After Irma hit BVI and surrounding territories, Lori & I commandeered a private jet from Bloom business jets to Puerto Rico. We then met up with Capt Wayne of s/v Manna. We loaded up boat with supplies , food, clothing , medical supplies, generators, tools, water etc and sailed to JVD. It was a somber trip as thinking about what we have been hearing and what was real.
Rumors of armed bandits on Jvd was a fabricated rumor we came to find out. After all it is a small community, and everyone knows every one!
As we sailed a past white bay the visual was of a scene from apocalypse now! Rubble everywhere, fires thru out the settlements of both white bay and Great Harbour. Smoke hovering , there was the stench of rotting food, our water Supply was destroyed, all of our cisterns were infected with e coli We pulled up to the dock or what was left of it. We were greeted by all our friends.
It was strange, most everyone was in a state of wtf just happened ? but thank god for life we are all here!
The beach was virtually impassable, vehicles were all mashed up, trees were down, buildings and homes were either gone or destroyed, boats upside down on the beach. No current or water, cell service was barely a dial tone, we used our satellite phone to relay info to the outside world. In the beginning almost all supplies food etc, was coming in by boat loads from the good people of Puerto Rico ! Usually refer to as the Puerto Rican Navy. Eventually the queens army started to show up support. Then down the line, many thanx to convoy of hope, barefoot nation, people of St. John things started coming together. Almost six months later, the people of jvd are making great improvements, Soggy dollar has graciously donated enough palm trees to line both white bay and Great Harbour ! As almost every palm tree was gone! As a people most of us stuck together, when gas was available it was dealt with, food was dispersed accordingly , supplies started to come in bit by bit. To rebuild. We at Corsairs hope to be open mid April,and continue to be the number one restaurant in the BVI! Thanks to the team of Dion Stout ADC Construction. As of today we have our water system up and running,current, ferry service, gasoline at north latitude station in dog hole,Mobil phone service and WiFi is up and running.not much as far as grocery store, but Christine’s bakery always has fresh baked goods! And you can count on MS Carmin for here weekend baked goods table in Great Harbour. The spirit around JVD now is one of survival and the future, we are no longer sad we are proud and stronger, we are coming back with a vengeance.
