Grand Cayman and Hurricane Ivan

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A few links to photos, including a few of the very hard hit East End area. GC will need our tourism dollars in the future, but for now, aid is really what's needed. I'd also read on stormcarib.com board that the people of Cayman Brac have opened a HomeDepot.com gift registry for relief to GC. The "last name" for the registry is "Hurricane Relief".

www.amustard.com/ivan/
www.eastend.demon.co.uk/index.htm
www.davidolson.com
 
wolfgirl:
sdwho-- THANK YOU for posting some positive and *verified* news! It's nice to get some real, concrete information, because it's been very hard for us to separate emotional, sometimes second-hand accounts from hard facts in everything we've read (not just on this board) this week. I really, really appreciate you posting this-- perhaps our trip to Cobalt in 4 weeks is still a possibility.

Thanks,

wolfgirl
I spent last week diving with dive tech (thanks Eric, Sebastian, Anthony, Sarah and Natt) and was evacuated this wednesday. I support patrionizing the island to help get them on their feet. As optimistic as I am regarding the ability to return to some sort of normalcy, it will be several months at best. The people who provide much of the services are leaving the island, with many more still dealing with the realization that they have lost everything. If you do go, realize that there's still a lot of suffering. Perhaps you can take some spare clothes to those that have lost everything.
 
Turtle Gal:
Call and talk to Arie or Nancy. We have heard from a very reliable source that the dive shop (Divetech) should be back up running in a month.You can always go to WWW.divetech.com and read the damage report. Turtle gal

Hey- We have reservations at Cobalt Coast on GC 10/9-10/16 & reservations at Pirate's Point on LC for Oct. 16-23rd.

We talked to both resorts today, briefly.

Cobalt: we actually talked to someone from Divetech, which is right on the CC property, and they were very harried and didn't have time to talk. Divetech's website has info on damage (sounds minimal)- which doesn't really match up with what they told us this morning- that they won't re-open until *December* sometime. Turtle Gal, do you have info I'm missing?? pls let me know if you do.

thx
 
We did a dive at Turtle Farm on Sun. afternoon. There's piles of debris washed up against the foot of the mini-wall but not too much actual reef damage. Viz was OK but murky of course. Strangely, it seemed worse deeper. We were on the wall at 100 feet & it looked a lot murkier deeper.

Cracked Conch & Divetech at the Turtle Farm seemed relatively OK though the dive shop had obviously got some damage & all the gazebo etc was gone.

Also dived at Smith Cove on the SW coast. Much more reef damage. Lots of broken sponges in the sand flats. All the sea fans which used to be on the hard pan at 20 feet are now on the beach. The hard pan's like a piece of concrete.
 
nipi:
We did a dive at Turtle Farm on Sun. afternoon. There's piles of debris washed up against the foot of the mini-wall but not too much actual reef damage. Viz was OK but murky of course. Strangely, it seemed worse deeper. We were on the wall at 100 feet & it looked a lot murkier deeper.

Cracked Conch & Divetech at the Turtle Farm seemed relatively OK though the dive shop had obviously got some damage & all the gazebo etc was gone.

Also dived at Smith Cove on the SW coast. Much more reef damage. Lots of broken sponges in the sand flats. All the sea fans which used to be on the hard pan at 20 feet are now on the beach. The hard pan's like a piece of concrete.

Do you live on GC or are you vacationing there?? Just wondering how you managed to go on a dive (whether you work at the dive shop, etc?)- I'm assuming that was this past Sunday, 9/19?

thanks!
 
Wolfgirl

I have lived in Cayman for 11 years. I don't work in the dive industry but Jim, the owner of the Cayman Dive Lodge, is a good friend so tanks are currently not a problem.

Don't think too many others have been out though the guys from Sunset did go out by the Texaco tanks to inspect the pipeline for damage.
 
We had a trip planned for 10/9-10/23 on GC and LC and have finally heard from Cobalt Coast in GC, so wanted to pass along this email we received in case anyone is needing this info. In addition to this, we also have heard from Pirate's Point on LC saying they will definitely be open for business on 10/16 (the date they planned to reopen after their planned renovations this year anyway). We have cancelled our trip for now, as Cobalt won't be operational for several more weeks, but plan to re-schedule it for early next year- I'm sure they could use the business now more than ever!

Email is from Nancy at Divetech at Cobalt Coast in West Bay, GC (I've omitted a few non-essential details for brevity):
_____________________________
Sent: Sunday, September 26, 2004 12:54 PM
Subject: Re: Closed for business?

Hi all - I apologize for not personalizing this, I just had Nat pick up our email by going to Georgetown, thanks to the Aggressor Office, and this response will be posted to you tomorrow. To all of our friends and family, we are all well, eating well, all needs intact, and looking forward to getting open again in the not too distant future.

To all of our valued customers, we are very sure that Sept and October reservations need to be cancelled - what resources we have available are needed for emergency relief and assistance. Our current plan is to be re-opened about Nov. 15th, with more details to come shortly. Things are quite busy here in recovery and restoration mode, and email is still difficult at best.

The island of Grand Cayman is busy rebuilding, no doubt about that. There are many properties that are damaged and will take some time to rebuild, but everyone is working hard to get this done. Many properties and dive operators sustained 'minimal damage' and are getting ready to go again! CUC (Our Electric company) has already got new power poles up from Georgetown to the Hyatt, running main power grids and lines and then branching off to buildings that are ready for power. Many Inspectors are hard at work making sure that what is put into service is working properly. Water is available for all now, some from taps, others by going to local sources to get water, but everyone is getting fresh drinking water. There are lots of meetings going on, with the Chamber of Commerce, the CITA, Government departments and other associations, and everyone is pulling together to get information flowing.

So, the question that everyone is asking - how are the reefs, and how is the infrastructure coming along. Well, I don't profess to know the detailed answers, but we now have several restaurants and bars open, gas stations are open, grocery stores are open, including Hurley's with fresh produce and meats -- they have full power now. Everyone is trading for what they need and someone else has, so it's really a community effort. Cleaning is coming along nicely, and repairs are full work in progress.

The reefs - well, we've been slackers and are only starting to go out diving, limited tanks are available until full power is resorted, but in general, from what we have seen so far, the state of the reefs looks wonderful on the North, that's the only area where we have been out as of yet. Lots of sand shifting, but that happens to us on a normal Nor Western, so apart from replanting some sponges, it looks great out there. There is lots of stuff pickup underwater though!

Our boats are now on blocks, and repairs are underway starting Monday. Many of the boats on the island survived just fine, a few are underwater/sunk, but all are working to get them back up and going. Welders are in demand too :) Our moorings at West Bay are fine, and the dock at Cobalt Coast, apart from boards blowing out, is intact and now fully repaired with the ladder back in. The staff all went for a dive today, Sunday. Turtles, Green morays, one had moved into a recent additional on a large PVC Pipe, big snappers, corals, fans, whips, even a lot of sponges. Heard from the Reef Resort that their dock is fine too, just repairs to be done. The West Bay Dock also survived intact.

Turtle Reef needs a little more work and that is coming in the next few weeks. There is going to be power we hope in 2 - 4 weeks, and then we can get all repairs completed. For now, she is clean, dried in, and ready to get all re-stocked!. It's going to look real pretty, and heh, it needed a paint job, so what better opportunity than now.

Cobalt Coast is full with emergency relief workers, and more coming in every day. The place is pretty empty during the daytime with everyone working long hours. All roofs are now dried in here & we are fully operational except for power, internet, and of course, full time water !! The cleaners where in today doing carpets and sofas, and a major cleanup took place outside again today, with the remnants of trees, eve troves and lots of leaves all picked up already.

While many places are going to be ready to go soon, the basic infrastructure needs to be restored first, so that is what we are all looking towards now, and will be the determining factor in receiving guests again. Optimism is high, and communications will be coming more regularly in the next weeks. So, for the next short while, please bear with us. Good dates will be available soon. We ask, if you can, that you give us a little more time to confirm our availability, and if not then we hope to see you again in the not too distant future.

Right now, anyone wanting to come to Grand Cayman needs a form, simple but necessary, and if you need to come here, let us know and we'll do what we can to help. Please remember that we do not have constant email access at this time yet.

Until we open back up for tourism, we would really like to thank everyone that has written and sent prayers, we do appreciate it. Please forgive our delays in getting back to you, this will come soon. Many folks have left and hope to come back soon, many have stayed. We have a note of one recording that showed gusts of 265mph from the weather station, but West Bay was sooooo lucky not to get the storm surge or flooding. All is well here, there is lots of work to do but the island, well the country, is opening back up. Little Cayman and the Brac are ready for visitors soon. Grand Cayman is coming along.

Will sign off for now, and please give us a few weeks to get back to normal, we need and want you back visiting us in the near future..... until then, be safe, be happy. Nancy & Crew @ Divetech [Cobalt Coast Resort]

-wolfgirl
 
Thank you for passing this on. MY wife and I were on one of the last planes to leave Grand cayman on the friday before Ivan hit and haven't been able to find much news about Divetech and Colbalt Coast. I am glad to hear that they survived relatively intact compared to the rest of the island.
 
I went diving off Don Fosters on South Church Street the other day and we saw an 8ft hammerhead shark in about 9ft of water, about 15 yards off shore, certainly woke us up! We coulden't believe it as we have never heard of anyone seeing anything like this there.

Apparantly the north sound is still too poluted to dive in from all the sewage.
 

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