September 2017 Another Blow

After 40 years with no hurricane impact to the South Carolina area, and 13 years since Wilma destroyed the Marina in Key West, Florida. So the chances that we would be affected by hurricanes 2 years in a row, seem small. Last year, Mathew destroyed our marina, this September, Irma impacted our Key West marina. In early September, Irma marched across the Atlantic. For many days, it appeared that Dataw would sit in the eye as it rolled ashore. A category 3 with fifteen foot tides was predicted. With Dataw's marina gone, we had taken refuge in a friends Hilton Head Island slip for the summer. We drove frantically back from a trip to Illinois and arranged to have the boat placed on the hard at Dataw. The travel lift had survived, although the dock in front of it had not. As we motored from Hilton Head to Dataw, we reflected on the chances of losing both home and boat. Whatever happened, we were certain of one thing. Nothing could change the great fun our experiences on Wind Dancer had brought us, or robbed us of the wonderful friends we had met because of her.

At the last minute, Irma swerved west plowing through the Florida Keys, the eye passing less than 50 miles from Boca Chica. And again, the second year in a row, a hurricane impacted our lives in a terrible way. Many of our good friends who wintered in Key West left their boats there every year. The marina survived the blow, but many boats were heavily damaged and too many friends decided the time had come to move on to other lives, beyond boating. The damage was not repaired and the electricity was not restored to the marina for 8 months, which made it impossible for Wind Dancer to return for the 2018 winter. In so many ways, this was the end of our way of life in Key West. Over half of the group that we counted as family will not be returning for the 2019 winter. We will return, but life will be very different in the future, no more Key West Race Week, a loss of irreplaceable friends....it was not a good year for Wind Dancer and crew.