The hurricane season of 2017 is one few people will ever forget. The devastation of so many Caribbean islands, and so many treasured cruising grounds, kept many megayachts away last winter. Thankfully, restoration and repair efforts are succeeding, with marinas, restaurants, shops, and more favorite places of the megayacht set reopening. However, this is not to say that the need for assistance is gone. In fact, aid organizations are still assisting residents with getting back on their feet. YachtAid Global’s among them, and seeking superyachts venturing to the Caribbean to help ensure aid goes directly to them.
Specifically, YachtAid Global is looking for yachts departing South Florida for St. Thomas later this month. The non-profit organization needs at least four yachts to transport more than 300 boxes in total. The boxes contain kitchen necessities and weigh about 20 pounds (9 kilograms) each. In addition, the dimensions of the boxes are approximately 20”x18”x18” (0.5 meter x 0.46 meter x 0.46 meter). According to YachtAid Global, each yacht should be able to take about 83 boxes.
Even though the goal is to find megayachts making their way to St. Thomas in about two weeks, the delivery isn’t time-sensitive.
For this particular effort, YachtAid Global is working with the St. Thomas Recovery Team (STRT). STRT is a non-government organization focused on St. Thomas’ long-term recovery from the hurricanes. The group brings together a variety of stakeholders across the island. Furthermore, it’s striving to create an action plan for future natural disasters, to ensure residents and the island overall can better withstand the resulting effects.
If you’re familiar with YachtAid Global, you may know the positive impact it has had on the islands following the hurricanes of 2017. In June 2018, for example, it reported impressive superyacht disaster-relief figures. In fact, 44 megayachts and yachts worked with its team. They included Dorothea III, Katharine, SuRi, Va Bene, and Slipstream (above). Slipstream even received an award for carrying 1,342 cubic feet (38 cubic meters) of aid to Dominica. The crew also helped rebuild structures on St. Maarten.
For the St. Thomas effort, YachtAid Global is especially interested in securing yachts that don’t mind publicity. It wishes to educate others about how people in yachting pitch in for the greater good.
If you’re interested, contact Mark Drewelow or Zoran Selakovic via email.
Willem Werner
Do you take crew, deckhand that do volunteer to help you on yachts to get experience in the ind?