Boat International US Edition — November 2017

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ON BOARD

NOVEMBER 2017

“The Caribbean needs the yachting

industry’s business more than ever”

AFTER HURRICANES

IRMA & MARIA

H

urricane Irma struck hard across a wide

swathe of beloved cruising grounds,

followed up by Maria, an equally powerful if

smaller storm, which cut off Dominica from the rest of

the world and drenched Puerto Rico and the

Dominican Republic. The damage is still being

assessed but as the start of the Caribbean season nears,

it is clear that the punches the storms delivered did not

land evenly, and the message from the islands to the

yachting fraternity is “don’t count us out.”

“The Caribbean is well used to hurricanes and

has time-tested plans and strategies already in place to

help us bounce back quickly,” reads a statement from

the board of directors of the Antigua Charter Yacht

Show, which takes place from December 4 to 10. “Our

infrastructure is strong, our landscapes adaptable and

our people strong and resilient. We ask nothing of you

except that you continue to come here and enjoy what

nature blessed us with.”

Earl Wyatt, owner and managing director of Sea

Grapes International in St Martin, echoes the

sentiment. “Do not give up on St Martin as yet. We have

done this before and bounced back quicker than a

lot have imagined.”

Island Global Yachting, which owns and operates

marinas in the affected area, is making huge strides

toward restoring full services in its facilities in

St Thomas and St Martin by or shortly after Christmas,

according to Kenny Jones, IGY’s VP of operations.

Raphael Sauleau, president of Fraser, says: “Places

like Antigua were relatively untouched, and St Thomas

and St Martin are doing everything they can to rebuild

quickly and welcome the superyachts back, so we must

support them and their local economies to enable these

islands to rebuild as quickly as possible.”

“We believe the important message to transmit is

that the Caribbean needs the yachting industry’s

business more than ever,” says Alev Karagulle, director

of marketing & communications for Burgess.

“Once the facts are better known and plans can be

adapted accordingly, the most positive contribution

will be to encourage cruising these beautiful islands

to support the determination of the islanders to return

to normality.”

For information on how you can help the recovery effort, visit boatint.com/irma-relief

$64–$92 billion

is the estimated cost of Irma in terms of property damage and

loss in economic output Source: Moody’s Analytics/NPR

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