As we hold our breath during this Hurricane Season, I look back on the regatta season we spent in the islands still reeling from last year’s catastrophic events.
By the time Hermes made it down to the Leeward Islands, it had been about 6 months since Cat 5 Hurricanes Irma and Maria devastated the Caribbean. On the surface, some islands appeared better off than others, but it was the sailing community that was at the heart of any real recovery.
Our first port was Antigua for the Caribbean 600, and we were pleasantly surprised that it was just as perfect as we last left it. But the country wasn’t as lucky as it seemed, as its sister island Barbuda was still uninhabitable. Our journey through the Leeward Islands continued along the Caribbean Regatta circuit where we got a brief glimpse into the Caribbean’s post-Hurricane season.
The regattas provided each island a goal. Just a few short weeks after the Hurricanes hit, Regatta organizers confirmed that the show would still go on. It would be a near miracle to host the same world-class events these regions had put on for years before. But it was clear that these regattas weren’t just a lofty goal — they provided hope and a supporting international community that these islands so desperately needed in their path to recovery.
US Virgin Islands
In March we were able to cruise around the US Virgin Islands, making our first landing in Charlotte Amalie, St Thomas. The Main Street looked untouched, almost frozen in time, as the stores were open for business, but completely void of people. Some properties still were in repair, but the bright red new roofs of the affluent hotels and properties out-shined the blue tarped ones of the less/more unfortunate.
It was a city that seemed to have fallen from grace, as the crown jewel marina, IGY Yacht Haven Grande, had been essentially stripped of its name — left vacant of all the luxury yachts and shops that once made it so grande. In this town, it seemed that life now revolved around the cruise-ship stopovers, which further exasperated this feigned recovery.
We went to the other side of the island by taxi and saw that the rest of the island was much worse off. And then we got to the heart of the Island’s recovery story. Our taxi driver lost his home and spent months living out of a Jeep. There were very few hotels who reopened after Irma, many taking a year to rebuild, meaning even those who wanted to visit the island wouldn’t have a place to stay. So indeed the only hope was cruise ship tourists as well as the sailing community.
In Red Hook, downtown was up and running as well as the American Yacht Harbor. But again, not as alive as it used to be. In the next bay is the St Thomas Yacht Club, where the St Thomas International Regatta is hosted. The STYC clearly rallied to put their club back together to host this event: they had working wifi for guests (though no working phone line), a great kitchen, and they rigged up an old mast as their flag pole/ party canopy outside that weekend. Sure it may not have felt like an International Regatta, but it had the heart of your hometown yacht club and it felt great to be part of that community’s recovery.
We spent the week before the STIRegatta cruising around St Johns and St Croix. It had been about 15 years since I had been to a few spots in the USVIs, and I was eager to visit them. First stop was Coral Bay, what I remember to be a unique local spot whose only tourists were cruisers. We arrived to what I’d say to be the worst we encountered.
The once green coastline was now clumps of dead bush and trash. The docks behind the infamous Skinny Legs Bar was now a junk yard of cars, pieces of boats and homes. While Skinny Legs was still serving burgers (cash only), the place was quieter than I remember, and closed down before the sun set and the bugs took over.
After a night in this bleeding bay, we made a beeline to St Croix, where we landed in Christiansted. Again, the Danish streets looked perfect with presumably untouched buildings in hues of blues, greens, yellows and pinks. The Harbour front had a few missing docks but the most noticeable thing missing, again, was the people. This was St Patrick’s Day weekend, and it hardly seemed that this was once the place to be.
It wasn’t until one of our final nights in the USVIs that we saw life on the islands. After the day’s prize giving at STIR, we hopped on the RIB from one of our buddy boats and jetted over to Cruz Bay, St John. Our last experience in St John was remnant of a war zone, but we pulled up to a polar opposite scene.
The bay had a healthy amount of boats anchored around it and despite most of the shoreside buildings being closed down, an epic beach party raged on. The set up was sparse, but the community was alive and well, and we all relished in a recovered paradise.
British Virgin Islands
The following week we followed the fleet to the BVIs, Tortola to be exact. We saw more devastated coastline, and wondered what awaited us at Nanny Caye – the cruising capital of the BVIs that was essentially washed away by Irma.
Back in October 2017, just a month after the Hurricanes, we had Hermes at the Annapolis boat show and met a huge community of people that were fundraising for #BVIStrong. The support from the sailing community up north was palpable and Nanny Caye was a major focal point.
We arrived to a packed marina (so packed our Pogo 12.50 couldn’t get a spot!), which was heartwarming to see after all of the empty docks in the USVIs. BVI Spring Regatta 2018 was essentially a pop up Regatta with all food, bars and entertainment being served up out of tents and trucks. It was all it needed to be.
The sailing certainly hadn’t suffered and the community didn’t allow the partying to suffer either. Great bands and DJs led partying into the night and homemade trophies served as artistic odes to the hurricanes. The “get well soon” sail signed at the Annapolis Boat Show was unveiled and presented to the BVIs, and everyone had all the feels.
Puerto Rico
While we didn’t make it to this island during our Caribbean Regatta season, we have friends and family from this lovely island that was failed by the U.S. To this day there are areas still without power and many people in need of help.
And yet, despite this region so desperately needing help, we saw Puerto Ricans helping their neighboring islands. A big group of volunteers came from Puerto Rico to assist with the St Thomas International Regatta and many continued with the BVI Spring Regatta. BVI Strong became Caribbean Strong, and ONE LOVE united the islands in a tough recovery season.
Regatta recovery in the Leeward Islands continued in Caribbean, Comeback: Part 2.
Be a part of the Caribbean Comeback and bring your crew down for a Regatta in 2019! Our Pogo 12.50 Hermes is still available for St Maarten Heineken Regatta and Antigua Sailing Week.