A Tale of Two Chemists: Making Repairs

Thursday 30^th Nov 2017

As I spend time in Tortola it has become increasing clear how much quicker the repairs are getting done in the marina than in the surrounding area. The reason is simple – money. I suspect that the boats, buildings and businesses that comprise Nanny Cay are well insured and as insurance adjustors evaluate and agree what needs to be done, then the money becomes available to make the repairs happen. Less so in the broader community where the people I have talked to indicate that shortage of funds is the limiting step to getting things put back in order. I suspect that well established business and wealthier individuals have insurance, but those that can least afford to make repairs do not.

I was fascinated to see how the salvage crews would right the toppled boats. They attach slings and use a crane to lift the boat, still tilted at the angle it fell. They then wrap an additional strap around the keel, leading up one side of the boat to a separate wire on the crane. This is then tightened to pull the boat vertical within the original slings and reposition it on stands. It’s a pretty quick and effective method (see photos below). Unfortunately, a number of boats have broken keels and I saw one boat where the keep stub was separated from the hull and it looked like the keel bolts might be bent. I was also told that in some cases the boat stands punctured the hulls as they toppled - probably repairable, but at what cost.

The roofs on buildings took a real hammering and you do see a lot of roofing repairs ongoing. One of the issues was the arrival of the second hurricane Maria that dumped an enormous amount of rain on to buildings that had already lost roofs and windows in the previous storm. When we first arrived at Nanny Cay we were inside the main reception building when a heavy rain shower hit. The building looked relatively undamaged inside, but almost immediately there was water pouring down everywhere. Of course, the roof was not intact! These types of problems are being fixed pretty quickly here but less so in the wider community.

On Tuesday I visited the local desalination plant. The island relies on reverse osmosis for fresh water. The plant looks OK from the outside, but when I went to look inside and talk to people it was obvious it was totally trashed and out of operation. Again, I’m sure a new roof is needed, but I also suspect that being next to the ocean that the equipment was inundated with salt water during the storm surge. You do see water trucks driving around delivering fresh water to houses, and there are commercial filling stations for water containers, but many of these seem to be out of action. I was impressed to see that the marina has a water supply at the entrance for anyone to come and fill their containers for free. I assume Nanny Cay has it’s own desalination plant.