The Captains Guide to Hurricane Holes - Volume I - the Bahamas

By Underill David and Pavlidis J Stephen

This is Volume 1 of the eBook series, The Captain's Guide to Hurricane Holes, and covers The Bahamas region. The Captain's Guide to Hurricane Holes is a navigational aid designed for yacht and boat captains transiting the waters of The Bahamas and the Caribbean. If you are so unfortunate as to find your yacht or boat in the path of an oncoming h

• Language: English
• Publisher: Seaworthy Publications, Inc.
• Release date: Mar 10, 2018
• ISBN: 9781892399922

Book preview

The Captain’s Guide to Hurricane Holes

Volume I

The Bahamas

Copyright © 2018 by Captain Dave Underill and Stephen J. Pavlidis

Published in the USA by:

Seaworthy Publications, Inc.

6300 N. Wickham Rd.

Unit # 130 - 416

Melbourne, FL 32940

Phone [phone]

email [e-mail]

www.seaworthy.com - Your Bahamas and Caribbean Cruising Advisory

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or by any storage and retrieval system without permission in writing from the Publisher.

CAUTION: The authors have taken extreme care to provide the most accurate and reliable charts possible for use in this edition, nevertheless, the charts in this guide are designed to be used in conjunction with DMA, NOAA, and other government charts and publications. The Authors and Publisher take no responsibility for the misuse of the charts in this edition. All charts are Copyright © 2017 Stephen J. Pavlidis unless otherwise noted.

All aerial photos of The Bahamas courtesy of Capt. Paul Harding, Aerial Imaging. All aerial photos of the Virgin Islands courtesy of Todd Duff (a special thank you for the updated Virgin Island information too). All aerials of Puerto Rico courtesy of Bob Greiser. Guatemala photo by Bongo Bob Meredith. All photos of Mexico, Belize, and Cuba are courtesy of Capt. Dave Underill. All other photos courtesy of Stephen J. Pavlidis.

Book design: Stephen J. Pavlidis, Nightflyer Enterprises, Melbourne, FL

ISBN 978-1-892399-92-2

Dedication

This book is dedicated to Scott Bell, who has been my best friend for 55 years, and his father, the late Larry Bell, who got me hooked on sailing a long time ago.

Capt. Dave Underill

This book is dedicated to my parents, Elizabeth and Basil, for introducing me to the beach, the sea, and boats.

Stephen J. Pavlidis

Irma and Maria

by

Stephen J. Pavlidis

THIS GUIDE WAS WRITTEN IN THE SUMMER OF 2017, AND WAS BEING EDITED while we were witnessing the destruction wrought by Hurricane Irma and Hurricane Maria in The Bahamas and Caribbean. I was shocked at the amount of utter devastation these storms left behind and how some of the holes, so favored by both cruisers and charter fleets for hurricane protection, lost nearly every vessel present, while other holes escaped with little or no damage. I have gone through this guide again since Hurricane Irma and Hurricane Maria passed through the islands and annotated the text to reflect how some of these places survived. The one good thing to take from this is that the people affected will rebuild, it is their way, they have done this for centuries, but the damages from Irma and Maria will set them back for months, some for years.

Irma left a huge path of destruction from Barbuda and Antigua through the Virgins and then right up the middle of Florida. The eye of Irma went over Barbuda which is now little more than a ghost town; everybody has been evacuated off the island and who knows when they will return. Irma then leveled St. Martin, St. Barth’s, Anguilla, and the U.S. and British Virgin Islands. However, North Sound Boatyard located on Crabbs Peninsula on Antigua, about 25 or so miles south of Barbuda, suffered minor damage and all the boats there were fine. Jolly Harbour Boatyard on the western shore of Antigua also suffered little damage.

Irma taught much about the holes that people have been using for years in the Virgins. Paraquita Bay, the safe hole for most of the BVI charter fleet, the safe hole that charges for moorings and lines up the charter vessels in nice, long rows, was decimated and has set the Virgin Island charter industry back who knows how long. Nearly every hole in Irma’s path suffered with few exceptions. Nanny Cay was wiped out, both the docks and the other infrastructure but they are rebuilding already (they have ordered new docks which should be installed in early 2018). In North Sound, Virgin Gorda, the Bitter End Yacht Club is in total ruins and closed for rebuilding.

In the U.S. Virgin Islands: St. John and St. Thomas were hit hard but Benner Bay (especially the area at the head of the bay known as The Lagoon), Flamingo Bay, and Mendahl Bay survived with just a few losses. The small cove north of the airport runway and south of Brewer’s Beach on the west side of St. Thomas also proved a valuable hole with its mangroves and 7’ depth where boaters survived both Irma and Maria. Sapphire Bay Marina suffered some boat losses as well as dock destruction. All in all, St. Thomas had a better survival rate for boats than did Tortola and Virgin Gorda where gusts to 200 mph and tornadoes laid those islands to waste, there was no truly safe place there.

IGY stated that Blue Haven Marina on Provo in the Turks and Caicos Islands, Yacht Haven Grande on St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands, American Yacht Harbor at Red Hook, USVI, Yacht Club at Isle del Sol, St. Martin, and Simpson Bay Marina are all closed for repairs, when they will open is anyones guess. Most marinas in Simpson Bay and Marigot were heavily damaged and will be closed for a while. Gustavia suffered much damage but should be up and running by the time this guide is published. Christophe Harbour on St. Kitts seems to have made it through with little damage.

Irma skirted the northern coast of Cuba, heavily damaging the marina and boatyard at Gaviota but leaving Marina Hemingway virtually untouched. A few marinas in The Bahamas were damaged but all were up and running within a week of Irma’s passing.

Maria appeared to be following in Irma’s wake beginning her path of destruction by leveling Dominica and then hitting St. Croix hard before crossing Puerto Rico and knocking out ALL power on the island (even snapping concrete power poles) and leaving few vessels unscathed. Puerto del Rey Marina suffered minimal damage and most boats survived with little harm. The damage to local boats in Puerto Rico is sad as many Puerto Rican boaters usually keep an eye out for strong storms and many will simply head south for three days to the ABCs and return after the storm has passed Puerto Rico.

The eye of Maria then passed approximately 35 miles to the east of Grand Turk and North Creek fared as well as can be expected with little damage.

So, what have we learned? We have discovered that some of the best holes are not as safe as many claim them to be while other, perhaps not so well-known holes did their jobs in two major hurricanes. Bear these lessons in mind when you seek refuge.

All in all, the best protection is not to find yourself in the hurricane zone during hurricane season, call it avoidance. You might wish to consider Panama or Venezuela’s offshore islands.

Contents

Irma and Maria

Introduction

Foreword

Hurricane Formation

Storm Surge

Hurricane History

Hurricane Preparation

The Northern Bahamas

Grand Bahama: West End

Grand Bahama: Freeport, Bradford Yacht

Grand Bahama: Xanadu Channel

Grand Bahama: Sunrise Channel

Grand Bahama: Silver Cove, Ocean Reef Yacht Club

Grand Bahama: Bell Channel Bay

Grand Bahama: Grand Lucayan Waterway

Grand Bahama: South Riding Point Harbour

The Bight of Abaco: Randall’s Creek

The Bight of Abaco: Basin Harbor Cay

The Bight of Abaco: Mores Island

Abaco: Grand Cays

Abaco: Double Breasted Cays

Abaco: Carter’s Cays, Hogsty Harbour

Abaco: Allan’s-Pensacola Cay

Abaco: Green Turtle Cay, Black Sound

Abaco: Green Turtle Cay, Bluff Harbour

Abaco: Green Turtle Cay, White Sound

Abaco: Mariposa

Abaco: Treasure Cay Marina

Abaco: Baker’s Bay Marina

Abaco: Leisure Lee and Hill’s Creek

Abaco: Marsh Harbour

Abaco: Man-O-War Cay

Abaco: Hope Town Harbour

Abaco: White Sound

Abaco: Tilloo Pond

Abaco: Snake Cay

Abaco: Little Harbour

The Central Bahamas

The Biminis: North Bimini

The Biminis: South Bimini

The Berry Islands

Berry Islands: Great Harbour Cay Marina

Berry Islands: Little Harbour

Berry Islands: Chub Cay Marina

Andros: Kamalame Cay Marina

Andros: Fresh Creek

New Providence: Nassau Harbour

New Providence: Lyford Cay Marina

New Providence: Albany Marina

New Providence: Coral Harbour

New Providence: Palm Cay Marina

New Providence: Rose Island, Salt Pond

Eleuthera: Davis Harbour Marina

Eleuthera: Powell Point

Eleuthera: Hatchet Bay

Eleuthera: Spanish Wells

Eleuthera: Royal Island

Cat Island: Springfield Bay

Cat Island: Hawk’s Nest Creek

Cat Island: Bennett’s Harbour

Cat Island: Orange Creek

The Exumas

Highborne Cay Marina

The Pond at Norman’s Cay

Warderick Wells: South Warderick Wells

Compass Cay Marina

Sampson Cay

Staniel Cay

Cave Cay: Safety Harbor Marina

Rudder Cut Cay: The Pond

Great Exuma: Emerald Bay Marina

Great Exuma: Stocking Island

Great Exuma: Crab Cay and Red Shanks

The Southern Bahamas

Long Island: Joe Sound

Long Island: Stella Maris

Long Island: Dollar Harbour

Long Island: Deadman’s Cays

Long Island: Little Harbour

The Jumentos: Ragged Island

The Jumentos: Boat Harbour

Crooked/Acklins District

Weather Broadcasts

TV and Internet

HF Weather

Local Weather Broadcasts

List of Charts

Chart Legend

List of Haul Out Yards

List of Marinas

About the Authors

Bahamas/Caribbean Hurricane Tracking Chart

Introduction

Even though the IDEAL hurricane hole might not exist, if I were cruising and faced with the threat of an imminent hurricane, I would want to know where the most secure location in my area was located. This is what this guide intends to do. What choices does one have? In most areas within the hurricane belt, dry land options are taken up sometimes a year in advance.

For most of us, our boat is our home. It’s where we live out our dreams. It’s where our loved ones snuggle beside us. It’s where we escape from the mundane life back on land. The goal of this guide is to give your boat the best chance possible to withstand a storm of utterly unimaginable magnitude. As for yourself, you should be off the boat and can celebrate with