Boaters Helping the Bahamas

We've all seen how Hurricane Dorian left parts of the Bahamas completely devastated when it made landfall last week.

Over the years, many of us boaters have been warmly welcomed to the popular vacation destination which is a mere 50 miles off the coast of Florida

That's why it's no surprise so many boaters have embarked on rescue and supply delivery missions to the distressed islands this past weekend.

Celebrities and non-celebrities alike donated money, supplies, and in many cases, a boat ride bringing deliveries of necessities with them to the islands. Some of the good Samaritans even brought stranded islanders from some of the more heavily damaged spots to other towns in the Bahamas that weren't hit as hard.

You've probably heard about some of the big stories, such as major cruise lines bringing supplies, aid and meals to people on the islands. Among them are Carnival (per the Baltimore Sun), as well as Royal Caribbean, Norwegian, and Bahamas Paradise, according to Business Insider.

Superyachts are also getting in on the acts of kindness. According to MegaYachtNews, "multiple yacht and megayacht organizations joined forces with the city of Fort Lauderdale last week for Hurricane Dorian aid". One of the offshoots of these efforts is the planned deployment of the 110-foot yacht True North heading to the Abacos this week, loaded with aid supplies. One megayacht was even dispatched to rescue pups! According to a local ABC station in Florida, 60 dogs were rescued from the islands and brought to Rybovich Marina on Monday morning via the M/Y Laurel - a 240-foot superyacht that was donated for the effort.

There have been several reports of celebrities and professional athletes contributing, but our interest is in the stories involving regular folks, heroes, that used their boats to aid the Bahamas

Billy Brodbeck, a roofer from Florida, posted this video on Facebook of an armada of boats heading to the Bahamas with aid on Saturday.

According to an article on UPI, as many as 70 fishing boats in coordination with the National Association of the Bahamas based in Miami, brought tons of supplies from Florida to the Bahamas on Saturday morning and were planning additional trips this week.

We're sure there were many more stories of boaters helping the Bahamas that have gone unnoticed. It looks as if the death toll will continue to rise and many residents of the Bahamas are in a desperate situation.

Contribute here: https://www.bahamas.com/relief