5 primary & 2 high schools on the island. I know it looks a bit funny but the Trader Joe’s wine boxes store very nicely in shower stall & lazeretes.
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We also brought clothing and such for hurricane relief but needed more than our dinghy to get it to shore.
Francie from Barefootin’, Susan from Peregrine and I jumped in Bess from Alibi 2’s car one day and drove the clothing to A & N Electric in Deadman’s Cay to sort it all by age & gender. Before that all of the clothing was in bags and it was a daunting task for someone who may need clothes for themselves & maybe a child to look through it all. That was a very rewarding day and we heard from Claudette – proprietor of A & N - that once that was done the clothes flew out of the crates! Claudette had offered her loading bay/storage area as a drop off/distribution center for relief supplies but often the goods were just dropped off! Now remember, she still has a business to run as well as a wonderful family so we were happy to help.
I mentioned that we were in a car…. owned by boaters…. Well, Bess & Billy of Alibi 2 had engine problems on their boat and stayed almost the whole summer of 2015 in Thompson Bay while it was rebuilt. They got to know a great number of folks on the island so when the hurricane hit they were the first cruisers to arrive – I think it was last November. Long Island is that, a long island! They figured out very quickly that to do what they wanted to in terms of assistance they were going to need transportation so they purchased a car from a teacher who was leaving the island. Bess was a DC lobbyist in her former life and as such she really knows how to get things done. She was able to ascertain who needed the type of help we boaters could supply and cajole locals with pick up trucks into providing transportation. A great number of folks were helped because of their dedication!
One of our first jobs was to clean up the beach at Clarence Town. Let me explain that for the most part the northern part of the island was ok but the southern part was devastated and Salt Pond/Thompson Bay was about the dividing line. Clarence Town is in the south or “up south” as the Bahamians say. Due to the prevailing winds, it is an upwind sail to the south.
The reason for the beach cleanup was there was a small cruise ship (100 or so passengers) due to stop there. If the passengers enjoyed themselves it may become a permanent stop which would bring much needed tourism dollars to the settlement.
Notice the way to open a Kalik when there is no opener and the damage done to the packing house at the Clarence Town gov’t dock.
Since we were all the way to
Clarence Town, about an hours drive from Salt Pond we all invaded the Rowdy Boys
Bar & Grill. Unless you’re at a major resort it is highly unusual to have a
crowd this size descend on a restaurant but they pulled it off with grace and
everyone had a great time.
Now it was time to get to the real work! We had 2 work parties going at two sites for a couple of days. One home had a ten foot wall of water go through it and the adjacent store and another was in a low area and remained water logged for quite awhile. The first was a retired fisherman and his family and the second a retiree with failing eyesight.
First house
Second house
Remember that these were multi day projects. Also notice the lack of debris when finished. Lots of trips to the dump and a few burn days too!
The ladies took a couple of days to help another family clean roofing and storm debris from their yard. The wife is 4”11 and the water was so high in their home that the husband had to cut a hole in the ceiling to put her in the rafters! The water was almost to the ceiling of their home. I cannot imagine the fear. Thank goodness they did not have to punch a hole to the roof!
We had some fun on the way back and forth as well!
The Regatta Site was also severely damaged. The supplies had yet to arrive but we could do the cleanup!
When we went to church on Sunday we noticed how many nails were in the yard from the roof replacement so some of us decided to take a day to clean them up.
Father Wood will surely be surprised!
The wooden ladder at Basel’s dock (he lets the cruisers use it too) washed away during the storm so “Brad the Builder” designed a new one!
Of course the power goes out during the installation so Bruce got his generator & saved the day!
Another tradition is the Sunday afternoon cocktail party on the beach. Hurricane Joaquin devastated that too! Luckily we had “Brad the Builder” and with nothing but scrap lumber the guys made the area better than ever.
Hurricane Joaquin also sank the containership El Faro with all 32 hands lost. The containers that broke free have supplied the beaches of the Bahamas with all sorts of stuff. Some good and some not so good.
A friend who lives on Eleuthera found a matching pair of shoes, sealed make up, Avon products and such. On Long Island there have been thousands of insulin syringes in packages, Kraft Mayo, Wishbone salad dressings, yogurt, shoes, empty prescription bottles, M & M’s, lots of grocery & health & beauty stuff.
We did rent a car from noon to noon once and as usual went ‘up south’ first then north the second day.
We went to a new to us place called the Moonshine at the Stella Maris Resort Oceanside. There is a natural ‘pool’ on the ocean as well as a manmade one too. Sue-Honey was our bartender and a hoot as well and we only wished we could have stayed longer but the cars were due back at noon.
Because of all of the efforts of Bess & Billy we decided to have a surprise thank you party for them. Unfortunately, I left the camera on the boat but neither one had a clue! I think someone told them it was a farewell for us as we left the next morning.
We feel that we were able to help a bit on Long Island but there is still so much to be done. The repairs to homes will go on for months if not years longer due to the shortage of skilled labor and the need for school supplies and household items will continue too. I want to expand the school supplies drive to include things such as sheets, towels, kitchen items and clothing. Larger sizes are in demand & I hope to hear from some of you who would like to help.
Thanks.
