Sept 11, 2017

As of Monday morning September 11, after watching the force of Hurricane Irma in real time as it plowed through Florida, having already decimated the charter fleets and towns throughout the Caribbean, what we are left with is a feeling of where do we go from here?  Social media has provided unbelievable photographs of the destruction of ruined marinas and crumpled boats stack upon one another.

Even in our world of instantaneous news cycles, we can’t forget the devastation that hit Texas only days ago when Hurricane Harvey brought incredible high waters, unprecedented loss of property and sadly, loss of life, especially in the Houston area.  I am writing this editorial on Monday morning in preparation for our Tuesday morning newsletter and feel that I can only touch the surface as the results of these hurricanes are just now coming to light.

Our industry already has a lot to be proud of.  Many companies in the marine industry changed their plans and responded very swiftly by providing boats and motors to help with both evacuation efforts, rescues and restoration, particularly in the Houston area that was so hard hit by Hurricane Harvey.  I’m sure the boating community is ready to help as soon as the weather breaks in Florida.

Late Friday afternoon organizers of the IBEX, International BoatBuilders Exposition sent out an email advising that the conference would open as per scheduled in Tampa, Florida.  Originally, meteorologists expected Hurricane Irma going up the East Coast of Florida and out into the Atlantic.  The uncertainty of weather rerouted the hurricane almost directly through Tampa and we have yet to hear from the organizers about the upcoming conference.  We will keep our news channels open and will report on developments from IBEX, on our website, www.boatingindustry.ca.  Both myself and Andy Adams are in a holding pattern as we are scheduled to attend the conference which is a very important show for our industry.

Our sympathies go out to all the people who have suffered in this hurricane season.  Let’s pray that things don’t get any worse.  To the rest of us that were not directly affected by these massive events, it is a question of:   how can we help?

Greg Nicoll Publisher

Andy is away on assignment.