Meeting Miss Beryl

2024 Wikipedia By NASA/Matthew Dominick
 https://www.nasa.gov/image-article/studying-hurricane-beryl-from-space/
 Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=149984683

Living on an island, you learn to respect weather.  Not that we check forecasts every day, but it can be helpful to keep out of trouble.  Trouble though, sometimes finds YOU!  So here then, is our tale of Caribbean daring-do… 

In June 2024, after months of repair work on our sailboat, Windjammer 3 in Trinidad, we finally “splashed”.  Tropical waters under clear, blue skies beckoned.  Only days after setting the hook in Carriacou, we learned of a tropical system moving west towards us.  Time to pay closer attention then.  So, this is how we met Hurricane Beryl, up close and personal!  These are notes we took from weather reports as Miss Beryl progressed threateningly towards us.  

24-25 Jun 24.  Tyrell Bay, Carriacou.  A tropical system is moving west off the coast of Africa.  At anchor, we experience wild squalls and 53 km/h winds (a near gale) overnight.  Neighbours head into mangrove lagoons or boat yards for shelter.  Given the system’s track, our Cap’n decides north is best, rather than our pre-planned “Escape south to Trinidad.”  Very wise indeed!

26 Jun 24:  Bequia, SVG.  Atlantic system on the move.  Island-hugging, as we move north, lessens the impact of increasingly strong winds and choppy seas.

27 Jun 24: Rodney Bay, St Lucia.  Tropical storm on the way. Winds reach 65 km/h.  Locals seem non-plussed by this impending storm.

28-30 Jun 24: Rodney Bay Marina.  Record breaking hurricane coming!  St Lucia is gusty and overcast.  Moving into Rodney Bay’s sheltered lagoon, we refuel before taking a Marina berth.  After lashing WJ3 securely into her slip, canvas and sails are removed.  Hopefully, the lagoon’s narrow entrance will limit storm surge.  Preparations continued with re-stocking essential supplies.  Time to sit and wait.  We cling to a chance that Beryl wobbles south.  Every mile counts.

01 Jul 24:  Beryl (now Category 4) hits the Caribbean.  The eye passes over Carriacou, a mere 157 km away from us, at 220 km/h causing unbelievable damage.  Thankfully, St Lucia’s airport records 75 km/h, a strong gale.  Despite days of rain, flooding was minimal.  We were safe, this time!

Feeding off unseasonably warm waters, Beryl moved on, quickly intensifying into Category 5 with unimaginable 270 km/h winds.  Over two days, Beryl had strengthened into a major Hurricane; only 6 others have accomplished this record.  Spare a thought for Hurricane Hunters who fly through these beasts to collect meteorological data!  Days later, news and drone footage filtered out of unbelievable damage sustained by islands to our south.  

We remained in St Lucia for the remainder of 2024 Hurricane Season, making a decision not to haul out in Trinidad, but make a dash for Deltaville to a less exhilarating life on USA’s Chesapeake Bay.

Predicting Weather – An Ancient Skill

Weather and winds have long since provoked tales; some quite mysterious and others founded in truths.  Homer tells us that Odysseus (a mere 300nm from his home on Ithica) was blown off course near Cape Maleas for more than ten years.  Athenian General Themistocles used the force of strong north winds to gain victory over 400 Persian ships at Salamis in 480 BC.  Not to mention Octavian’s (Augustus Caesar) victory in 31 BC against Cleopatra & Mark Antony right here in our very own neighbourhood of Aktio (formerly Actium).  Even today, winds in Tarifa, Spain (think Pillars of Hercules) are considered very good for windsurfing or very bad, triggering dramatically high suicide rates, or so we heard.

So, with an hour to spare after a rather too enjoyable breakfast at the Athens Centre Square Hotel, we decided that it was worth a walk to see if the Tower of the Winds had been unveiled following 2 years of extensive restoration works.  Although sited in the Roman Agora precinct, the marble tower dates back to the 1^st c BC, and is thought to have been built by a Macedonian astronomer from Kyrrhos as a horologion or time piece.  Think how useful that is in sailing terms, especially for sailors who, in the not so distant past, used sextants!  This amazing octagonal construction stands over 12m tall with an 8m girth.  It was once bedecked with a bronze wind vane, Triton with a metal rod in his hand of course, and had a spring-fed water clock attached.  Its decorated faces afforded use as a compass**, sundial and  informant of seasonal weather predictions.  The ancients had a great respect for predictions….

The tower’s relief carvings, eight grumpy Ai Areides (or Windy Ones), is quite something.  We had hoped to meet Mr Meltemi in order to lodge our various complaints.  Instead we met Boreas, known for a violent temper and cold north winds that bring on winter.  Boreas blows rather too heartily into a conch shell (does this mean a gusting wind?) and as he is sometimes depicted with snakes for feet, we decided to leave well enough alone. 

Vaguely wondering if Mediterranean Wind Gods are ever truly appeased, we left before our not-so-pious thoughts were noted and we became singled out as future fodder for Mt Olympus’s Gusty Games.  We’ll just take it on the nose, like Odysseus.  Catch you in ten years!!

This is Kaikais - a dark NE wind with hailstones in his shield

** A true compass was not heard of until more than 1000 years later. 

News Flash: Tornado flattens Deltaville

Who would have thought it?  Certainly not us….. 

At 7.30pm on 16^th April  2011, Deltaville was struck by a tornado.  

It apparently touched down near Porpoise Cove Lane (near the 7-Eleven) and before making its way to the Rappahannock River, completely destroyed 28 homes in its path.  A further 21 houses suffered major damage and 31 minor damage. That is an enormous number for such a small village.  I am not sure at this time of any further loss.  We understand the marinas were spared, but have yet to hear. 

(Map provided by FBYC)

Our thoughts are with everyone in Deltaville, wishing them all a safe and speedy recovery.