Hurricane Hugo in the Caribbean.

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HURRICANE "HUGO"

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September 1989
You’d think that these islands would know how to handle things during a hurricane watch. Well, how silly of me to make such an assumption. The first hurricane scare, in early August, set the tone: boats trying to get into the lagoon radioed the bridge tender, who at first said he wouldn’t open the bridge at all unless they talked nice to him. Then, when someone said “please” he replied that he’d open the bridge at 5 pm and at 6 pm for 10 minutes each time. It was bedlam. Yachts were running into each other to get in, there was profanity and much heated arguments on the radio, and what seemed like general unpleasantness. Then hurricane Gabrielle came by. Someone must have complained about the bridge, because Saba Radio announced that the bridge would open every hour on the hour for 10 minutes each time. The boats had much less trouble getting in – and good thing, too, because the seas were so rough on both sides of the island that it would have been a terrible mess even though there was no wind to speak of. Meanwhile, on land, the lines outside the hardware stores were immense, and all masking tape, candles, hammers, nails, etc. were sold out real early. Now, two weeks later, hurricane Hugo. This is the real one. I went down town to get some extra batteries and bread at about 9 am on Saturday. Bread was practically sold out, the lines in K-Dis (grocery store) were incredibly long (some people were buying cases of mineral water, among other things). The line in Home ‘N Tool extended all the way to the back of the store – and they were out of batteries. Yet at the electronics store they had cases of batteries, and practically nobody in the store. A friend says there’s not a piece of plywood to be found on the island.

Simpson Bay Lagoon in Saint Maarten/St.Martin is considered one of the best hurricane holes in the Caribbean. It's totally landlocked, so seas can't get in, and it is extremely large, so there are many places for boats to anchor, away from each other. Boats from all over the Caribbean, including the U.S and British Virgin Islands, inter-island freighters (under 100'), small tugboats, various islands' Harbormaster boats, and ferry boats from various islands (including the entire Anguilla ferry fleet). Even the Coast Guard boats from St. Kitts and Guadeloupe showed up to get into the lagoon for shelter. Some wise guy on the radio asked the Coast Guard boats why they weren't staying out to rescue boats or people in distress. No answer. You know you're not in the States, anyway.

While I waited in our apartment in Marigot, Peter stayed on the Watermelon during Hurricane Hugo, and we kept in touch via VHF radio. The following is my diary of our experiences and observations of the effects of Hurricane HUGO.

Sunday, September 17, 1989
0730
We've got a hurricane going over us and Philipsburg TV is off the air, Anguilla is showing Bugs Bunny, and the radio has church services. Peter's been on the Watermelon since last night. He rigged three anchors out - two 35-lb. CQRs, a 45-lb. Danforth. He has one more anchor ready to deploy if necessary. Winds started about 0500. There are about nine freighters and tugs anchored in the Anguilla Channel, at the mouth of Marigot Harbor˜. (These are boats which are too big to seek shelter in Simpson Bay Lagoon.)

POSITION @ 0600 - 16.5 N, 62.2 W
0900 - Peter checked in - doing okay, but as we were talking, it started cooking. Gusting to 54 knots. Freighter in Marigot slipped anchor and is drifting toward La Belle Creole. A French boat, anchored and left by the crew sometime during the night just before the hurricane, slipped its only anchor - it headed towards WATERMELON, but missed. It headed down and onto Sid's boat. Poor Sid, he doesn't have a working engine, and was struggling to fend the French boat off. Other skippers in the area were yelling to him "cut it off, let it go Sid! It's going to end up on the rocks anyway." Poor Sid, he just couldn't bring himself to cut the boat's anchor line. He fended the boat off, but it fouled his anchor and set him adrift. The French boat disappeared across the lagoon. Sid's boat drifted towards GRETA, which was securely anchored, but without an engine. For the next twenty-four hours, the two boats stayed tied to each other, and Sid and Neil fended their boats off each other.

A local charter boat company brought two large cutter-rigged boats into the lagoon. The crews failed to remove any of the canvas. With the first gusts of wind, the two roller-furled headsails and the mast-stowed mainsail let loose. Peter said they looked quite spectacular for about 30 seconds, all that sail flapping in the wind. And then they shredded. Thank heavens they were securely anchored or they could have wreaked havoc on the anchorage (PHOTO).

0920 - Another boat reporting 58 Knot gusts, 3' surf in the lagoon

0930 - Anguilla lost it. No more TV. Ham radio hurricane net reports that Guadeloupe, which was hit at 0300 today, has no airport, no telephones, suffered estimated 130 Kilometer/hr. winds before the air control tower blew down. Nevis reported 3000 people homeless, but nobody was killed. There is no communication with Montserrat or St. Kitts, so we assume that they were hit hard.

1000 - U.S. radio had a brief blurb about Guadeloupe, then said "next stop for Hugo is Puerto Rico." They don't seem to know about the USVI, let alone the rest of the Caribbean islands.

1015 - Gusting to 65 knots. SAN FRANCISCO, a big fishing boat, lost it early, is on the beach. A small wood ketch and a large charter company's boat are on the rocks, being bashed to oblivion.

1100 - Anguilla back on the air - showing "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest." How appropriate. Lost the old TV antenna off the roof. Satellite antenna on our roof let go. At the moment it's fouled on an air conditioning unit. If it takes off it'll take a hotel with it. Coconut palm lost two or 3 fronds, but still holding onto all its coconuts (close to 100 of the damn things). Freighter still wallowing on the shoal just before La Belle Creole. Finally backed itself off, and backed up halfway up the bay before anchoring again. Winds stronger - wind-blown spray is whiting out all of Marigot Bay. In lagoon here, most boats holding okay. One slipped, rubbing against another boat - they'll be a mess tomorrow. (NOTE: BOTH UNATTENDED) Another one on its side on the shoal. Fishing boat on the shore.

1145 – I can't believe how many people are out. Two Dominican guys in our entry, so I went down & stood with them. They soon left. Then 4 more came running by towards town. Whole chunk of our side Cashew tree broke off (40' tree). Two big limbs on roof of Pirate's Water Sports. Most of DeBeaupre's roof is gone. Only boat I can see in Marigot is AXIAL, and she's riding this storm well. (AXIAL is a beautiful French trimaran that can't find shelter anywhere because it's 90' long, 95' wide, with a mast that seems to brush the moon.)

1200 - Wind is real bad. If it was 64 knots before, it's over 75 knots now. TV off air - don't know if Anguilla shut down or if it's our antenna. Reception had been getting bad, so it could be antenna. Water in road is threatening to flood ground floor of YCR. Coconuts still hanging on - but some have dropped. POSITION @ 1200: 16.8 N, 63.3 W

1240 - One boat clocked the wind at 78 knots, but his anemometer doesn't go higher.

1520 - 85-knot gusts. Doesn't seem to be getting better. Boats dragging. St. Kitts-Nevis Coast Guard boat lost its anchors. They're trying to hold stern-to the wind. As one fellow said, if they run out of diesel, they join the rest of the boats on the rocks.

1530 - Peter finally checked in. I was getting worried. He says the ‘Melon’s a terrible mess, boat got knocked over, mast in water, and since nothing stowed properly.... Anchors dragged a bit, but since several boats left ("not of their own accord", as Peter put it), he's in good shape with more room. He seems to think wind is letting up, but I disagree. Gusts are worse than ever, and Marigot is so kicked up I can't see any of the freighters anymore. Before, it was somewhat pretty with spray skipping across the water, but now it's scary. I told Peter things are getting tired here, and the western side roof is starting to break up - he asked how I knew if I hadn't gone out to see - I told him because pieces of it are landing on our balcony.

1550 - Gusts over 80 knots. St. Kitts-Nevis Coast Guard boat pulled 4 boats' anchors, hit a boat twice & damaged pulpit. Boats in that anchorage are sounding very angry.

1600 - Cashew tree losing all its branches - 2 more big ones broke off. I can't walk around YCR anymore - since 1530 winds have been too strong for me to walk about. Don't even like going onto the balcony to look.

1700 - Still gusting wildly. I'm getting edgy - don't feel like eating, can't read, puzzles no fun. Wind still too wild to walk around. Went to check if any damage done by Cashew tree branches. Doesn't seem to be any, but it was a bit scary so I didn't stay.
Story: Fellow reported another boat dragged anchor onto him, fouling his anchor. Other boat seemed to get settled, and our fellow spent about two hours getting his fouled anchor reset (tough maneuvering in 70-knot winds). Then the fouling boat had the cheek to ask him to move. Our fellow's friend said "and of course you said yes, right?" Our fellow said "Nah, the guy was French."

No St. Maarten TV. Richard says that Dutch side shut its power down last night. (The crowning blow was when the roof of one of the building supply yards blew off and hit the Sint Maarten power station, taking the main line of the generating plant with it.) Anguilla keeps going off & coming on, so it's not our central antenna. Gusts come, loud noises erupt, and I don't have the nerve to go look. Richard took a ride around the island, says there are at least 8 boats up on the rocks. He says barometer is finally rising, so it is moving away now. There's a big barge in the lagoon, the owner won't spend the money for ground tackle – the barge is "anchored" with a 50-gallon drum filled with rocks. Richard says somebody should have gone aboard and scuttled the damn thing before this started. As a sailor I consider that a mortal sin, but I think he's right, because it is now drifting around the lagoon leaving fear and dismay in its wake. (I wonder how many boats it took with it?)
1800 POSITION: 17.1 N, 64.1 W

1830 - Violent gust - approached 100 knots knocked over Peter's favorite tree. This has gone on too long. But it could be worse (I guess - how do I know?!) Windy, then every so often you hear what sounds like a freight train roaring down the tracks. All too often you also hear a sharp “crack˜, or crash, meaning something's broken, or flown and hit something at 80+ miles an hour. Then the roar fades away, but you can't relax, because you don't know when the next gust is going to come.

1930 - Worst gust so far. No freight train, that. Sounded like a small city, maybe Cleveland, roaring by.

2000 - Boston just roared by.

2100 - Poor WESTERING HOME - she's got 3 boats out of control bearing down on her. Boat talk says gusts staying below 80 knots, finally. May be abating. But worst storm damage done between 1600 and now. POSITION: 17.2 N, 64.3 W

2120 - Down to freight trains again.

2120 - Another boat slipped anchor and on its way to another collision. When is this going to end?

2145 - Loud clunks. High gusts. Hope this is its death throes - still over 70 knots. Boats bearing down every 5 or 10 minutes now. Mostly unattended boats - their gear has probably finally broken, and with no one to attend it, boats are gone.

2200 - Peter called. He's tired. Said he's filled the cockpit with water at least three times when the 'Melon got knocked down. I'm glad I made him take 4 sandwiches, anyway - although when he's had time to eat them, I'm not sure. "Make it stop!" Right after he signed off, another monster swooshed by. And there's a biggy! Oh, damn, quit it, please!!! He can't continue alone - he's got to be exhausted, and that's when mistakes are made. I told him to keep checking in each hour until things calmed down, 'cause I can't sleep until it's calm and I know he's okay. Real loud clunk that time - don't have the nerve to find out what it was.

2220 - Listening – MOPANE is sitting on the rocks, worrying about whether he's going to get holed if the wind shifts. He had three anchors down, but a big power boat dragged by early in the storm and cut off two of them, and the last one just couldn't hold under those big gusts. His rudder is grinding, he's lost his engine, and he's just praying that the wind stops soon. It's still going strong. While I'm futzing - vent my spleen. News from cable TV has me really angry. Earlier today, they were showing the preparations being made for the hurricane in Puerto Rico. They showed the boat owners getting ready for the storm, then said "While the well-to-do worry about their boats, many worry about their lives..." I wish they were here listening to people whose boats are their homes worrying about the boats that have hit them, are going to hit them, or about whether or not they and the boat are going to survive at all. Damn slick know-nothing "journalists". Then, this "newsman" is shown talking with the satellite weather man (?) and showing Hugo on their map. They talk about the fact that it is going to hit St. Croix, and "what might they expect?" Well, they totally ignored the fact that as they spoke, and clearly there on the damn weather map, Anguilla, St. Martin/St. Maarten, St. Barts, St. Kitts, Nevis, Montserrat, Saba, etc., were totally obscured on the map by the damn hurricane. No mention was made of us. No concern or compassion was shown for what was going on here. Spit, spit, spit. You want to know what to expect? Ask those who are going through it! It's really not that hard. People here would be glad to talk. It would probably ease the strain, and lighten the depressing sense of isolation we feel. When Hurricane Gilbert flattened Jamaica in 1988, I was amazed at the number of newspapers, etc. who got on the ham radio network to get information from the volunteers coordinating the communications with Jamaica. At the time, I fumed that the volunteers' work was being delayed by all the interruptions from the media - had they had someone just listening to the network, they would have gotten the same information without so many interruptions. Yet the ham radio network is a good method of communications and was available to the news media this time as well. I guess we're not as newsworthy as Jamaica. Of course, I may be quite unfair. Certainly television "news" is just 30-second visual drama, so what do they care about us if they can't see us?) Anguilla's gone again. This time TV and radio. Don't think they'll be back this time.

2240 - I swear, wind hasn't abated at all. Boats say so, too. Still clocking over 80 knots. Whoops, Cleveland just went through again - fellow on one boat says he's tried everything to get it to stop - even brought a chicken aboard - didn't work. So much for Voodoo.

2300 - This hurricane is supposed to be 120 miles SW of us, and it's still blowing 100 knots in gusts. Somebody's wrong. Wow! That last gust going by made this building blow like a trombone. These gusts are worse than those that went by three hours ago. Time to bury my head under a pillow. But I'll never let Peter stay on the boat alone again. I shouldn't have this time, but somebody had to watch the YCR and I never thought it would be this bad, or last so damn long. Now another boat is in trouble. Boat bearing down on them, they can't get their engine started. You can hear the strain in her voice.

Monday, 18 September, 1989
0015 - Peter hasn't checked in yet. Latest update: POSITION: 17.4 N, 64.6 W Boats say we've got another 7 hours of 50+-knot winds, then another 4 hours at gale force. This has been a very slow-moving hurricane - it's slowed down to 8 knots, so it just isn't getting out of the way fast enough. And, to top it off, a new tropical storm is at 12.1 N, 54.2 W. Too many boats are losing it – tackle is just getting tired - not to mention the people. I don't know how anyone can be so brave when he hears his boat grinding on the rocks under him. I feel so terrible for Mopane, but he's staying with it - not ready to give up yet.

0050 - Peter checked in. New worry. St. Kitts-Nevis ferry is riding around the anchorage, messing up everybody's lines. One fellow is in real trouble because of them (and all he said on the radio was "they were driving it, why didn't they go behind me, why did they have to go over my anchor rode?" No profanity, no loud recriminations, I wanted to cry for the guy), and now Peter has to watch that along with everything else. Mopane is terribly depressed. Boat on its side now. He's convinced he's lost it, but he's still on board - hoping for a miracle, I guess.

0735 - I Haven't heard from Peter since 0130. POSITION @ 0600: 17.9 N, 65.1 W People are saying the wind is abating, but right now there is another huge gust going through. Wind has shifted to the South, whatever that means. Am worried that Peter just couldn't hold up any longer, and with the shift in wind direction, Watermelon is now going to be stern-to the rocks. At 0130 Peter said that he had lost two of the three anchors - chain is just dragging, or something, somewhere down there, and with its tall rig and deep keel the 'Melon would just sail wildly in every wind shift, so he had the engine on and he drove the boat most of the day. Doesn't make me sit too calm here. Commercial radio is just about all off the air. From the boats and the ham net, hear that Montserrat is calling for help - sustained much injury and damage. Hurricane approaching Puerto Rico now. It's bigger and stronger than the radio and TV reports. In light of day I can see the damage around here better. The two palm trees on our side are in terrible shape. The taller one has lost most of its fronds - but still holding on to close to 50 coconuts (but probably 50 have already blown off). Smaller palm's lost the whole top of the tree, and most of the fronds on the south side (taller tree just beat it to death). The Cashew tree has lost almost 75% of its limbs and top, and took one of the concrete columns of the new wall with it. On east side of building, all the trees took some damage, but not nearly as bad as on our side. Don't see any broken doors or other damage to the building, and with the wind now south the building isn't so vulnerable. Yesterday there were 9 tugs and freighters in Marigot Bay. Only counted 6 this morning. One lost its anchor during the night and so the captain deliberately grounded it on the beach. Call on the radio - boat sunk (PHOTO), fellow is calling from the boat that picked him and his family up - the boat's without an engine and drifting. He needs help to get his wife and baby off. One piece of good news. MOPANE got blown off the rocks last night after a big gust from the north, he missed being holed by a rock by a foot or two, and found himself adrift towards a big barge which he managed to grab hold of and secure himself to. He calls it "accidental seamanship" and is saying his prayers of thanks.

0845 – Finally heard from Peter. He's slept for a few hours, says things are pretty much okay. He says he's coming in to get some coffee and bring me back out to the 'Melon with him. They've counted 21 boats on the beach in the airport area alone. One fellow on radio said that this taught him never to deploy all his anchors at the beginning. He's one of the ones who lost two, third dragged, and he had nothing in reserve to keep him off the beach.

Aftermath
After hauling the anchors (badly, badly fouled - amazing that the third CQR held at all - Peter thinks the two anchors were fouled early by the French boat that let go) we moved the 'Melon to a clear location and reset the anchors in daisy chain configuration. Then we rode around in the dinghy looking at the devastation. Although a lot of the boats aground look as if they can be refloated, it was quite a start to come upon a mast sticking eight or ten feet out of the water, its jib still furled on the headstay. Some terrifying stories, and at the sight of each boat on its side on the beach, my stomach lurched. A friend told me that Peter was crazy to have been on the boat. I don't agree WATERMELON would probably have been lost had Peter not been on her; and worse, she probably would have knocked other boats off their anchors as well - something we could not have had on our conscience. Peter never felt that his life was endangered, and although he was exhausted, he came out of it feeling satisfied with his efforts, and very impressed by the seamanship shown by the crews on the majority of the boats.

Many good stories.
Came upon our friend Peter Tatzel, on DANENA, working to set two of his anchors as a kedge anchor for a boat on the beach. The boat lost five anchors during the hurricane (bad luck that kept getting worse), and had no more as it drifted down the lagoon. With no choice, he ran it up on the beach bow to the mangroves. Our friend, in 50 Knot winds, swam over to the grounded boat to help the singlehander set lines to the shore, then swam back to his boat. Tatzel said that although it had been impossible to get a dinghy over there in the high winds, swimming wasn't too bad. But then, he's a gracious man. Most of the yachties showed an amazing portion of grace. We all commented on how understanding the crews of the securely anchored boats were towards those that dragged. There are many stories of aid generously and graciously extended to those in need. Amazing to listen to the children on some of the boats discussing the past 24 hours - there are a lot of children on the boats in the lagoon - for many, these boats are their only home. I don't think these kids have been emotionally scarred by this experience - not when they're rounding up help to go look for their dinghy so they can again have transportation to go visiting their friends - and the wind is still blowing a constant 30 Knots and the chop hasn't laid down yet. The majority of the problems encountered in this storm were caused by unattended boats improperly secured. Boats not securely anchored dragged early in the hurricane, unfortunately taking a few others with them. Where there was insufficient or no chafe gear, anchor lines finally parted after more than 20 hours of violent and wildly shifting wind gusts. As Sid said, one thing he learned from this hurricane was that there was no substitute for good equipment. A final thought - on television two days after the storm, we are told about civil disorder and looting on St. Croix. I sympathize with people who have lost so much during this hurricane, but cannot understand the behavior of these people. Such behavior is almost inconceivable in the British Virgin Islands, or, for that matter, any of the other former British islands down here. What is wrong with the Crucians? I wonder if the U.S. news media, with its emphasis on "well-to-do" and the "poor others", should shoulder some of the blame for the lousy attitude of the St. Croix residents. Not only is it sick, it is not typical of the Caribbean.

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