A ‘Cook’s Tour’ is a ‘guided but cursory tour of the major features of a place or area’. It’s named after Thomas Cook, founder of the British travel agency that bears his name, and a fervent member of the temperance league. The first tour of his career was for league members attending a temperance conference. A…
As a yachtsman there are some things you never forget: The day you buy your boat; the day you sell your boat; the most idyllic landfall; the quickest passage and the most terrifying experience. For many Caribbean sailors the latter would be living through Hurricane Hugo. On September 17th 1989 one of the most intense…
The only way to absolutely guarantee that your vessel will not be lost or severely damaged in a hurricane is not to allow it to be in one.
I’m a bit hurricane shy, as befits a sailor who has twice swum away from vessels in 100+ knots of circular breeze. Call me a storm-coward—I am cool with that. Just the phrase ‘tropical hurricane’ makes me pee my pants. The phrase ‘storm warning’ weakens my sphincter. Evidently, the Kiwis know this. Thus, they lured…
It only takes one hurricane in our vicinity to wreak havoc with our lives. Sustained winds at a hundred knots, mountainous seas, six inches of rain in an hour with an eight-foot storm-surge—combine these with flying debris and you have a terrifying scene. For those of us who play roulette with our yachts by keeping…
After the ravages of Hurricane Katrina and the BP oil spill, the barrier islands of Louisiana and Mississippi are about to benefit from a major investment that could be worth several billion dollars. These narrow, sandy spits of land are the first line of defense for the coast, and while well known to locals for…
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Jacksonville District was presented with two distinguished awards for recovery efforts for Hurricane Sandy and Tropical Storm Debby at the recently held Florida Shore and Beach Preservation Association (FSBPA) annual conference. The Stan Tait Award, the association’s highest honor for “truly outstanding contributions” to Florida’s beaches, was presented to…
What would happen if your boat and personal property aboard were damaged or suffered a partial or total loss due to an accident, theft or storm? Your homeowners’ policy may provide limited coverage of typically no more than $1,500 to pay for loss by theft or physical damage to a small boat, it’s outboard motor,…
The start of hurricane season reminds me of one of the stupider things we have done during our years on the water – one of the stupidest things any cruiser can do. Back in 1994, when we still thought we knew what we were doing, we stayed on board our floating home for a brush…
Weeks after slow-moving Hurricane Isaac relentlessly dumped water across the Gulf Coast, cleanup efforts continued, especially in New Orleans where many neighborhoods lost electricity for four days. Everyone in New Orleans’ West End worked over Labor Day weekend, tearing out sheetrock and removing soft goods and appliances from soggy boathouses. Ed Boos rode out Isaac…
Gulf Shores, Ala. – August 31, 2012 – While officials are still determining the extent of the damage done by Hurricane Isaac, both Saunders Yachtworks facilities in coastal Alabama have come through the storm in great shape, despite being right at the edge of the storm. As Isaac entered the Gulf of Mexico, the Saunders crew spent several…
The June 1-Nov. 30 hurricane season is when most cyclones develop in the Atlantic basin, but this year the action started early as Tropical Storms Alberto and Beryl both developed in late May followed by Chris and Debby in June. It was the first time that four storms had formed before July since meteorologists began…
How to Survive a Hurricane They say we Homo sapiens learn from our mistakes. That’s patently false – at least in my case. The only thing my history teaches me is that I don’t learn from it. This is sad. If I learned from my mistakes, I’d be a genius – because I make so…
Jim Scott – global sailor, VISAR co-founder & author All of the tales, yarns and adventures of Jim Scott’s lifetime would not fit into a single book. Perhaps that’s why he’s written three. In these pages, filled with both prose and poetry, are tales of how this UK native turned Canadian resident has sailed the…
Three days out, Earl was forecast to miss the Virgin Islands by a hundred miles. By Sunday, boats were spider-webbed into Paraquita Bay.
Sailing with Charlie: a forecaster promised Anegada 125mph gusts at higher elevations. The island’s highest point is twenty-eight feet.
Baby boomers may well remember their parents or grandparents reading them the tale of Little Toot. Bound in cardboard and colorfully illustrated, this 1939-published children’s story tells about a little tugboat that grew up to save the day.
Caribbean News from around the region from June 2006
Didier urges insurance review St Lucia – Rodney Bay Marina General Manager Cuthbert Didier says more regionally based insurance companies need to actively solicit business from visiting yachtsmen. Didier, who has formulated a major yachting consultancy for ECLAC and more recently for the Yachting Association of Trinidad and Tobago, said that for a long time,…
At the time it was quite normal to sink any boat (which didn’t have an engine) when storms threatened, if there wasn’t time to haul ashore