Two Hurricanes in One Month!

    This is Bill writing . . . Just a quick note to let everyone know that we're safe, and what we are doing right now. In short, it's been a horrendous month! We started the month still anchored out in Salinas, Puerto Rico. Katie was teaching online most nights and we were just enjoying the location. Then we got word that Hurricane Irma was coming. . . We stripped the boat of all canvas and removable objects topside, moved it to a more secure location on a mooring in the harbor, and dropped additional anchors out to supplement the mooring. although a major hurricane, the storm center was supposed to pass about 80 miles north of us, so we chose to remain on the boat. We registered peak wind gusts of about 80mph, and everything was fine. We did have to relocate to the hotel for a couple of days because the cell phone internet coverage was spotty after the storm, so Katie couldn't teach.

     I spent the next week putting the boat back together and pulling up the storm anchors. Unfortunately, about the time I finished, we got word that another storm was coming . . . hurricane Maria. As it got closer, it became apparent that Maria's eye was going to pass within a few miles of us, and it was going to be a category 5 hurricane . . . very bad!!!  We decided to move the boat to a mangrove inlet, and move ourselves and the cats into the shelter of a second floor room in a concrete hotel. We tied the boat off in the mangroves, also setting 3 anchors, and left her . . . wondering if it was the last time we'd see her afloat. We hunkered down in the hotel and waited. Soon enough, we had the full fury of the storm! We saw all directions of wind with gust to 200mph, over 15 inches of rain, and a storm surge of about 6 feet that wiped out the marina and the bottom floor of the hotel. After the storm, we had no power, no water, no phones, and where the harbor had been filled with 200+ boats, there we only 2 or 3 left. We got word the next day from a friend who went to the mangroves that Second Chances had survived the storm well. We brought her back to the harbor and have been back on her since.

     Salinas still has no electricity except for personal generators, no water except those with wells, no phone service, no stores open except one grocery store on a generator with 2 hour lines and not much food. The hopes for a quick recovery are not good at all. Katie has been unable to work since the storm and we cannot continue without her income. So . . . yesterday we pulled up anchor and set sail for Florida. It will take a couple of weeks, since we first have to stop in Mayaguez, Puerto Rico and hopefully find enough food and fuel to make the crossing. We're planning on sailing from there to the Bahamas, then up through the Bahamas to Florida. With any luck, in a couple of weeks we'll be on a ball in Marathon, restocking the boat. After that . . . who knows? We're taking it one step at a time right now. We'll be out of touch for the crossing, but you can follow us on my Facebook page, or on Garmin's Mapshare site where we'll be updating our location, thanks to my wonderful sister Lynn who sent us an InReach to allow us to communicate during our crossing! Otherwise, stay tuned and I'm sure Katie will update this once we get back to Florida.

Thanks for all the thoughts and prayers and I hope to hear from y'all soon!

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