Barecat Charters

Morena; I finally got to get aboard her now that the other boats are off of her. Not pretty, another total loss.

Today would have usually been our first charter of the season starting, but today is not a normal day. The big charter companies are opening up soon in Tortola, as they have the staff, the funds, and the yachts being delivered in order to rebuild quickly. I am not so lucky. Four weeks of work has gotten the workshop cleaned up and organized, and I'm moved out of the new space I was finishing out/building, which is heartbreaking in its own way.
We're still missing one boat, Eyes of the World, but everything else has been accounted for and are total losses. I have high hopes of getting connected with a yacht owner that wants the special kind of attention I can give to their special girl, and we are hoping to be back soon.
In the meantime, know that the hills are green again, the beaches are lovely again, and the Islands are recovering slowly but surely in the face of great adversity. We are not giving up and neither should you.

So happy our underwater treasures made it through Irma and Maria.

I found Clarity today in Paraquita. I had seen her from afar, but today was my first chance to get to her. Unfortunately, she will be a total loss like so many others. I felt unsafe jumping aboard so no interior shots. Some looting was evident as well.
It's amazing to me the power required to do the kind of damage we are seeing, even becoming accustomed to.
Only two boats from the fleet still MIA, will keep the updates coming.

Moving forward:
Still pretty tough around here, but there are a lot of tough people who have stayed here to try and rebuild, not only our Islands, but our lives and our futures. I am one of them. I have decided to try and find one single catamaran of good size (Approximately 50ft) and fit for captained/crewed charters. Being able to focus on one boat, just our guests, and the experience that is the BVI post Irma is what I want to do moving forward. I see BVI right now being similar to the way it was 30 years ago. You are one of a few boats in any given anchorage. The natural beauty of this place is on display everywhere. The waters are pristine. You have most meals on board because there aren't many options otherwise. You take a bottle of wine over to that one other boat to go make new friends. What beach bars there are come in the package of a cooler buried in the sand, a few hammocks, and a colorful bartender to add flavor to your day. I know many of you want to come down and support BVI with tourist dollars, and I intend to make that available for you. If you're interested, please let me know. Plans are fluid
right now, but this is an idea I'm pretty excited about. Stay tuned to find out what we have in store.

Latest pics of hurricane hole. I've found 5 of 7. Well, heard about Moon River that's on Buck Island two miles up channel somehow, need to go see for myself. You can see Clarity and my monohull in these pics. Larimar and Cat Pause are upside down somewhere different after Maria passed, no sign of Morena or Eyes of the World yet.

Despite my objection to taking handouts, several people have asked me to start a funding effort. I have acquiesced.

Click here to support Help Nelson Boothe back from Hurricane Irma & Maria We are friends of Nelson Boothe of Barecat Charters of Tortola asking for your help for our wonderful and kind friend. Like many others he has lost everything; his home and means of livelihood, the whole charter fleet, in the wake of hurricanes Irma and Maria. Growing up in Fort Worth, Texas,...

EDIT: Despite my objection to taking handouts, several people have asked me to start a funding effort. I have acquiesced. https://www.youcaring.com/nelsonboothe-956339?utm_campaign=buttonshare&utm_medium=url&utm_source=copy&utm_content=cf_cp_01

Hello Barecat family.

We want you all to know we are safe and sound after Hurricane Irma. There is not much left standing around here and we have a long road ahead of us in order to rebuild The BVI. Unfortunately, while our people and Era are safe, our fleet wasn't so lucky. We cannot find a single intact Barecat boat in the hurricane hole, and in fact we only found two at all but they were turtled. My boat was destroyed there as well so I am homeless right now. The base was essentially wiped away, and the workshop is tumbled and structurally unsound. That is the story for 95% of the boats and 75% of buildings in BVI now.
The hurricane hole had somewhere close to 400 boats in it and I saw less than a dozen floating after the storm. Some are piled three high on each other.
My mechanic was in our marina for the storm and had a catamaran land on the roof of the building he was sheltering in, nearly killing him and Henry. They escaped during the eye to the bathrooms of the marina.
I was (and still am) in Cane Garden Bay staying with friends and had the roof fly off the house around 12:30 as the eye wall of Irma hit. We sheltered in the bathroom under mattresses and the adjacent hallway until the eye was upon us and we could run to the police station built wholly of concrete. We have heard numbers in excess of 280 mph winds, but it's hard to know what to believe.
Our island's new reality is one of living densely under a shared roof with a few possessions mingled with new friends and old, trying to help ourselves, our group, and our island as best we can every day. We are striving to get water flowing, power on, Internet restored, sanitation maintained, and roofs over our heads.
All of these things mean that more than likely there won't be much if any charter season coming up in 2017-2018. Tourism will come back here some day, but with no boats, no base, and little beauty, I can't see it being this year. I will strive to keep you updated as best I can as events unfold. I am not giving up on the BVI or on Barecat, but things will definitely be different next time you see us.
To those who have reached out to express their concern for me/us/Barecat I thank you very much and I will try to get back to all of you when Internet returns in any realistic form.

Peace, love, and good sailing to you all-
Nelson Boothe, Owner
Barecat Charters

Hurricane prep almost finished, we'll see you on the other side. Yes, those are all masts in the hurricane hole.

Can't build a new office without staying hydrated.

Quiz time folks.

Each semester, Virgin Islands History students as part of their assessment process are required to fill in this blank map of the BVI. Could you do it and which main island is missing?

Lots of firsts for our young intern this summer.