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First Boat Removed From Cruz Bay Beach

Dreamweaver at Joe's Rum Hut Thursday morning
Dreamweaver at Joe’s Rum Hut Thursday morning

Well we all received quite a surprise here on Thanksgiving morning … one of the seven boats slammed into the waterfront complex in Cruz Bay was finally removed! How exciting!

Resolve Marine Group, along with members of the US Coast Guard, worked together for hours Thursday to remove Dreamweaver from Cruz Bay beach. Dreamweaver is the vessel that crashed into Joe’s Rum Hut during Hurricane Irma. Its mast also caused a considerable amount of damage to Vista Mare, the restaurant above Joe’s Rum Hut, which subsequently caused a large amount of water damage to the waterfront bar.

It was a pretty impressive feat to watch. The whole thing took several hours. They had to remove some of the rigging so they could safely and securely place straps around the vessel in order to lift it. They also had to empty the vessel’s oil and septic tanks. Then it was pretty much game on.

Resolve's barge as seen from Vista Mare
Resolve’s barge as seen from Vista Mare
Working to secure the rigging
Working to secure the rigging
Antonio, the man who lives aboard Dreamweaver, waits to see if the boat will float once again
Antonio, the man who lives aboard Dreamweaver, waits to see if the boat will float once again
Several members of the US Coast Guard were on hand to oversee the operation
Several members of the US Coast Guard were on hand to oversee the operation
Lifting the boat
Lifting the boat
It floats!
It floats!

We took a little video as well. Check it out below:

Resolve has been hired through FEMA to remove a fair amount of vessels here on St. John. In fact, they are currently working to remove a second vessel from Cruz Bay beach as I type. They are an international company that has been involved in vessel removal due to hurricanes Katrina and Andrew among other disasters. They also aided in the recovery of the Costa Concordia cruise ship after it capsized and sank in Italy back in 2012.

7 thoughts on “First Boat Removed From Cruz Bay Beach”

  1. Happy to see Dream Weaver back on the water where she belongs. What a relief for the business owners to get that obstacle gone. Step by step.

  2. Wow, thanks for the pictures, that is quite amazing to see – as always, wishing all of you on island, the very best in a most difficult recovery!

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