Reposted here from VillageSoup. By Gabriel Blodgett | Dec 26, 2019

In early September, Jayme Okma Lee, Bjorn Lee and their two children Alice and Toren set out from Rockport Harbor on an extended voyage on their 48-foot sailboat, Sargo.

“We always wanted to do something with the kids” that was different than their life in Rockport, said Jayme Okma Lee.

With Alice and Toren, aged 12 and 10, “competent but not fully teenagers,” and the family’s love of sailing, it was a good opportunity “to take a break from the cycle of work and school.”

The day of their farewell party, however, the trip took on added element as they learned that Hurricane Dorian had hit the Bahamas.

The Lee family’s connection with the Bahamas dates back to 1938 when Bjorn Lee’s great-grandfather became the first “second homeowner” on Man-O-War Cay, a small island in the Abacos, a region comprised of small islands in the northern Bahamas.

The Lee’s have maintained a second home on the island ever since and the shared culture between the islands and Maine has been an integral part in the family’s history.

As the voyage began, Lee said, “It was hard to manage all the conflicting emotions. Getting ready to leave Maine was a huge task and saying goodbye to friends was emotional. So to throw the Bahamas devastation on top of all that was really just too much to process.”

Details of the devastation came through slowly as the family tried to figure out what to do.

In response to the hurricane, the Bahamian government “closed” the Abacos to tourism and discouraged boaters from visiting.

“At first, we didn’t know if we would be able to go,” said Lee.

However, “After talking to more locals and the people organizing the relief effort and volunteers, we felt confident that we could get there safely, help the community and work on our property.”

Several cold fronts and a need for new rigging made a quick and direct route to the Bahamas impossible, but after several stops along the east coast and West End, Bahamas, Sargo eventually made it to Man-O-War in late November.

“Pictures don’t do it justice,” said Lee. “The scale of the destruction is unfathomable.”

She said that for the most part, rebuilding has not even begun on the island, with much of the work still focused on cleaning up and sorting debris.

After a jarring first couple of days, however, Lee said the overwhelming feeling of despair was replaced by the “amazing community feel and humanity,” of those helping with the relief efforts.

The family has spent several days working with a crew of about 20 volunteers sorting through the trees, vegetation and building materials strewn across the island, saving anything that can be reused and figuring out what to do with the rest; a slow and tedious process.

The relief efforts have been led by volunteer organizations like Samaritan’s Purse and Man-O-War relief, which have been providing volunteers with free meals. Lee said people have come from as far as Australia to help with the clean-up and these communal meals have provided wonderful opportunities to meet and talk with the “interesting mix of volunteers who have some way, somehow managed to come here.”

As for their own property, Lee said their two houses were “blown out,” with all the contents ruined and spread outside, but although the roofs were damaged, the buildings are savable. Unfortunately, the family’s boathouse and workshop are not.

Over three months after the hurricane hit, one of the problems for the volunteer organizations is keeping up the momentum and letting people know that there is still so much work to be done.

Lee said there has been a lot of information coming from the Bahamian government to discourage boaters from coming to the Abacos, saying that they will provide more harm than help, but she feels this is not necessarily true.

“If people are experienced [boaters] and are willing to come, they could definitely use the help,” she said.

“The same things draw people to both places.”

There are several threads that Lee says tie the coast of Maine to the Bahamas and account for the large number of people who split their time between the two communities.

With a number of small islands to explore, the Abacos region is attractive to sailors and the relative difficulty in reaching the islands means that there are not as many tourists as other Caribbean destinations.

She said both places tend to instill a strong work ethic in people and an appreciation of the environmental landscape and “The way of life is similar to Penobscot Bay.”

Fishing and boatbuilding have also traditionally been the leading industries and have played a key role in shaping the culture.

That culture, which drew Bjorn Lee’s great-grandfather to the island over 80 years ago, continues to have an impact in the Midcoast.

In 1972, Bjorn Lee’s father, Lance Lee, founded the Apprenticeshop in Bath, which Jayme Okma Lee said “built upon his family history with boatbuilding and connection with Man-O-War boatbuilding heritage.”

After several relocations the boatbuilding school has settled in its current location in Rockland and grown to include community sailing opportunities.

The love of sailing has been passed down as well. Bjorn and Jayme Okma Lee met on the sailing team at Bowdoin College and moved to Rockport in 2005, where they have lived and kept a boat ever since.

After leaving Man-O-War, Lee said they plan on sailing south through the eastern Caribbean to Grenada. But after that, there is no plan.

“We’re going to continue doing it as long as we have money and we’re having fun,” said Lee.

Those interested in learning more about the family’s trip can follow along at sailingsargo.com.

Lee said the best way to get involved in the relief efforts is to contact the community. She recommends the Facebook groups Man-O-War, Bahamas Bulletin, and Man-O-War Dorian Volunteers as good starting places.

Link to article here: https://knox.villagesoup.com/p/hurricane-relief-highlights-midcoasts-bahamas-connection/1845259?cid=152780