Hurricane Maria

[TQA]

Riviere Sens, down south of Basse Terre. Took the eye of the storm. Dead impressed with the way the Guadeloupeans have responded to this, very impressed. No fuss just getting on with cleaning up. Power back on after only 12 hours but no water yet. Some yachts damaged a couple very badly, a Super Marimou lost it's backstays in contact with the pontoon, bit of a mess, but proved to be a bit of a hurricane hole if such exists the big mountain here certainly helped. Road to Basse-Terre destroyed along with all the homes fronting it, feel for those people.

Have they redone the marina? I know there were plans to do so. I have not poked my nose in for a few years but remember it as in a bit of a mess with no lecky and only one pontoon with water. Some sunken boats. No Capitanerie either. I will be passing by in January and will drop in for a water top up providing I don't have to raft up three deep again.

 

[richardbayle]

Have they redone the marina? I know there were plans to do so. I have not poked my nose in for a few years but remember it as in a bit of a mess with no lecky and only one pontoon with water. Some sunken boats. No Capitanerie either. I will be passing by in January and will drop in for a water top up providing I don't have to raft up three deep again.

Oh yes, I arrived in 2014 and it was almost complete but now we have good visitor moorings, have/had a fuel dock, and the shower block and Capitanerie completely refurbed albeit in a Caribbean style.

New pontoons, water, lecky and internet. Almost the full Monty!

 

[richardbayle]

Have they redone the marina? I know there were plans to do so. I have not poked my nose in for a few years but remember it as in a bit of a mess with no lecky and only one pontoon with water. Some sunken boats. No Capitanerie either. I will be passing by in January and will drop in for a water top up providing I don't have to raft up three deep again.

You won't have to raft up! If you're here after the 18th Jan, call me +590690744907

 

[Zing]

Riviere Sens, down south of Basse Terre. Took the eye of the storm. Dead impressed with the way the Guadeloupeans have responded to this, very impressed. No fuss just getting on with cleaning up. Power back on after only 12 hours but no water yet. Some yachts damaged a couple very badly, a Super Marimou lost it's backstays in contact with the pontoon, bit of a mess, but proved to be a bit of a hurricane hole if such exists the big mountain here certainly helped. Road to Basse-Terre destroyed along with all the homes fronting it, feel for those people.

From you description of the damage it doesn't sound terrible compared to the devastation in Dominica and the BVI. Trees stripped bare, catamarans flipped onto buildings, most roofs ripped off etc. I wonder if you just missed the worst of the eye wall.

 

[richardbayle]

From you description of the damage it doesn't sound terrible compared to the devastation in Dominica and the BVI. Trees stripped bare, catamarans flipped onto buildings, most roofs ripped off etc. I wonder if you just missed the worst of the eye wall.
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You come here and say that! The marina I agree largely got by ok with nothing that can't be fixed. No marinas in Dominica just pretty exposed anchorages and they took a hammering .
Outside of the township of Riviere Sens, total destruction, but Guadeloupe is not Dominica; there they had little to start with and were still struggling with the aftermath of TS Erica 2 years ago, we have a sophisticated economy, good transportation, troops stationed here and the normal infrastructure of a 20th century country (not quite 21st) Power was on very quickly, altho' we still do not have water, but even there, the authorities set up and refill regularly the large water containers set up in public areas. Comparing apples with oranges, never a good thing and everything is relative.
But yes we are fortunate in that services are being restored very quickly.
Back in Thatcher's Britain when we were encouraged to borrow and spend, we joked that after a nuclear war as we struggled to get out of the nuclear winter, the first post would arrive in the form of your Amex bill. That's exactly what happened here, 3 days following a Cat 5 hurricane the first post arrived yesterday and yes, it was my Amex bill!!