Sunday, September 24, 2017

Now what?

I know it is not all about me, and I know that people are still suffering, their lives in limbo, their possessions trashed, however I have to accept that life goes on and it is time to make new plans.

Our plan for the rest of this year had been to sail to Bonaire, wait out the rest of the hurricane season there, diving and snorkeling to our hearts delight. Then when the hurricane season is over, ( November 1st or December 1st depending on who you talk to ) we would head north to Puerto Rico, visit with friends, and then begin the circle again, spending time in the BVI, heading to St. Martin and going slowly through the countries we sped through last year, St. Kitts,  Dominica and Guadeloupe and working our way back to Grenada. 



Then came Hurricane Irma, devastating the BVI and St. Martin. 

We watched in horror and sadness as it unfolded, watching for every update, hoping for good news for the islands and for our friends. 

Breathe deep. 

Make a new plan.

Ok, we can still go to Puerto Rico,  spend some time there. See how the BVI is faring and possibly spend some time offering help in the rebuilding process. We decided we would probably skip St. Martin and then spend more time in Guadeloupe and Dominica. Dominica is wonderfully less developed and is trying to create a niche for itself as the place for Eco-tours. We would like to return there and do some of the hiking and diving that we missed on the first go round.

Then came Hurricane Maria, devastating Puerto Rico, sending the recovery efforts of the USVI and the BVI back several steps, and wiping out Dominica. 

We watched in horror and sadness as it unfolded, watching for every update, hoping for good news for the islands and for our friends. 

Breathe deep. 

Make a new plan.

Reports from Puerto Rico say it may be 6 months before they get power. Reports from the BVI of all kinds of things floating in the water, contaminating it and making it dangerous to navigate. 

And then there is Dominica. 

Poor Dominica.

Dominica who quickly sent containers of relief supplies to their neighboring island impacted by Irma.

Dominica who pledged 2.9 million dollars in aid to those same islands.

Dominica after Hurricane Maria 
And the really sad part now is reports that boats coming to the aid of Dominica, arriving with supplies to help the people of Dominica, are being boarded and robbed at gunpoint. Incredibly sad. Dominica, who has been so generous and giving, will probably now receive less aid because of this. In addition reports of this will persist and affect the planning of future travelers, resulting in less money coming into the island.

So, now, back to me.

Maybe it is all about me.

Plan 3.

We will leave Grenada and go to Bonaire. 

Then we will.... ??????????????



They say a cruiser's plans are written in sand at low tide. 

I accept that. 

I just thought that some of our plans were written a little higher up the beach, safe from the tides.

Apparently not.

We love to hear your comments.

Mark and Cindy - sv Cream Puff said...

These storms put a bit of a kibosh on our plans as well. We had hoped to visit St. Martin and then work our way back south. We decided to spend our time in the S.Caribbean this next season. We'll go up as far as Guadeloupe and really spend some time exploring there and Martinique. We love the French islands! We have decided to not spend h'season in Grenada next year and will spend it in the ABC's. We hope to spend the summer enjoying diving and snorkeling. After that, we'll see what sort of shape the N.Caribbean is in. Or, who knows, we might just head west. Time will tell.

Mark and Cindy
sv Cream Puff

Sarah said...

I know there are many cruisers facing the same dilemma. I wonder how much more crowded those places will be next year. Or perhaps they will be less crowded, fewer charters, maybe fewer cruisers? Either way, it will be different.