"We
were en route from Bequia, just south of Vincent.
The swell there turned the whole lagoon upside
down. We had just cleared the entrance when
an enormous black sky came straight at us. Before
we knew we had 50 knots of wind across the deck.
The tender that is normally tied down on deck
but which we had left on its painter behind
the boat out of laziness thinking that it wouldn't
be too bad spun around on its line like a leaf
in the wind. When we tried to enter Rodney Bay
we were nearly pooped by a wave that built up
quickly in the entrance and nearly pitch poles
us. With the 85 HP engine running full pelt
we managed to veer away before the harbour.
It was a very close shave…"
We hide here until November 22 and hear how
Lenny wreaks havoc in the area. On St. Lucia
there is nearly 5 million (US) dollars damage.
The swell destroys roads along the coast, washes
houses into the sea and causes a gas station
to explode. There is also severe damage on Martinique,
Dominica, Guadeloupe, Antigua and Barbuda, St.
Croix and Anguilla. But most of the misery seems
to have been aimed at the Island of Saint Maarten.
In an agonisingly slow movement, sometimes even
stopping altogether and then moving on ever
so slowly from left to right and then up and
down Lenny lays a swath of death and destruction
over the island and causes for over a hundred
million guilders worth of damage. And in stead
of heading off in a North-easterly direction
she heads east and then Southeast.
