We took acceptance of the vessel on August 30th and moved aboard the next day. We finally were here and so excited for our adventure to begin. Little did we know, we would have quite the kickoff, for the next day, we began to prep for a hurricane.
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| Taking down the sails. |
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| Choosing fenders and lines. |
We secured RoundAbout as best we could, You can see videos of our work on our Facebook page, linked on the left sidebar or you can click here. She was tied with many dock lines, most of were bought BRAND NEW a few days before the storm. We purchased a bunch of new fenders. The largest we could find. A new friend we met while buying supplies in the chandlery drove Jared to pick up tires to tie to the dock for added protection. We took down all the sails, canvas, bimini cover, screens, basically anything that would lessen the windage. The marina staff came by and we added lines to the chains embedded in the concrete underwater in front of the boat. We did all we could do.After packing some things into backpacks (we thought we'd be returning in about a week) and leaving Sunny with a friend who had a concrete safe room within their house, we set off for the airport. We were lucky, that we had bought those tickets, because we wanted to ensure we could get the kids out of the way if Irma did track towards the BVI. The lines at the various check-in counters were long.
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| Mainsail and stack-pack down. |
We arrived at the airport early and sat down on the floor to wait for the Seaborne airline counter to open. There were a group of younger 20-somethings in front of us. They were desperately trying to find a way off the island and ended up chartering a helicopter at $11,000. It was either that or figure out where they could stay that was safe. I felt for them and all the others who begged for a spot on a flight, even if it were just to get their kids out of harm's way. As a mother, I hurt for these parents, desperate to send their kids to safety. Again, I hugged mine close and tried to breathe. Would the flight be cancelled? The departure screens flickered and with each flicker, more and more flights showed cancelled. We waited. We checked in and talked with the airline clerk about her plans. Would she be safe? Would she get home in time to secure her home? She was scared and wanted to hurry home to get ready. We prayed together for the safety of all, that this storm would somehow magically track north.
After getting our boarding passes, we made our way through security. Again, I was the only one who got stopped. In Miami, it was a wrench Jared had tossed into my backpack after the escape from being trapped behind the storage place's gate. This time though, it was the kid's large toothpaste tube that one of them put inside my backpack. Of course, once this was discovered, the guy said he had to search everything. This included, to my horror, pulling everything out. Yes, my underwear was held up for display for all to see. After getting through all of that, the guy asked if I wanted to him to repack my stuff. "No thank you", I said as I shoved everything back in as quickly as I could manage.
We settled down in the hard plastic seats, with the news blaring overhead about the approaching doom, I mean, storm.
We were scheduled to depart at 10am, but after that came and went, we started to wonder if it really would be cancelled. An announcement came that there was some delay in Puerto Rico, so we would not depart until 11am. We all got up from where we were sitting to walk around a bit and then settled into chairs near the departure gate. We were discussing the delay and what it could possibly mean, when a man leaned over showing us his phone. He had an app that showed whether the plane was in the air or still on the ground. Ours was still on the ground at SJU. We started to worry. Was the plane damaged? Pilots not wanting to come over here? What?
We chatted a bit. This man, originally from Britain, lived in Tortola but decided to evacuate over to Puerto Rico. He had done this before when the last hurricane came through. He described the hotel he would stay in, that it was made of thick concrete and he felt safer there.
Another half hour goes by and I asked an employee if the plane was approaching or if the status had changed again. She said it was departing soon. Had we missed something? The British man leaned over again and said the plane was still grounded. Maybe the app didn't update? At least, that was what I wanted to think. Others must have had the same app, because phones were at face level, eyes never leaving the screens.
All of a sudden, someone shouted "yes"! We all turned and she announced that the plane was in the air! A few minutes later, the announcement came on the loudspeaker that our plane would be arriving shortly. A huge collective sigh of relief was heard from the room.
Soon, we were boarding the plane and on our way to Puerto Rico. It was a bumpy start, as the winds were picking up and as we looked back towards our island, the clouds were dark and ominous off in the distance.
Landing in San Juan 30 minutes later, we went directly to the American Airlines counter to see if we could get a flight out today instead of our 8am flight tomorrow. No such luck, even with the added flights to help get people out of the storms' way. So, we had some bad pizza and checked in to our hotel room at the airport.
The kids were restless, as were we, waiting for any news. Some people had already begun posting on Facebook what it was looking like back in the BVI. Still making preparations and stocking up on supplies.
We decided to take the kids to an early dinner and while walking back to the room, we spied a laundry area and a hot tub. Of course, the kids all wanted to go into the hot tub, so while Jared watched them, I did laundry around the corner.
While sorting the loads into two washing machines, a young woman came up and offered me
a box of laundry soap she didn't need. We got to chatting and I learned they had just started their honeymoon when they had to trade in their little island villa for an airport hotel. They would be stuck there for the remainder of the week.
A couple of hours later, we were back in the room and decided to make it an early night due to our early wake-up call the next morning.
At precisely 4:40am, the alarm went off, so we drowsily packed up and made our way to go through security and find breakfast. As we sat waiting to board the plane, we watched the flight announcement screen. Some flights had been cancelled, but ours was still on time. Of course, worry crept into my mind once again. Would it be cancelled? Would we get out in time?
A airline employee sat opposite me, as we waited. We made small chit-chat in Spanish. She was leaving her 1 year old and 8 year old back with her parents while she would be on this flight to Miami. As the plane would not return until the storm had passed, she was going to stay with family in Orlando. Yes, she was scared about leaving her children but felt safe as their home was prepared. However, as a mother, I could identify with her anxiety. We really had no idea how powerful this storm truly was. Reports from the leeward islands were barely starting to come in.
I heard my family's name called to the airline counter. My breath caught. Was there something wrong? Would we not be on this flight after all? Overbooked? It turned out that they wanted to place us all together since we had children. It meant we were in the last row of the plane, but at least we were on it.
Once in the air, I began to relax a little. We were on our way to the mainland. The pilot made an apology for the rough ride during takeoff. I looked out the window over the kids' heads and saw nothing but white fluffy clouds and blue sky. By the time we landed in Miami, Irma would be in the BVI. I tried to think positively and focus on what we had to do once we landed.
Of course, we would hit the ground running. We had to get the camper and car out of storage and get the heck out of Florida.
About 3 hours later, we were getting into a taxi and heading straight for the storage place. After cancelling our rental agreement, we hooked up and headed out of there. Our friend Karen, who was watching Sunny, was texting me photos and updates. "It's about 80mph now, but all is well", she said. Sunny looked like she was sleeping through it all. Karen was cheerful and it made me optimistic. Maybe things would be ok.
Trying to get OUT was an issue. There was a gas station next door and the line for fuel was LONG. I had to get out and motion for a van to please move forward, so we could squeeze by. No easy task as we were towing 30 foot travel trailer. We plugged in some random northern state into our GPS and headed north. Trying to find gas was difficult. All the stations we passed had bags wrapped around the fuel nozzles or caution tape around the tanks. Fortunately, Jared had the thought to fill up with gas before we placed it into storage. I don't think we would have been able to make it out otherwise.
We made one stop at the mall for Cadence to pick out her birthday present. For the past year, she had been saving her money for an American Girl doll. With her birthday in a few days, my mom guilt was too much and I made Jared stop so she could get her present. What kind of birthday would she have with us on the run anyway? We needed to do something special. The beam of a smile on her face made it worth it all. She was one happy girl. We stopped to grab a coffee on the way out and the barista had no idea about the hurricane coming her way. We told her to start getting ready, for we were starting to see the devastation it had caused in the islands. Again, as Jared drove I was constantly checking my phone for updates. About 1:30pm, Karen's texts stopped. I figured the island had lost cell service.
We drove straight through for two days, only stopping to sleep. Our original plan was to head for family in California, but then when our dear friend offered us a safe haven at her home in Maine, we made the decision to turn back and head there. For one, it was a shorter drive and we would all be on the east coast when Jared flew back to assess the damage and help out. We could also see the fall colors and enjoy visiting with friends for awhile. The kids would have acres of room to run, a river to play and fish in, and friends to play with. We turned back east, but took a more northern route, away from Irma's path.
While on the road, we were glued to our phones, searching for ANY news of our friends, our boat, and the damage Irma had caused. It was terrifying. Our island home, that we had just begun to familiarize ourselves with, was gone. Obliterated. Numerous buildings wiped out. We just couldn't believe it. We had no idea it would have been this bad. Had we known, we would have thrown everything we could have into our packs and taken Sunny with us. Or, maybe we would have just immediately sailed south.
In hindsight, yes, we should have just taken Sunny with us, but she had recently had surgery and was fragile. I did not want to add stress to her healing process. Now though, I would give anything to go back in time and get her. As of now, we have heard the friends watching her are fine, but we have not had any word from them. We are praying that Sunny is also fine. The kids ask every hour and it is breaking my heart not knowing.
I was browsing through Facebook photos one evening, while we were still making our way towards Maine, when I found RoundAbout. I rushed out of the camper to get Jared, who was on the phone with a client. "I found her! I found RoundAbout"! We easily identified her by the dock lines, fenders, and main sail battens that were still lashed to the deck.
She was still tied to the floating dock we had left her to. When the storm surge came in, it destroyed the dock, but RoundAbout had held on! Her stern was resting on the hard, while the bow rested on another boat that had plowed into her in the water. The mast, boom, rigging, and stanchions were all down. The mast bent forward over the trampoline. The roof was crushed in and the bimini had been ripped off. There were multiple marks on the sides of the hull, but no broken glass that we could see from the photos. The rudders and keel would need replacing, as would the props and possibly the sail drives. Our fenders were still in place. We could still see all the duck tape we had placed over the helm station instruments, including the radio. Maybe those would be alright?
Thankful that we had SOME news of RoundAbout, my focus was now about our friends and Sunny. Slowly, the missing list on one of the BVI facebook groups would have names highlighted green to indicate they were safe. I checked th,is list multiple times a day. Eventually, we heard one of our family friends, the Allen family were fine, but with damage to their home. It took a few more days before we heard of the well being of the Simpsons, who were also watching Sunny. Still no news on Sunny though. I kept following the community boards, searching for any news. We received a text from Clive that they were safe and would call soon. We kept praying and hoping.
I read a book once, where the character lost a loved one. The pain she felt both in her heart and stomach, were exactly as the author described. I felt as if I had to hold myself together with my arms across my stomach to ease the pain. It was relentless and I couldn't eat. I was scared for the people who were in trouble, anxious about what our future would hold, and wrestled with regret over what we should have done. Maybe we should have just gone immediately over to St Thomas, picked up our pallets, an EPRIB, and other equipment the first day we moved on board. Then made a run for it! We would have been ok. We would still have a functioning boat. But we didn't, we had not an inkling of what this storm could do. We listened to the experts and secured her to the dock and left. We had to keep our family safe. They say hindsight is 20/20. It's true.
We arrived to Krista's on Monday afternoon. Exhausted. We were so glad to be done driving for awhile. To have a home base where we could recharge. We had so much to do though, and so on Tuesday, we ran errands, buying replacement clothing, warmer clothing than we had, since island life only requires shorts and a t-shirt, maybe shoes.
We also got the text we had been waiting for. Sunny was OK! She was safe and well. Karen had taken her to get the staples removed by a vet and asked when we were coming to collect her. Jared booked his flight and we bought a lot of supplies to take back. Our friends made requests of specific items, so we bought those as well. One of our friends back in CA is Search and Rescue (SAR), the same team Jared volunteered for back when we lived there. He is going to meet up with Jared and help him with Sunny and the boat.
Today is Thursday and we heard that the pallets we had shipped to St Thomas were safe and undisturbed. Little by little, things are looking up. Our boat is heavily damaged, but maybe she can be repaired. We will know early next week, as our insurance emailed to let us know they have sent out a surveyor who will be on the island the same time Jared will be. There is so much figuring out to do, though.
If RoundAbout can be repaired, where will this take place? Ideally, Nanny Cay marina, so we could move back home. We've applied with the government to assist. Jared would serve as engineer and I would assist the schools.
If RoundAbout is totaled, then we will look for another boat. Yes, this storm set us back a huge amount, but we will overcome this and move forward. We are not giving up. We WILL set sail someday. It is just going to be a little while before that happens.
A silver lining to all of this (I really am trying to be optimistic about this whole thing; I have to in order to stay sane), is we are showing our kids that if you really want something, you go for it, no matter what. Sometimes life really throws a curve ball but if you are dedicated and determined enough, you CAN make your dreams happen.
Update and photos to come sometime next week.
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