Just shy of five months after Hurricane Irma, Saralane was lifted off her side and set back on stands. First, a few photos of the lift... then I'll backtrack a bit.
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| Still a little wonky but happy to be upright at last |
Skip has been to Virgin Gorda twice more since my last post, but with nothing new to report until his most recent trip, I held off on a blog post. By sheer coincidence, he was on his way there when he got an email from the yard saying they were working in Saralane's area and could lift her the next day. The timing was perfect. Skip arrived on a Wednesday and she was righted on Thursday morning.
Big kudos go to Chris Cooke and his right hand man, Shaggy, who expertly lifted Saralane off her side and set her upright again without incident. VGYH then moved Saralane to her to a new spot with their trailer. Chris and his father Geof Cooke have been instrumental in getting rigging untangled and boats righted. With the absence of any meaningful communication from yard management, Geof's wife Candy was the primary conduit for information about what was happening there. Without the Cooke's crane, their professionalism, persistance and determination to help however they could, the yard would still be a mess of tangled rigging and toppled boats.
Back to some photos from Saralane just before she was righted - this view across the yard from her tilted deck gives a sense of the scope of the work still to be done. Not a single mast was upright and most were broken.
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| Top of our mast, tangled with rigging from a neighboring boat |
To get an idea of the power of wind at 200+ miles an hour, take a look at the twisted ends of one of our 3/8" solid steel stays. It was bent into a U shape at the spreader and twirled together as tightly as a twist tie on a plastic bag. Crazy.
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| Unsalvageable things headed for the trash bin |
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| Skip captured a wave for me from Maurice.... hi Maurice! |
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| Broken masts tagged with boat names and lined up in the yard |
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| Broken palms at the entrance to the yard. Irma tore the second floor (the yard office) off the building. |
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| VGYH fuel and water dock, with upside down catamaran |
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| One view of the marina at VGYH |
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| Broken docks and boats |
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| 'La Boheme', our friend Clinton's 60' Gulfstar where she sank in the marina |
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| La Boheme's mast |
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| Where Buck's grocery store used to be |
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| Shops of VGYH all boarded up |
Skip had an opportunity to take a friend's dinghy up to North Sound and brought back some images from there as well as from Trellis Bay and Nanny Cay on Tortola. We've all been seeing photos of the damage for months now, but it's still shocking. Some of these are from his second trip down in mid-December and some are from the most recent trip just a few weeks ago.
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| Masts in Nanny Cay |
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| A boat stand punched through this hull in VGYH... |
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| ...and this one in Nanny Cay. |
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| Even this boat in a cradle in Nanny Cay was badly damaged |
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| Saba Rock |
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| Bitter End |
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| Bitter End |
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| Bitter End |
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| The Fat Virgin Cafe |
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| Work boats tossed up on the shore |
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| Peg Legs at Nanny Cay |
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| Trellis Bay shoreline |
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| Trellis Bay |
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| Aragorn's studio, gallery and shops in Trellis Bay |
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| Trellis Bay |
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| Trellis Bay |
Once Skip pumped all the water out of Saralane, things stayed pretty dry below. After the critical things had been tended to, he decided to try to salvage our old boat records that spent several months underwater.
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| Files drying out on a friend's boat, weighted down with a block and flipper and tape |
His attempt at drying things in the Caribbean sun was thwarted by rain showers, so he tucked the whole soggy mess into his backpack and brought them home to dry.
Which begs the question.... will we ever actually look at any of this stuff again? Or was it simply a need to rescue a bit of our history? Either way, we have piles of mildewed, crumpled, stained paper that chronicle the making of Saralane.
We're feeling good about having made some progress on the ground in Virgin Gorda though things inside the boat are still a mess. Next step for us is a battle (er... "negotiation") with our insurance company.
I'll leave you with one last look at Saralane as Skip left her, and a promise to post updates as things change.
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| She's the only one standing in this photo |
8 comments:
These are such graphic photos, Maddie. Kind of a punch in the stomach to look at them. At the same time it is so wonderful to see Saralane upright. "Come on Insurance People! Do the right thing and get this lady back in the water."
Skip, Maddie and the Mighty Saralane,
We've been thinking of you alot in months past.
Thank you so very much for the blog. So very difficult to write such heart felt words and see the tough struggle that everyone in the Virgins is having.
Someone once told me 'It'll be alright in the end, and if its not all right, it's not the end.' I'm sure that the months to come will see you once again sailing the seas and bringing joy to those in the bays in which you anchor.
Big hugs.
TeamRUFF
Holy cow! Those photos really are shocking. I'm glad to see Saralane upright. Can you scan any of that damp paperwork to preserve it electronically? Just a thought.
yfs
wow - we have been thinking of you both but didn't want to "push" for any update as knew you were dealing with a lot. Seeing these photos really put it in perspective even more! So glad to see Saralane upright and actually looks like it is in great shape structurally. Amazing to see those photos with the jacks putting holes through the sides of the boats. Sounds like there was a great team of people doing a fabulous job of getting Saralane upright and moved to a good location. Thanks for the update and detailed photos. Thinking of you both as you work toward getting Saralane sailing again! Good luck with the insurance company as am sure they are really busy - just hope they have put on more people to deal with the demand. Sending you both a great big hug from us both! - Janice & Bob
Maddie and Skip, what a devastating mess. Thank you for the update. As bad as it is Saralane looks pretty good compared to all those boats with the holes. And Clint’s beautiful Gulfstar, it’s still unbelievable. Can they recover? Bless those people who are helping to do something. So crazy that the marina staff is absent. Wow.
Hey Y’all. Sorry to see these pics. I emailed you but not sure if you received. Rachel and I still have the same email addresses and phone numbers from the VI. Give us a call when you get a chance.
Matt and Rachel.
Believe it or not, Maddie, I just got around to reviewing your post "She's Up!" You wrote it in February; I reviewed it in September. You know I hate to rush into anything. Your photos are dramatic and proof positive of the power of an image. There is no other way to adequately describe the devastation brought about by Irma. Even after all these months I can hardly believe the damage.
I am just now catching up on your latest post and with Florence out and about, plotting her track with almost malicious intent, my stomach Is doing a lot of fluttering while reading your account. It’s simply overwhelming. Well written and documented, Skip & Maddie. I hope the worst is far behind you both, Elizabeth s/vSkylark (retired)
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