Pusser’s Landing Decimated by Irma
As of last week, there was still no power, no Internet and limited phone service throughout the Caribbean, so accurate reporting of September’s devastating hurricanes — storms that already seem like they hit months ago — remains difficult. This latest report about damage on Tortola was included in a personal email from our old friend Charles Tobias, founder of Pusser’s Rum. He agreed to let us share it with readers.
While the report is specific to Soper’s Hole, West End, where the first Pusser’s Landing has been welcoming thirsty sailors for more than 30 years, it is similar to the reports we’ve been receiving from all over the Caribbean. We look forward to clinking a glass of Pusser’s Painkiller with Charles when the Landing re-opens.
"Thanks to everyone for all your thoughts and for caring about us. It’s been very bad, with a lot of anxiety. Most all of the buildings and infrastructure in the BVI have been destroyed or severely damaged. No water, no electricity, poles and wires down everywhere, scarce fuel. It takes two hours to drive three miles — and drive you must if you want to meet with someone or contact them, because most phones do not connect."
"It will surely take five years or more to get it all back together. In one 400-yard stretch alongside the road at Maya Cove, there are more than 400 yachts sunk and damaged beyond repair, all piled on each other. We lost a car, and our boat sank. The wind was so strong that the cleats on the bulwarks to which the lines were attached bent and pulled straight back through the hawse hole, allowing the lines to slip off. We had 14-one-inch diameter lines with chain and thimbles on the end securing the boat to the concrete pilings. Quite incredible."
"I would estimate that more than 3,000 yachts will be written off, and more than 3,000 automobiles. The wind was steady at 200 mph, gusts to 285, and twisters in the middle of some of those gusts creating winds up to 350 mph! Our house is one of the few that suffered little or no damage as a result of my rebuilding it about seven years ago. My dear Joanna broke her leg badly. She’s flying out of here on a chartered jet on Tuesday with our friend, Greg Pearson, who has chartered the plane for a quick in/out trip from the States where he is."
