Any news from The Brac?

[ChiTC]

Good Afternoon All. I will be flying down to Cayman Brac on December 15th to dive with Craig Burhart amd Indepth Watersports. Does anybody have any news on how things are on The Brac a month after Paloma hit? Thanks!

 

[ianr33]

The Brac was hit pretty hard Sat 7:00 pm: Cayman Brac receives extensive damage from Hurricane Paloma

I would certainly get word from someone on the island before traveling there at the moment.

 

[ChiTC]

Thanks lanr33. I'm in contact with Craig, just looking for any news I can get.

 

[diversteve]

Linton Tibbetts and Family Assist Brac and Little Cayman Recovery

 

[PePaw]

Most of you know that my daughter works for Brac Reef Divers, the latest news is that they hope to re-open in Mid-May of 2009, Rough seas have hampered the barges from arriving with materials. There is a large construction crew on-site living in tents.

She was really bummed because they had hoped to return in January.
She misses the Brac but the staff are keeping in touch with each other and hoping that better days lie ahead.

 

[knotical]

A few extracts from an email Craig just sent out to his customer list:

Half the island is still with out power. We are just now back on line and the toll free number is working again.. feel free to phone anytime..
We intend to be up and running before Christmas.

We will be doing a major update on the web site with-in the next month.

The New boat is on its way.

We lost our shop computers, and a good part of our back up info. If you have pending reservations please confirm them via email or phone.. As of right now they are not letting guests to the island with out confirmed housing. Other then that it's all clear to come down.

If you want the entire email, which included a few pictures of the boat under construction, PM me your email address.

 

[-hh]

This is probably OBE by now, but...

As of Craig's 12/22/08 email update, he was still waiting for the barge & new diveboat, gear, compressor & truck to arrive.

The northside house-cum-diveshop (purchased just before Paloma hit):

"We also are quite excited about the plans for the rebuild of the north side house. The storm has taken the whole top off of it. We expect to be able to start taking reservations for housing by sometime around April. This could be sooner but its too early to tell."


If I haven't mentioned it before...

For those who are interested in helping out the Brac's residents, the Grand Cayman chapter of the Rotary Club is taking donations at: Cayman Hurricane Disaster Update

I also understand that Robert Walton (Assistant Marine Park Officer (MPO) - Sister Islands) is working to help conserve the endangered Cayman Brac Parrot, as its habitat and food sources have obviously also been severely impacted by Paloma. I'm not sure what to suggest here, but for those that are thus inspired, you can probably reach out to his mom at the Walton Mango Manor website.


-hh

 

[ChiTC]

Thanks for all the information. I spoke to Craig after he got back to The Brac and decided to cancel the trip. Seems that things were worse than he expected them to be.

At the time I spoke to Craig, they were not letting people onto the Cayman Air flight from Grand Cayman to The Brac without proof that you owned property or had a place to stay.

Good Luck and God Bless to everyone on the island. We're all out here thinking of you!

-TC