MOP UP

Down for a week of evaluation and clean-up after the storms.  The USVI a bizarre contradiction of business as usual and unusual in a setting that is still extremely damaged and may never be the same.  Grocery stores open and well stocked but mooring balls empty.  Cell service and internet spotty except in some areas.  The number of boats that are strewn around the shores, particularly in the harbors, is stunning.  Forget about fixing them, when will anyone ever get the time or energy to even clean them up?  And then where would you put them all?   Those who rode out the storms (and Captain Phil says you can tell who those people are) say Irma was terrifying but only 4 hours; Maria went on and on which, especially on the heels of Irma, was both terrifying and exhausting.

What little infrastructure Lovango had is gone- specifically the dock and road.  Boats need to be moored (vs docked) and everything swum or waded in and walked up the path.  Getting groceries, never mind building materials, to the beach and up the hill is a chore.

For us it was 5 days of dawn to dusk mopping and mending and moving things forward a bit.  Both daunting and rewarding.  Especially daunting.  My take away is that Mother Nature will always win in the end... and that her earliest victories will come in places like Lovango where the tools to fight back are hard to muster.  This was known from the beginning and the plan, also understood from the beginning but brought more clearly into focus with these storms, was to live along side (vs. fight) Mother Nature.  We continue to discover what this will ultimately look like.

A sign of what we'd see

What's left of the Lovango beach cabana

Caneel Bay Resort a mess.  No plans to re-open any time soon.  Virtually no activity on site.

Last night pizza dinner at Captain Phil's who is now Lovango's only full time resident.  He gets through times like these (and he's had many in his 79 years, most of which have been on the water) by focusing on creating "shiny bells" amidst the chaos and despair.  Take one small thing from the wreckage and bring it back to perfect... and touch it often in the coming days and weeks.

New beach art on Lovango... "Clewless"

Cocktails with Love Shack owners Corey and Billie who were down for a month of clean-up.  Their beach front position and open architecture took it hard.

The dock got hammered.  No telling when the resources to fix it will be available.

Fixing the center doors that failed during Irma (but were cobbled back together and resealed by Dan before Maria).

Bright awnings and an open restaurant below, the Lumberyard- destroyed- above.

Installed the upstairs outside shower... a "shiny bell."

The new shutter built from debris and left-overs.

Down time at Francis Bay.  The former sand beach in background is now all rocks.

Part of Dan's tool shed landed in our downstairs shower... but not before bouncing off the roof.

Shutter construction.

Sunrise.  The natural beauty is still stunning... and everything green again.

Crap everywhere... on every surface, flat or vertical.

Suz's teapot hauled down and added to the decor.

The path that Captain Phil weed whacked for us.  Despite all he had to do on his place (and boat).