Ron is still at Gatwick - his flight has been delayed till 1300 tomorrow (1st Nov) so he's enjoying the delights of the Hilton hotel at Virgin Atlantic's expense (I gather the pear and apricot crumble was delicious but he balked at paying £4.95 for a Peroni!).
What's not clear is whether Ron will be able to get to Marigot Bay from the airport once he arrives. We've heard that the heavy rainfall has caused landslides with roads and bridges washed away. Fingers crossed that Curtis the taxi driver makes it to the airport to collect Ron!
Sunday 31 October 2010
Hurricanes hardly ever happen.....
.......except when Ron wants to go back to Zahara in St Lucia!
The island has been ravaged by hurricane Tomas overnight. The southern end was particularly badly affected and that's where Hewanorra airport is (was?!) located. We got a text message from Virgin Atlantic at 0645 this morning to say the flight had been delayed by 4 hours and we're still at the B&B and we suspect the flight will be cancelled - BA have already cancelled their flight to St L.
We think that Zahara is OK as she is being well looked after by the marina staff in Marigot Bay which is a well known "hurricane hole". Although Tomas was only a Category 1 hurricane (out of 5), it still gave mean wind speeds of 70kts in the eye wall which went over St Vincent, just to the south of St Lucia. Nevertheless, winds of 40-45 kts were widespread with gusts in excess of 60kts and caused considerable damage to power lines, trees, etc. In addition, several inches of rain have fallen and we've seen reports of bridges and roads washed away. Ron will be contacting his taxi driver later this morning to get a full update on the situation! We're just hoping that Virgin make a decision to cancel the flight sooner rather than later as we just want to go home and Ron doesn't want to get back to an island that's in a mess, and it's unlikely he'd be able to get back to Marigot Bay from the airport due to fallen trees, flooding......... :-(
Still, if two meteorologists can't be philosophical about weather related trauma, who can?!
For those interested in these things, here's a link to the NOAA hurricane site:
http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/
If you click on "tropical weather discussion" you can access a satellite imagery animation.
Updates will follow.......
The island has been ravaged by hurricane Tomas overnight. The southern end was particularly badly affected and that's where Hewanorra airport is (was?!) located. We got a text message from Virgin Atlantic at 0645 this morning to say the flight had been delayed by 4 hours and we're still at the B&B and we suspect the flight will be cancelled - BA have already cancelled their flight to St L.
We think that Zahara is OK as she is being well looked after by the marina staff in Marigot Bay which is a well known "hurricane hole". Although Tomas was only a Category 1 hurricane (out of 5), it still gave mean wind speeds of 70kts in the eye wall which went over St Vincent, just to the south of St Lucia. Nevertheless, winds of 40-45 kts were widespread with gusts in excess of 60kts and caused considerable damage to power lines, trees, etc. In addition, several inches of rain have fallen and we've seen reports of bridges and roads washed away. Ron will be contacting his taxi driver later this morning to get a full update on the situation! We're just hoping that Virgin make a decision to cancel the flight sooner rather than later as we just want to go home and Ron doesn't want to get back to an island that's in a mess, and it's unlikely he'd be able to get back to Marigot Bay from the airport due to fallen trees, flooding......... :-(
Still, if two meteorologists can't be philosophical about weather related trauma, who can?!
For those interested in these things, here's a link to the NOAA hurricane site:
http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/
If you click on "tropical weather discussion" you can access a satellite imagery animation.
Updates will follow.......
Monday 11 October 2010
A terrific time in Topsham
Ron travelled to Topsham on Thursday evening and Dee followed on Friday. We were staying with Ron's friend Chris (that makes 10 beds since Ron arrived in the UK....) in nearby Ebford and on Saturday morning we made our way into Topsham for a famous Route 2 breakfast. Ron reckoned this was the BEST breakfast anywhere and Dee had to agree. A long, leisurely walk around Topsham went someway to walking off the calories but we did have to visit the cheese shop before returning to Chris' house.....oh, and stop off at Dart's Farm for tea (and cake).....well, it was 4pm by this time!
Dinner was at the famous Denley's and 10 of us sat down to eat one of the best curries ever: Ron and Dee, Chris and Marg, Ian and Gilly, Peter and Maureen and Ray and Ali, the latter two not Topsham residents but friends that Ron had made during the trip to Las Palmas for the start of the ARC last November (not to mention the partying in St Lucia once they all arrived!).
Chris had arranged for Ian, Gilly, Peter and Maureen to join us for lunch on Sunday so the morning was taken up with veg prep as well as a lovely walk. Chris and Marg put on a fabulous roast pork lunch with all the trimmings followed by not one, not two but three desserts brought by the guests. Ron and Dee headed off into Topsham after lunch so Ron could show Dee just how lovely the river looks when it's sunny and after a quick visit to another of Ron's friends called Lori, we headed off back to Hamble.
Sorry there aren't any pictures.........it always helps to pack the camera!
Dinner was at the famous Denley's and 10 of us sat down to eat one of the best curries ever: Ron and Dee, Chris and Marg, Ian and Gilly, Peter and Maureen and Ray and Ali, the latter two not Topsham residents but friends that Ron had made during the trip to Las Palmas for the start of the ARC last November (not to mention the partying in St Lucia once they all arrived!).
Chris had arranged for Ian, Gilly, Peter and Maureen to join us for lunch on Sunday so the morning was taken up with veg prep as well as a lovely walk. Chris and Marg put on a fabulous roast pork lunch with all the trimmings followed by not one, not two but three desserts brought by the guests. Ron and Dee headed off into Topsham after lunch so Ron could show Dee just how lovely the river looks when it's sunny and after a quick visit to another of Ron's friends called Lori, we headed off back to Hamble.
Sorry there aren't any pictures.........it always helps to pack the camera!
Thursday 7 October 2010
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)