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The Cozumel
Drift
Your E-Newsletter
from Scuba Shack,
Blue Bubble Divers,
Dive
ECO-cozumel &
the Village Tan Kah
Cozumel,
Mexico
October 2005
Welcome to the 11th
edition of The Cozumel Drift, brought to
you by
your friends
and family (YES, we
are still alive!!!) here at Blue Bubble Divers, Dive
ECO-cozumel, Scuba Shack & Village Tan Kah on the
island
of Cozumel. Boy, we
are having
a great year huh ?!?!?!?!?!
So, now to the meat of this newsletter. What is
really happening here on Cozumel. I know
that everyone has heard that the worst hurricane EVER
in the northern hemisphere has hit
Cozumel, Playa del Carmen, Cancun, etc. If you
have not heard this, you really need to keep
track of the news a bit more !! HA!
HA! Even though this was the worst hurricane ever, it
was NOT the worst hurricane to hit Cozumel.
Gilbert is still in first place, since it was an extremely
strong category 5 when it hit the island, packing sustained winds of
more than
200 miles per hour !!! But Emily did do some
serious damage. And you guys know me - I am
going to tell it to you like it is ! Now, if
anyone is checking, yes I am using the same format
that I used for the last hurricane/newsletter.
I am trying to get the RIGHT information
out to you guys fast, before all of the BAD and
MISINFORMATION is out there and
sticks. So please, make sure that you pass this
newsletter on to each and every single person
that you know !
Again, a BIG THANKS
to everyone who has written to us in the past week with
best
wishes and offers of help. There are so many E-mails, that
I am just unable to
respond
to
each and everyone,
right now, but we will be doing so as soon as we get
electricity.
IN
THIS EDITION:
Hurricane
Wilma... wasn't she lovely ???
The Scuba Shack
Skinny... How we fared against
her
!!! Our Quest... How we plan to survive
and how you can help !!! Cozumel Capers... You should see how well we clean up !!!
Others on the
island... How some of the others fared
against her !!! Survival
Club... Only 2 new
inductees............ Hurricane
Wilma
As most of you know,
Cozumel was hit by Catagory 4 Hurricane Wilma last week. The
storm developed east of the pennisula of Honduras, then skyrocketed to a
Cat 5 hurricane, before downgrading a bit and heading right for our
beloved Cozumel. The hurricane hit on Friday
morning, and continued for 48
hours as it sat stationary over Cancun/Puerto Morelos, before
moving on to Cuba, Florida and
then the US east coast.
The hard part of this hurricane
was again, everyone predicting that it was going to turn north,
and turn north BEFORE hitting
us, and many people on the island thought that it would not hit.
But alas, Wilma decided that
she wanted to know Cozumel as well as you all know it
!!!!!!!!!!!!
So, since we had just been
through this routine only 3 months ago, everything was fresh in
everyone's minds as to what
they needed to do, and things ran smoothly. And since this was
the slow season, at least all
of our customers were able to get off of the island, and there
were not as many tourists stuck on the island as with
Emily.
Once we were all hunkered down,
everyone just had to ride out the storm and see what we
would wake up to. Well,
once the hurricane hit on Friday, everyone was surprised to find
Saturday morning with a
hurricane still on top of the island. By Sat evening, we were
wondering if this was every
going to end ?!?! IT finally did, and then on Sunday, everyone
emerged to
find..............
Scuba
Shack Skinny..........
So, how did we fare -
I am not sure what you have heard on the television, but with our
experience with
Emily, everything is probably way over exaggerated. But, this was a
long
hurricane, and we did
not fare as well as we did with Emily. So, let me ask you, do you
want:
- the BAD
news
- the REALLY BAD news
- or the REALLY F$^@&%H% BAD news
Oh, where to
begin...........
Actually, things are not that bad but
there is a long list. Everyone who knows and loves
Scuba Shack the way it was, I sure hope
that you have taken lots of pictures and have
lots of memories, because there is nothing
left. The pier is gone, as are most of the piers
on the island. That was expected
since the our initial contact with the storm came
with
winds from the north. But the waves took out
everything, almost 100% of the cement is
gone - no dive shop, no equipment room, no steps......
all that is left is the front wall and
part of the side wall of the little t-shirt shop. So, everything that was stored
there is gone as well. All of the shops dive equipment had been
moved to the Blue
Bubble offices, so that was safe. But everything else is gone.
The tanks decided that
they were going to dive solo - so the full ones are still on the bottom of
the ocean. We
are going out daily to find them. And the empties float - so they were
taking the jungle
tour, anywhere starting from the cruise ship piers all the way down to the Atlantida
dolphins. The freezer decided it was going to take a
swim in the pool. It doesn't swim
very well....... and I wonder where all of the home
baked cakes went..... I sure hope that
the fish are enjoying them somewhere ! So basically, we will need to rebuild the entire
dive shop. But look on the bright
side. We get to give it
now a face lift - and do some
of the things the right way like we always
wanted to do it !
As for the boats, you know we have the 4
fast boats and the 1 big boat. The 4 fast boats
were tied down in the Caletta Marina - and that took a
really hard hit. But our 4 boats are
fine. Sure the metal top on 1 is cracked, and the seat on
another is cracked where the tree
fell on it, but all of them are fine along with the
engines. More later on how others fared
in the Caletta. The big boat, though, was unable to
make it's trek over to the mainland to
the port in Puerto Morelos. Which I think was a
blessing in disguise. The marina on the
mainland was completely and utterly
destroyed. Puerto Morelos took a much harder hit than Cozumel (as
did Cancun). So, it was better that the captains were able to stay
here instead
of being placed in a worse harms way. The Blue Bubble 1 started
taking on water as they
were crossing over and they had to return back to Cozumel, and the tied off
in the big
Marina on the island. Unfortunately,
20 boats in the marina here decided that they wanted
to see what the bottom looks like, and that is where the Blue Bubble is
right now. So, we
will have to make another scavenger hunt
!
Blue Bubble offices fared well. They
just leak alot so much of the stuff got wet, but who
cares right ?? It's dive gear
anyway. Jorge, bless his heart, chose to stay in the shop
for the hurricane. 1 - his apartment
is on the 3rd floor and it was much safer at
Blue Bubble than at home. 2 - there
was some looting that was occurring DURING the
hurricane (can you believe that
?!?!) And he felt better being there to watch over things.
But, he did tell me that the waves were
coming up the street, past Blue Bubble. Not enough
to flood the store, though.
The Village Tan Kah is just
fine, really, just fine. We would have thought that the crumbling
back water tower building or
the front office building would have sustained damage, but
nothing. About 1/8 th
of the palapa roof on the Treehouse blew off, but the rest is fine.
The entrance palapa - the
one that has been there forever and falling apart, well, that is
gone. Other than
the lack of trees and electricity, the hotel is fine. Oh, the the
pipes from
the water tower to the hotel
rooms were ripped off the side of the building by the wind, but
that is easily fixed.
Our beloved lime tree did
croak though. It never fully recoverd from
Emily. And it was
almost dead before Wilma, so we will have to plant a new one. Of
course,
the pool is a nice color of
brown. Once we
get the electricity back on, then we are
100% back to normal
!
As of right now, NONE of our phone lines
are working. So please, do not try to call. E-mail
us and we will get back to you soon
!
So, the short of
it is ...... we are alive and well, we need to rebuild some but
we are still
100% operational. The
Shark room is going to make a fine dive shop/office, and our boats
are still running. We just need to have
customers now. No matter what you are hearing
on the television and radio, WE ARE STILL IN
BUSINESS.
Let's see, what else.................. guess who's house flooded -
again. Yes, it is true, my house
flooded again, as did Captain Benjamin's, Captain Josue's, Captain
Elias' and Captain Edwin, Divemaster Sergio, and Eduardo from the
hotel. But, all of the water has receded - much
faster than the last time, considering how much of it there
was.
Right before the hurricane, Fabian - our gardener/night watchman was
taken ill and 2 days
before Wilma hit, operated on and his appendix was removed. He
is now at home and
recuperating nicely.
And, the last bit of bad news, most of you know my 2 dogs, Osa and
Toffee. Toffee was
the mom of Osa, and she was quite old - almost 15 or 16 - with
congestive heart failure.
Well, her little ol heart finally gave out on her. And she just
fell asleep and went on to
doggie heaven. I sure hope they don't have hurricanes there
!!!!! Oh, and Patches, the
kitten/cat who got pregnant during the last hurricane.... well, she
had her kittens about
1 month ago - 3 of them. Unfortunately, only 1 of them made it
through the hurricane, and
she is a girl. So, guess what her name is
................... WILMA !!!
OUR
QUEST..........
So, as many of you are probably
wondering, what are we going to go. Well, we are going
to:
Praise..........
Again, thanks so much for all of your outpour of support and well
wishes. We cannot tell you now much that means to us. And we
know, because of you, we have become what we are, and we will again.
My dad (he is not a diver) can't understand how this is going to
work. But I keep telling him, divers are a resilient bunch.
You are the ones who allowed us to survive after Hurricanes Gilbert and
Roxanne, Sept 11, Emily.... and now we know that you will be there for us
again. You have already show us an outpouring of help.
Plead.......... So
how are we going to go about rebuilding our business ?? Well, we
need to get operations going, and for that, we have to have customers, and
start diving. First, I am asking (OK PLEADING) all of you
out there who have outstanding balances with us (Curtis, this means you
too), we can really use the money right now. So please, if your
hearts and your pocketbooks can handle it, please send a check for what
you owe to:
Scuba Shack
704 Fir Street
Brainerd, MN 56401 We thank you and really, really
appreciate.
Beg.......... Many of you have been asking what we need, offering
to send food,
clothes, money, etc. Food is getting to the
island, clothes, no one really lost clothes or
homes, and money is only
a very short term solution. Really, what we
need for a long term
solution is our loyal and
true customers - we are begging you to come and visit -
SOON!!. You know that we
would never have been able to create our business as
much
as we have in the last few years without you, and that we
would never offer a
service (diving or hotel) that
we did not feel met our standards, so you know
you can
count
on us. Now, we need to count
on you. We will not have the cash flow to
rebuild,
and
pay the employess, who buy the food,
and gas, and.... well, you can see how the food
chain
works. WE NEED
YOU
!!! As of Nov 14th, cruise ships are coming back to
the
island, and I think Nov 7th or so is the scheduled
target date for having tourists back
on
the island. WE NEED
YOU HERE. So,
in order for you to help us, please book a
trip. And bring a friend if you can - the more
the merrier ! If you already have
reservations with us, please keep
them. And what we ask of you is: if you can
econmically
find
a way to prepaying any part of or all of your diving
and hotel, we would greatly
appreciate it.
Offer.......... In addition, we would like to offer to all of our
customers the
following package: 20
dives or hotel room nights for $1000 USD. Cash. Money
can be
sent to the above
address. That works out to a week stay per couple - 7 nights,
plus 12
dive trips (6 each), 12
Marine Park entrance fees, 12 Hyperbaric Chamber donations,
with
$14 US credit still. Or
7 nights hotel, 10 dives ( 5 each ) and a credit of $150 US for
equipment rentals, marine
park fees, etc. We need to generate money and fast so that
we can start rebuilding, because we want to
be all said and done and have our new dive
ship and pier completed by
Dec 15th. That is the government's planned date - more
later on this.
All we need is 50 takers on this, or so. If there is
any way that you can
help us, we would like to help you with your
next vacation to Cozumel. This offer is good
for all monies received
within 1 month - OK, Nov 30th. The prepaid services are good
for use any time from now
until Dec 20th, 2006. Think of it as a deposit for your
next vacation, that you will
have to take since it is already paid for ;)
Cozumel
Capers..........
No matter what the press is saying, we are all
fine and everyone is working hard to get
right back on track. Neither Cozumel or
Cancun are destroyed. We have not sustained
as much damage as was expected during this
hurricane. We are not closed and will not
be closed for tourism any time soon.
The number one agenda for the island and the
government is to clean up and getting
ourselves back on our feet. So, what is
happening you wonder?? Well, the Mexican
Marines were initially dispatched to the main
roads for security reasons, clean up and
generally keeping order. This time, the
entire island was out of electricity and is going
to be out for a while. So, curfew was set -
7 am - 7 pm. Not really enforced though.
I am TOLD (another words this is really rumor but
appears to be true) that as long as
you are going somewhere, there is no problem,
especially if you are on a bike, moped or
in a car. It is more for the people who
look like they are just wandering around, taking
in the sites - i.e. looking to see who's house
has what that they might be able to steal.
Yes, there was some
looting on the island. Not at bad as Cancun though. I know
that
they were showing
alot of that on TV. But, yes, there was some looting. And of
course,
it was mostly done by
people who were temporarily on the island. The cement workers
that they bring in
for the huge construction jobs, etc. So, last Mon and Tues the
ferries
offered free ferry
service for anyone who wanted off of the island. Temporary workers
who no longer had a
job, families who could go elsewhere. Things like that.
So, the police
set up tables and
searched every single person's belongings as they left the island.
And
caught many of the
looters. And since then, there has not been any additional incidents
of
looting.
The electric company has been sending in fleets, and I mean fleets of
additional workers,
crews, trucks, supplies, etc. Each fleet has between 30 - 40
trucks. So, electricity, is
on its way. Tulum and Playa - 100%, Cancun, about 40% right
now. The problem with
reestablishing the electricity on Cozumel is that there is no car
ferry to bring over the trucks/supplies. So all of the crews can
come over on the people ferries, but none of the
vehicles, new posts, cranes or transformers can get here until
the car ferry returns. Even
still, parts of Cozumel has electricity - probably about 25%.
Actually, you know, it is
quite nice without the electricity. OK, a hot shower is nice
too BUT - it is unbelievable
how many stars you can see at night. And it is quite romantic
where there is only candle
light at night........ every night !!!! Water will be up and running as
soon as the water plant
gets
electricity. Time schedule for electricity is that the whole island
is expected to be
connected within the
next 4 days. The very first car ferry that will come over will bring
electricity supplies, the second one gas. Food is arriving daily by
plane and ship.
Telephones are
expected to be up within the next 3 - 4 days as well.
The first cruise
ships are scheduled to arrive Nov 14th. Not that we like cruise ships or
anything, but that is
a baseline to know when the island will FOR SURE be up and running
at 100%. As for
the hotels, well, the most important one - VILLAGE TAN KAH - of
course is ready and
waiting for customers. Really soon, it will be business as
usual.
The only thing left
to check out now are the reefs. In the next couple of days, everyone
from the Marine
National Park and of course many of the dive shops are going to be
heading out and
checking the conditions. By the end of next week, when we have had
already electricity
and phone lines up, we will be sending another E-mail with that
information.
Along with an update on the hotels, beaches, other side of the island,
etc.
So, we will be
keeping you guys informed.
Others on
the island..........
We are not the only
ones with damage along the waterfront. Since the
hurricane
approached
Cozumel from the south, the island ended up being hit with winds coming
initially from the
north, and then sustained from the west. These western winds (you
know the ones- they
always sink boats :) are the ones that we think did the most amount
of damage to the
ocean front buildings. When Gilbert hit, even though it was stronger,
it was a much shorter
amount of time. And now, there are even more ocean front
buildings than
before !!!!!!!
As for the rest of
the island........... Puerta Maya pier - completely gone, the
far cruise
ship pier. Both
of the other cruise ship piers sustained some damage - parts missing
but are structurally
intact. So, as of right now, Royal Caribbean cruise lines will begin
arriving to Cozumel
on Nov 14. Carnival and others are sending in evaluators to see what
the conditions are
like before they give a date. More to come on reconstruction.....................
The main ferry pier
is slights damaged on the new extension, but other that than held up surprisingly
well. And the car ferry pier, that part was severely damaged, so we have
had
car ferry service for
more than a week right now. Ferry is scheduled to start today,
Friday.
Like I
said,most of the shore installations sustained huge amounts of
damage. Del Mar
Aquatics -
gone.... Papa Hogg's - gone..... Aqua World - pier gone as is most
of the dive shop,
the retail shop
is still standing but of course wind blown, Altantis - all blown out but
the
structure is
still standing AS IS THEIR PIER !!! Naval base in town - partially
gone......
Rock 'n Java -
almost ocean front right now ! Atlantida dolphin jail - gone again
(YEAH!!)
Aldora pier in
town - missing a few pieces but still looks good. South of us, I do
not know.
We have not
been
any farther south that the Caletta - yet.
Caletta - well, many
boats were tossed and turned on top of each other. Same in Puerto
Abrigo. In
town, except for broken glass, downed lines and poles, and superficial
stuff,
most everything is
OK. Although there are no leaves on the trees..... and they
had all
grown back
so nicely since
Emily !
Again, another
observation for afterwards................. where do all of the butter
flies and
bees go during such
strong winds that they are already out in full force
?!?!?!?!?!?!
Hurricane Wilma Survival Club..........
Since it is the slow season, we only had the Prentices with
us and they were able to leave
before the hurricane hit. So, the survivor club has to
induct it's newest members, which
are Patches and Wilma.
Final
words........
Not to sounds like a
broken record or anything, but what we really need right now is you
!
Come on down, see how
we are, come and give us hugs, we can use them. Bring a friend - add
a
new addition to our
family. Just come and be with us on our island, and let's make
Cozumel
the thing of beauty
that we have all come to love, enjoy and really cherish in our
hearts.
And, my home phone just began working, so
if you would like to call, the number is 011-52
(987) 872-2907. Now, we are not
there during the day since we are working and there is no electricity, so no answering machine
either. Bedtime with no lights tends to be about 9 PM.
Thanks !
Robert and Roberta
and All of the
staff of Scuba Shack, Blue Bubble Divers and Dive
ECO-cozumel and
All of the staff
from the Village Tan Kah hotel !
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