Young sailors are expected to be back on the water at Nanny Cay in January when the Royal BVI Yacht Club resumes its sailing school. Photo: Provided

Commodore Chris Haycraft has gone public with his thanks for all the messages of goodwill the Yacht Club has received and also given some detail as to what the future may hold for the activities at the Club

“The dust is finally starting to settle following the devastating impact of Hurricanes Irma and Maria and on the whole the news is positive,” he said.

“We have begun the process of assessing the damage and rebuilding. The Club House in Road Town appears to have stood up relatively well and although there was flooding in the ground floor offices and bathrooms we still have our doors and windows. Unfortunately, there is damage to the roof, the restaurant and the deck which will require considerable work to repair.”

Positive news
 
Haycraft also noted that there was positive news about the sailing centre at Nanny Cay, which despite the area being virtually unrecognisable, initial assessments indicate that approximately 30% of the yacht club hulls can be repaired and some of the rigs and other equipment has also been retrieved

However, Haycraft said there were concerns over the IC24 Black Pearl. “She is still a question mark after she abandoned her mooring for a spot on the hard after the eye passed but her rig is certainly a little shorter than it is supposed to be!”

Incredibly, one of the two storage sheds was one of the few things left standing on the beach and fortunately both the coach boats floating.

Haycraft did add though that a significant amount of equipment is lost forever, including all of the lifejackets and most of the sails, so the shopping list to get us up and running again will be long.

Yacht Club instructors depart VI

Unfortunately, both the Yacht Club Instructors have decided to leave after the passing of the Storms and Haycraft stated that they would be sorely missed.

Looking to the future, Haycraft pointed out that “whilst the immediate tasks are to complete the clean-up, do inventory and begin repairs, we hope to be able to re-start Saturday sailing in the near future and offer some much-needed respite from the challenges of daily living.  Longer term, we hope to resume our after-school classes from January and will be recruiting new instructors.  In the meantime, we will be busy with fibreglass and gel coat!