Hurricane Holes in the Caribbean

[nofacey]

My insurer would not accept anything north of Trinidad, so that’s where we went. Reasonably easy overnighter out of Grenada either direction, easy island hopping above.

Chaguramas has multiple boat yards, good haul out & repair abilities, great cruiser community - lots of cruisers return here year after year. Boat yards all fenced/guarded 24/7, and care for their customers.

Yes they are closed now, as are French Polynesia, Thailand and many other island nations - including New Zealand - but they will all reopen next year, don’t think OP is out there quite yet.

[lifeofreilly57]

Originally Posted by VChild

I am quickly approaching semi-retirement and would like to spend weeks to months at a time on my boat in the Caribbean. During this semi-retirement phase I will need to return to my job in the states for several months each year but prefer to leave my boat in the Caribbean year round including during hurricane season. I can’t control which months I may need to return to the U.S. but I would have enough notice to move the boat to any part of the Southern Caribbean before the hurricane season. Any suggestions on safe places (hurricanes/crime) to keep her during the months I won’t be aboard? Preferably with easy access by air.

Trinidad is shut down to cruisers currently, in fact they booted out any cruisers sheltering there recently, they gave them two weeks notice with no exceptions. Those who stored for the previous season just before covid have not been allowed to return to get their boats, but they still have to pay storage and maintenance fees. I would avoid Trinidad due to umpredictability politically, there hasn't been any prediction as to when they will change course.
It also depends on your insurance as well, read the fine print.
A couple countries in the western Caribbean have been redlined by insurance companies over the last year due to political issues, so take that into account.
This hurricane season has been predicted to be an active one, we'll see what that brings.
Recent history has appeared to show a trend towards more uncommon storm trajectories, last year a tropical depression was originally predicted to go north of us or directly through Grenada, but veered south at the last minute, hitting boats who were fleeing to Trinidad.
Basically, it appears from recent history that the safe zone is now game but lower in the odds, which is as good as it gets. The key is to be aware of the storm systems coming at you so you have time to make the right storm.mitigation decisions. There's no guaranteed hurricane hole, but there are some islands with better odds.
If storing for the season review and inspect the potential yards your considering and their standards.
We're in Grenada this storm season and will be closely monitoring the storms exiting Africa.

[CaribbeesYC]

I wasn't going to say it but avoid Trinidad altogether.

[IanTrail]

Consider Bartica in Guyana. We spent 3 months of the hurricane season there, 50 miles up the Essequibo river in the rain forest. Lovely town and lovely people. English speaking. Trinidad & Tobago is pretty safe but we returned a bit too early and got hit by the edge of a hurricane in Tobago. It's a bit of a slog getting down there but that means it's an easy sail back!

[Airborne]

We are big fans of Curaçao Marine, great Service, you can leave your boat in very Safe hands,. ASK for Harry 👍

[Ebbflow]

Originally Posted by IanTrail

Consider Bartica in Guyana. We spent 3 months of the hurricane season there, 50 miles up the Essequibo river in the rain forest. Lovely town and lovely people. English speaking. Trinidad & Tobago is pretty safe but we returned a bit too early and got hit by the edge of a hurricane in Tobago. It's a bit of a slog getting down there but that means it's an easy sail back!

How did you navigate up the river? Is local knowledge required?

[Fantazia]

Hi Buddy,
Usual practice isTrinidad/Tobago. Security can be a problem if the boat stays for the whole period, but Hurricanes are no problem. You can put it in a locked yard.
We left our Switch 55 cat on the hard at Notthspund Marina in Antigua go the whole cyclone season several years ago. The marina is CT 5 1m thick cement with metal tie downs. All sails and top sides cleared. Our Australian indurance company was only too happy.
Very clean, very secure and safe. Fly int to Antigua easy with British Airwaysz.
John W

[Gerrit Coetzee]

Originally Posted by sailcrazy

If you are not totally set on being in the SE Caribb, let me suggest Puerto Del Rey Marina in Fajardo, PR. Yes, they've been hit by storms, but it is (by our observation and search) a very well run, professional, and as safe as it can get marina. We've hauled out and kept our boat there, on the hard, over the past 7 seasons. Between the dry-storage yard (a significant distance back, protected by mangroves, well elevated above the harbour level, chain-link fence and 7/24 guards protected, massive buried concrete beams to strap your boat to), the 7/24 guard protection, and a haul out crew that do seem to know what they're doing.....it's as good as we've found! They are not cheap, and usually fill up each season so you need to make advance reservations, but so far.....all we've lost was the windex at the masthead(during the 2, back-to-back hurricanes a couple of years ago). Perhaps something you may want to check-out......and NO, I don't work for them or have any investment interest in them!

Puerto del Rey is very nice. Been there in the week. But they are extremely busy with 1600+ boats and trying to get a slip or T is a nightmare if you are on a Cat.

And expensive .

But then, quality and popularity comes at a premium.

[Annoe]

We left our boat in Chaguarmas in Trinidad one hurricane season. We had no problems with storing on the hard there. We also had a lot of work done on it with excellent results. A lot of folks also leave their boats in Grenada.

[IanTrail]

Originally Posted by Ebbflow

How did you navigate up the river? Is local knowledge required?

We used Admiralty charts 2782 (1963 edition) and 2783 (1972 edition). These still seem to be the current editions. They take you 50 miles up to Bartica then it's uncharted beyond there. We also used Chris Doyle's pilot book (google Doyle Guides Guyana) which is pretty much essential. The Essequibo is gob-smackingly wide (17 miles at the mouth, 3 miles at Bartica where it divides) but it is quite shallow and the channels move about. The local Parika-Bartica speedboat ferries do it at about 40 knots but they are hardly touching the water! The Doyle Guide let's you hop from waypoint to waypoint all the way but this just means that's what he did and he didn't (quite) hit anything!

[contrail]

Originally Posted by sailcrazy

Then how did they tip....strap failure? What were they strapped to? Something had to have let go, or they would not have tipped.

Sorry, just saw this follow up. The most unprotected area that you described was where the cats, which largely survived, were located. The few that didn't tended to get pushed a bit off their blocks, during the eyewall surge, and then bottomed out on their keels.



The monos that tipped did so a number of ways. Some sort of rotated in their cradles, some had supports blown out, some that had boats tip over onto them had their hulls pierced by stands, all sorts of things. But straps seemed to hold as did the sand screws. If they had not, the boats would have taken flight, like elsewhere. I spoke to one of Nanny Cay's owners, who did a very careful analysis of what happened, and he felt the cradles were no better than the stands, judging by the results, which was a surprise.

[Nicholson58]

We hauled in Trinidad at Power Boat in Chaguaramos for three years before Covid. They are making serious efforts we hear to re-open. A great and safe place. Due to restrictions, we have reluctantly left the boat on the hard in Jolly Harbor, Antigua last year and this. It is a good place for Cat 3. Others have use Rodney Bay in St Lucia. Grenada, as others have noted.

[Lambretta]

Originally Posted by VChild

Interesting article and great overall publication. Thanks!

Ditto ......... did not know of this publication ........ thanks for the insight

[rexripley]

Originally Posted by IanTrail

Consider Bartica in Guyana. We spent 3 months of the hurricane season there, 50 miles up the Essequibo river in the rain forest. Lovely town and lovely people. English speaking.

What is the marina situation like there? I looked on a satellite image, and while the location is fantastic and inland, there do not seem to be any marinas, just a few piers.

How does one make arrangements? Any recommendations?

Possibly the image I was looking at is old.

[GordMay]

The Doyle Guide provides waypoint coordinates from the mouth of the Essequibo for safe motor sailing to Bartica and from Bartica to open anchorages offshore from the Baganara and Hurakabra river resorts.
➥ https://exploreguyana.org/guyana-by-yacht/

Close to Bartica are two river resorts, one downstream from Bartica called "Hurakabra River Resort" [2] [Kit and Gem's plac] and one upstream called "Baganara Island Resort" [1]. In front of both resorts are good anchoring places and most cruisers spend at least a few days in front of the resorts. We, however, like our anchoring spot in front of Bartica with access to shops and the water taxi to Parika / Georgetown. So we used our dinghy to visit these resorts.
➥ https://www.sailblogs.com/member/islandgirl38/291581

1 ➥ https://exploreguyana.org/portfolio-...-river-resort/
2 ➥ https://exploreguyana.org/portfolio-...island-resort/