natas
Well-Known Member
"Hi all, its been a while.
So, a year or so ago I got fed up with my life and job on Nassau and finally decided to do something.
I sold my studio and just about everything in it, sold my house and most of my vehicles.
Quit my job of 36 years and moved to Abaco.
Abaco is a chain of islands in the NW Bahamas, about 60 miles or so N from Nassau, then another 50 or so to Elbow cay.
Both of my Parents were born In Abaco on the island of Elbow cay in the town called Hope Town.
Elbow cay is about 6 miles West off the main land of Abaco island.
There is a one mile long island that lays between Abaco and Elbow cay, about 3 miles West of Abaco called Lubbers Quarters.
When my Dad was a young man he bought a piece of land on Lubbers Quarters that ran from one side to the other, about 4 acres, 100' x 1750' aprox.
Lubbers has about 50 homes on mostly owned by second home owners. Most of these people are Americans.
They rent their homes to tourists during the season and usually spend time during the off season. There is a couple that live there full time.
There is a small community on the south end with about 20 homes with the rest spread here and there mostly on the Western cost going to the North end.
There are no gas stations, no food stores and except for the south end, no roads.
There is a bar and grill, "Cracker P's" about mid way.
You must have a boat to get to and fro to Lubbers.
My Dad gave me the property and I built my house just north of Cracker P's.
I have beach on the West and Eastern side of my property. My house is on the Western side about 170' from the beach.
I built a 100' dock off my beach and put a boat lift on the Northern end.
My Wife is a great baker and loves to bake.
I bought a small landing craft with intentions to run freight between the islands.
The bakery "Lubbers Bakery" took off from the start and is doing well.
The freight not so much, maintenance was a lot higher than I figured on so I sold it and decided to concentrate on the bakery with my Wife.
Life was great.
We got a call from Nassau, my Dad was not feeling well so we decided to go and visit and spend some time with my Parents.
By the time we got to Nassau my Dad was feeling better, that was good.
We were watching the weather as we always do during the hurricane season and were watching a tropical storm named Dorian making its way in the Puerto Rico area.
As it got closer we decided to come back home to Lubbers, all predictions were that it would stay a tropical storm with no more than 70 mph winds.
We wanted to get home to prepare and get our other boat sorted.
As Dorian got closer it soon became a cat 1 storm so we decided to take the boat out of the water and put her on the mainland, Abaco.
I had to catch a ride from Abaco back to Lubbers.
This now meant that we would be stranded on Lubbers with no way off. It was off season and only 8 other people on the island.
No telephone, only cell. No VHF, no communication.
But cat 1, no problem.
September 1st we woke to 50mph gust and a cat 5 hurricane Dorian bearing down on us.
Needless to say we were not prepared.
I had been through a few hurricanes in Nassau but nothing could prepare me for this Monster Dorian.
By mid morning my Wife, my dog and I were hunkered down in my 8 month old house with impact windows and no shutters with 160mph sustained winds.
Cell phones stopped working.
My house was built on poured concrete pilings, the front of the house is 12' off the ground in the front and tapers off to about 8' in the back as the land slopes upward to a 50' hill.
By mid day the ocean surge had covered my dock and was under my house (170' from the beach) 10' high with 3 ' waves.
My 2500lbs 25 kw generator was knocked off its concrete stand and was being pushed around my front yard like a piece of balsa wood.
My shed that was next to the generator exploded from the pressure and all the contents gone.
I have yet to find 3 of my full propane tanks.
By now the wind was sustained at 185mph with 220mph gust
After an eternity of this the wind quickly started to drop and the sun began to shine.
We had passed through the wall and were in the eye.
We tried to go out the back door to look around but couldn't get far as the surge was then running back to the ocean carrying everything in its path.
Everything looked grey.
In about an hour or so we passed through the opposite wall.
All the leaves and trees were already snapped so now there was nothing left to protect us against the wind.
The back side of the storm was twice as bad as the front.
My house was shaking and moving like a boat anchored in choppy water.
Pictures started falling off the wall so we tried taking them down along with anything else that could fall.
It was difficult to walk.
My house is a wooden house.
When the gust would hit I saw my walls and windows flex in and out.
Our ears were popping like when you go in a plane only lots harder and faster.
Then one of my water cistern covers blew off straight up into my porch ceiling and I watched as the outside porch ceiling started to peel back.
I was sure this was the end, surely my roof would go now.
I grabbed my Wife and dog and put them in the bathroom shower, grabbed all the pillows off the bed and threw them on top of her.
I grabbed the mattress and put it across the door and held it there for what seemed like hours crying and praying.
My house rocked and shook, things slammed into it.
But the worst thing was hearing the tornadoes going by, deep bass rumbling,growling that I will never forget. Each time they went by the pressure in my ears would pop.
This went on forever.
The storm went over to Grand Bahama island and stalled for 48 hours leaving the back end of the storm over us.
For almost 3 days the wind did not go below 70mph.
We had zero communication with anyone and thought the storm was coming back on us.
Sheer terror.
Up until Tuesday evening we were still getting feeder bands with rain and strong gusts of wind.
By Wednesday we were able to go out and look around.
I cannot explain how it looked, felt and smelt.
It was deathly quiet except for yells and voices coming from the south end that we would never been able to hear if all the trees were still there.
Everything was gone, twisted and broken.
It looked like one of those war documentaries after the bomb was dropped.
Everything was grey and burned from salt.
Cracker P's still stood but was missing parts and I could see that his water cisterns were broken, windows broke and missing and things just hanging.
There was debris in the water, everywhere you look, wood, metal ,pieces of boats ,docks ,branches and stuff that could not be identified.
Every now and then a helicopter or an aeroplane would fly over low and slow.
No boats.
Nothing.
My house stood !!!!
Very little damage. I lost half my guttering on one side, the bug screens on the front and rear porch.
We had a small refrigerator on the back porch that we kept extra butter, eggs and baking supplies in. That was on its side with a big dent in it, no idea what hit it.
The water had come all the way to the back of my house.
I had a bunch of left over lumber and concrete stored under the house.
The lumber was spread all through my yard and in the bush.
My water pumps and pressure tanks were pulled apart and laying here and there, one of the tanks is still missing
My 3 water cisterns did fine.
A couple dents here and there and the house will need to be repainted.
But otherwise I was very lucky.
5 minutes walk south 12 houses were gone, only the foundations left.
The rest of the houses all received massive damage.
Electricity went off some time on Saturday and I lost my generator Sunday morning.
We were rescued off my dock about mid day Thursday by boat and carried to Nassau.
I feel that I will never recover from this.
I will never ride out another hurricane.
The aftermath is turning out to be as bad as the storm."
So, I copied this from another forum that I go to.
Why?
Because "Pumkin" my 1999 Defender 300tdi also survived, kinda.
I did not want to leave Pumkin in Nassau so I brought her to Abaco and rented a storage unit on the mainland in Marsh Harbor. Needless to say the storage unit was destroyed, it fell in on Pumkin.
At this time I have a full soft top on her. The canvas was torn to shreds, the sticks were twisted like spaghetti, all the rear lights and light guards are destroyed. there are brutal scars on both doors and the bonnet has a hole in it that looks like a bullet wound. After the storm there was massive looting in Marsh Harbour and some idiots tried to steal her from out of the rubble so the ignition switch was destroyed, I am now starting and stopping with a screw driver.
Otherwise, she is in great shape
Anyhoo , so I have placed a pretty big order with Famous Four. BTW I also lost all of my spares as they were in the same building so I am replacing as much as I can afford.
I want to replace my bonnet and eventually both the doors. However it will cost a fortune to import the bonnet and would most likely get damaged in route to the Bahamas.
there are a couple broken Land Rovers around and I was wondering what other Bonnet would fit my 300tdi? 200tdi/td5.................
Thanks
So, a year or so ago I got fed up with my life and job on Nassau and finally decided to do something.
I sold my studio and just about everything in it, sold my house and most of my vehicles.
Quit my job of 36 years and moved to Abaco.
Abaco is a chain of islands in the NW Bahamas, about 60 miles or so N from Nassau, then another 50 or so to Elbow cay.
Both of my Parents were born In Abaco on the island of Elbow cay in the town called Hope Town.
Elbow cay is about 6 miles West off the main land of Abaco island.
There is a one mile long island that lays between Abaco and Elbow cay, about 3 miles West of Abaco called Lubbers Quarters.
When my Dad was a young man he bought a piece of land on Lubbers Quarters that ran from one side to the other, about 4 acres, 100' x 1750' aprox.
Lubbers has about 50 homes on mostly owned by second home owners. Most of these people are Americans.
They rent their homes to tourists during the season and usually spend time during the off season. There is a couple that live there full time.
There is a small community on the south end with about 20 homes with the rest spread here and there mostly on the Western cost going to the North end.
There are no gas stations, no food stores and except for the south end, no roads.
There is a bar and grill, "Cracker P's" about mid way.
You must have a boat to get to and fro to Lubbers.
My Dad gave me the property and I built my house just north of Cracker P's.
I have beach on the West and Eastern side of my property. My house is on the Western side about 170' from the beach.
I built a 100' dock off my beach and put a boat lift on the Northern end.
My Wife is a great baker and loves to bake.
I bought a small landing craft with intentions to run freight between the islands.
The bakery "Lubbers Bakery" took off from the start and is doing well.
The freight not so much, maintenance was a lot higher than I figured on so I sold it and decided to concentrate on the bakery with my Wife.
Life was great.
We got a call from Nassau, my Dad was not feeling well so we decided to go and visit and spend some time with my Parents.
By the time we got to Nassau my Dad was feeling better, that was good.
We were watching the weather as we always do during the hurricane season and were watching a tropical storm named Dorian making its way in the Puerto Rico area.
As it got closer we decided to come back home to Lubbers, all predictions were that it would stay a tropical storm with no more than 70 mph winds.
We wanted to get home to prepare and get our other boat sorted.
As Dorian got closer it soon became a cat 1 storm so we decided to take the boat out of the water and put her on the mainland, Abaco.
I had to catch a ride from Abaco back to Lubbers.
This now meant that we would be stranded on Lubbers with no way off. It was off season and only 8 other people on the island.
No telephone, only cell. No VHF, no communication.
But cat 1, no problem.
September 1st we woke to 50mph gust and a cat 5 hurricane Dorian bearing down on us.
Needless to say we were not prepared.
I had been through a few hurricanes in Nassau but nothing could prepare me for this Monster Dorian.
By mid morning my Wife, my dog and I were hunkered down in my 8 month old house with impact windows and no shutters with 160mph sustained winds.
Cell phones stopped working.
My house was built on poured concrete pilings, the front of the house is 12' off the ground in the front and tapers off to about 8' in the back as the land slopes upward to a 50' hill.
By mid day the ocean surge had covered my dock and was under my house (170' from the beach) 10' high with 3 ' waves.
My 2500lbs 25 kw generator was knocked off its concrete stand and was being pushed around my front yard like a piece of balsa wood.
My shed that was next to the generator exploded from the pressure and all the contents gone.
I have yet to find 3 of my full propane tanks.
By now the wind was sustained at 185mph with 220mph gust
After an eternity of this the wind quickly started to drop and the sun began to shine.
We had passed through the wall and were in the eye.
We tried to go out the back door to look around but couldn't get far as the surge was then running back to the ocean carrying everything in its path.
Everything looked grey.
In about an hour or so we passed through the opposite wall.
All the leaves and trees were already snapped so now there was nothing left to protect us against the wind.
The back side of the storm was twice as bad as the front.
My house was shaking and moving like a boat anchored in choppy water.
Pictures started falling off the wall so we tried taking them down along with anything else that could fall.
It was difficult to walk.
My house is a wooden house.
When the gust would hit I saw my walls and windows flex in and out.
Our ears were popping like when you go in a plane only lots harder and faster.
Then one of my water cistern covers blew off straight up into my porch ceiling and I watched as the outside porch ceiling started to peel back.
I was sure this was the end, surely my roof would go now.
I grabbed my Wife and dog and put them in the bathroom shower, grabbed all the pillows off the bed and threw them on top of her.
I grabbed the mattress and put it across the door and held it there for what seemed like hours crying and praying.
My house rocked and shook, things slammed into it.
But the worst thing was hearing the tornadoes going by, deep bass rumbling,growling that I will never forget. Each time they went by the pressure in my ears would pop.
This went on forever.
The storm went over to Grand Bahama island and stalled for 48 hours leaving the back end of the storm over us.
For almost 3 days the wind did not go below 70mph.
We had zero communication with anyone and thought the storm was coming back on us.
Sheer terror.
Up until Tuesday evening we were still getting feeder bands with rain and strong gusts of wind.
By Wednesday we were able to go out and look around.
I cannot explain how it looked, felt and smelt.
It was deathly quiet except for yells and voices coming from the south end that we would never been able to hear if all the trees were still there.
Everything was gone, twisted and broken.
It looked like one of those war documentaries after the bomb was dropped.
Everything was grey and burned from salt.
Cracker P's still stood but was missing parts and I could see that his water cisterns were broken, windows broke and missing and things just hanging.
There was debris in the water, everywhere you look, wood, metal ,pieces of boats ,docks ,branches and stuff that could not be identified.
Every now and then a helicopter or an aeroplane would fly over low and slow.
No boats.
Nothing.
My house stood !!!!
Very little damage. I lost half my guttering on one side, the bug screens on the front and rear porch.
We had a small refrigerator on the back porch that we kept extra butter, eggs and baking supplies in. That was on its side with a big dent in it, no idea what hit it.
The water had come all the way to the back of my house.
I had a bunch of left over lumber and concrete stored under the house.
The lumber was spread all through my yard and in the bush.
My water pumps and pressure tanks were pulled apart and laying here and there, one of the tanks is still missing
My 3 water cisterns did fine.
A couple dents here and there and the house will need to be repainted.
But otherwise I was very lucky.
5 minutes walk south 12 houses were gone, only the foundations left.
The rest of the houses all received massive damage.
Electricity went off some time on Saturday and I lost my generator Sunday morning.
We were rescued off my dock about mid day Thursday by boat and carried to Nassau.
I feel that I will never recover from this.
I will never ride out another hurricane.
The aftermath is turning out to be as bad as the storm."
So, I copied this from another forum that I go to.
Why?
Because "Pumkin" my 1999 Defender 300tdi also survived, kinda.
I did not want to leave Pumkin in Nassau so I brought her to Abaco and rented a storage unit on the mainland in Marsh Harbor. Needless to say the storage unit was destroyed, it fell in on Pumkin.
At this time I have a full soft top on her. The canvas was torn to shreds, the sticks were twisted like spaghetti, all the rear lights and light guards are destroyed. there are brutal scars on both doors and the bonnet has a hole in it that looks like a bullet wound. After the storm there was massive looting in Marsh Harbour and some idiots tried to steal her from out of the rubble so the ignition switch was destroyed, I am now starting and stopping with a screw driver.
Otherwise, she is in great shape
Anyhoo , so I have placed a pretty big order with Famous Four. BTW I also lost all of my spares as they were in the same building so I am replacing as much as I can afford.
I want to replace my bonnet and eventually both the doors. However it will cost a fortune to import the bonnet and would most likely get damaged in route to the Bahamas.
there are a couple broken Land Rovers around and I was wondering what other Bonnet would fit my 300tdi? 200tdi/td5.................
Thanks
