“Irma-gawd!” … wins for the best spray-painted hurricane-barrier sign of the storm. I wish I had a photo of it. So clever, and it is not easy to be clever in a time of panic.

Mother Nature always wins. Hurricane Irma was gigantic, powerful and packed a brutal punch on the Caribbean islands, Bahamas, (et al) and the entire state of Florida. These areas we call home for half the year, so this storm was personal.

We received many notes, emails and texts asking about the well-being of Cortado, for which we are grateful. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for thinking of our treasured mahogany and glass family member down there. We are told she is unharmed and we know she is well-cared for. The fine men and women at Huckins looked after her with utmost care.

We store Cortado in a covered slip in Jacksonville for the summer until the END of hurricane season (November 1), at the Huckins yard where she was built in 1973.  Huckins Yacht Corporation is located off the St. John’s River, where it meets the Ortega River… so lots of water to surge and blow around.

In preparation for the hurricane winds, Cortado was pulled out of the water and placed on a cradle near the main building, any loose items stored away and Pipa tied down to the bow. The folks at Huckins took expert care of our boat so we had nothing to do, but wait.

We have not seen photos of her since the storm, but early reports are that no boats there sustained any major damage. For this, we are truly grateful.

While the Huckins boatyard suffered some obvious water and wind damage, their preparation and experience paid off. Most importantly, all the staff and family are safe!

Our friends down there have a lot of work to do in the next many weeks to re-build and replace all that was lost or broken. In the meantime, we will remain in Newport and wait until the coast is clear before we head down to Jacksonville. I am sure there will be work left to do and we will be all too happy to help!

Thanks for checking in – xx

Headline photo was taken of Cortado in Marathon, FL last year. This is a part of the Keys which sustained major damage from Irma. We hope and pray our friends in the Keys have not lost too much of their property there. We imagine the landscape will be quite changed the next time we visit…

www.huckinsyachts.com