July 26, 2018 11:00 am
Comments Off on A Message from the BEYC Crew! Greetings from the Bitter End team. We hope you’re all having a great summer on, in and off the water, wherever you may be. It soon will be a year since Hurricane Irma scored her direct hit on North Sound, with her sister, Maria, visiting a handful of days later. As most of you know, their unladylike behavior left virtually every structure at Bitter End smashed beyond repair and wrecked most of BEYC’s large and small boats.
As I write this from Bitter End, we’re in the midst of Phase 2 of the cleanup project, which is focused on dismantling structures and disposing of debris. There are 60+ workers on property, supported by heavy equipment and dump trucks. We have acquired a low-emissions, environmentally-friendly incinerator to dispose of organic debris, mostly wood; and we will remove other debris for appropriate offsite disposal.
There’s no doubt that it’s a daunting task to clear our 64 acres of an estimated 3,000 tons of debris from the nearly 70 shattered buildings; to prepare the property for new construction; and to get Bitter End back up and running. But, for us, it’s a very special and exciting opportunity that the entire team is tackling with enthusiasm and optimism. We are working with our architect, Matthew Falkiner of Simplemente Madera, to make sure “BEYC 2.0” will reflect its 50-year legacy of laid back fun and that it will personify the welcoming and friendly energy, vibe, spirit and respect for the natural environment that always has been Bitter End’s lifeblood.
We’re focused on having our mooring field, marina and harbor-front operations, including food, beverage and retail, in full swing by spring, 2019. By then, we will be on our way to building out the rest of Bitter End’s Village center as well as planning and mobilizing for follow-up phases across our 64 acres and along our mile of shoreline. Each day’s progress brings us closer to welcoming you ashore at Bitter End once more.
Bitter End 2.0 will continue its commitment to the Virgin Gorda community, which remains very much in need of support. Aided by the generosity that our guests and friends have shown over the past year we have been able to:
–Respond, within 48 hours of Hurricane Irma’s passage, to the acute needs of Virgin Gordians for emergency evacuations, food, water, medical and other critical supplies. This only was possible through the kindness and generosity of friends in Puerto Rico and North Sound.
–Bring timely and sustained post-hurricane emergency financial assistance directly to Bitter End’s 170+ employees.
–Sponsor a Holiday Party featuring Santa and toys for the local Virgin Gorda Community.
–Continue our support of “VISAR” (Virgin Islands Search and Rescue).
–Contribute meaningfully to the BVI Tech Ed Project, which through a grant in partnership with other BVI hospitality industry participants, has facilitated donation of 650 Chromebooks to the Ministry of Education & Culture of the British Virgin Islands; and has resulted in a follow-on grant for additional Chromebooks that will ensure that BVI high school students in private and parochial schools have access to this technology as well.
–Conduct, along with Sunchaser Scuba, World Oceans Day shoreline and seabed cleanup in North Sound.
–Sponsor the non-profit Saira Hospitality School’s training initiatives for Virgin Gorda and other BVI residents.
Your support and generosity continue to be instrumental in making possible these and future initiatives to assist our community. Fundraising and support for the community will remain a key feature as we ramp up BEYC 2.0. We continue to be amazed by the Bitter End community’s inexhaustible compassion and the persistent energy, strength, support and generosity that reinforces our resolve every day to turn this challenge into the exciting opportunity of bending on new sails and continuing with the remarkable voyage that has been and will continue to be Bitter End.
So please stay tuned! During the runup to BEYC 2.0, please help us at #BringBackBitterEnd by getting out your favorite Bitter End gear, wearing it and using it on the water this summer. Then share the fun with us on Facebook and check for updates there on Bitter End’s resurgence, including some exciting new things that we’ll share with you very soon.
Thanks to every one of our treasured Bitter End friends for your incredible support and your devotion to Bitter End and the BVI over its 50-year history and especially during the past tough ten months.
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October 2, 2017 11:11 am
Comments Off on Post Hurricane Irma Update #2
Dear Friends of Bitter End,
When I last communicated, Lauren and I had set up camp in the southeast corner of Puerto Rico at Las Palmas to continue with Virgin Gorda humanitarian relief and recovery efforts and to begin planning Bitter End’s revival. Las Palmas is a key base for the “Puerto Rican Navy” that has been so committed to Virgin Gorda in Irma’s aftermath. Unfortunately, we forgot to disable the hurricane magnets and after a week in which we were able to make two productive visits to North Sound and the Valley as well as coordinate a number of evacuations, we found Maria bearing down on us. Two of the evacuees, Ingrid and Peter from Saba Rock, along with their two dogs and two cats, were our campmates and provided invaluable help in coping with Maria and her horrendous aftermath.
Not only has Maria devastated Puerto Rico and created a humanitarian crisis whose scale and impact on American citizens may be unprecedented, but she also has destroyed the lifeline that was so important to Virgin Gordians residents in the days following Irma. Now, our Puerto Rican Navy friends, whose energy, empathy, and generosity have been so valuable to Virgin Gorda, find themselves without power, water, fuel and communications for the foreseeable future. Lauren, Ingrid, Peter, and I were able to fly back to the mainland last Tuesday. We did not want to remain and unnecessarily add to the depletion of scarce resources that are critical to the Puerto Rican people themselves.
Once more, we will regroup and continue to make the best contribution possible to Virgin Gorda’s relief and recovery, part of which will include planning for Bitter End’s future.
Finally, we want to extend our heartfelt thanks to all of those who have contributed to the relief efforts and to the Bitter End community for the overwhelming support and concern during this challenging time.
With gratitude,
Richard Hokin
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September 16, 2017 11:14 am
Comments Off on Post Hurricane Irma Update #1
To the Friends of Bitter End,
We are incredibly grateful for the overwhelming generosity of our Bitter End community in support of our colleagues and friends in Virgin Gorda who have lost so much in this storm. We are all heartbroken over what has transpired. Lauren and I arrived in Puerto Rico on the morning of September 8th, two days after Irma had torn through North Sound. We flew down on board a plane loaded with relief supplies for Virgin Gorda and we knew we were on the right track when one of Bitter End’s most loyal Puerto Rican families met us on the tarmac and began helping to unload the plane. It was just the beginning of the extraordinary generosity, energy and outpouring of affection for Bitter End and Virgin Gorda that we have seen over the past several days. They and their entire community are selflessly volunteering their boats, their homes, their time and all sorts of other resources to help the North Sound community as well as the rest of Virgin Gorda. Many others such as the aviation community are demonstrating similar dedication to Virgin Gorda.
We loaded up our Puerto Rican friends’ boats and immediately headed to Virgin Gorda, where we discharged supplies at a wreck-strewn Yacht Harbour before proceeding to North Sound and Bitter End. As you know, we had had no direct contact with our six colleagues that rode out Irma at Bitter End since communications went down around 10 AM on the day of the storm. Twenty-six hours elapsed before we learned via Necker that all at Bitter End were safe. It wasn’t until we arrived at Bitter End and received firsthand reports that we learned how incredibly harrowing and dangerous their experience had been. Now that we have spoken with more people from the community, our colleagues’ experience was no less frightening than many others’.
More important, it was clear that after surviving an unimaginable natural disaster, Virgin Gordians were facing an equally challenging and dangerous humanitarian disaster – no water, no power, no communications, limited supplies of critical pharmaceuticals, little in the way of medical personnel and facilities, food and fuel were in short supply and a critical absence of intact shelter. On Saturday morning, we were able to deliver supplies to the North Sound community and to evacuate Stacia, Joe and Scottie while Marcus, Chico and Mar chose to remain in Virgin Gorda. We also evacuated at least thirty others from North Sound and the Valley. Lauren and I will base in Puerto Rico for a while and travel back and forth to North Sound so we can help our Puerto Rican friends and North Sound neighbors deliver relief supplies and anything else that can help the people that are in need; and there are enormous needs ranging from medical, to security to a myriad of other resources. We also will be organizing Bitter End’s cleanup and planting the seeds for its recovery. It’s all truly daunting but worth every ounce of effort that goes into it.
A heartfelt thank you to our friends in the North Sound and all over the world for your support. We owe special thanks to our friends right here in Puerto Rico (also known as the Puerto Rican Navy Relief Efforts). This brigade of heroes continues to give tirelessly to the relief efforts. We ask all of you to please continue spreading awareness in your own communities. The best way to support the relief effort now is to make a donation, no matter how small, to one of the many funds set up to support those impacted by Hurricane Irma in the Caribbean. It is a long road ahead. We will need everyone’s help as we journey down the path.
With gratitude,
Richard Hokin
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