It is tough watching the news each evening without wondering how to best help the country of Haiti. Sure I can donate money to relief organizations like the Red Cross, the LDS Church, or Catholic Relief Services, but my skills are worth so much more than the money I could contribute. The trick is how to get to Haiti and be a contributor instead of another drain on the already fragile infrastructure. If I was independently wealthy (which I am not), I think I could pull it off with the following:
1. Spend some time on the Internet and locate several charter sailboats for sale in the Caribbean. There are a lot of 50-foot sailboats for sale in the British Virgin Islands and it would be easy to pick one up for under $200K. Furthermore, charter sailboats are meant to sleep a lot of people and so it could serve as a floating hotel for other relief workers.
2. Fly to the BVIs with two or three other potential relief workers and buy the sailboat. Do enough of a job outfitting the boat to get you to San Juan, Puerto Rico where it is cheaper to reprovision the boat with lots of food and supplies.
3. Sail to San Juan and meet any other relief workers as well as finish getting food and relief supplies. It is important to include things like a portable Ham radio, extra diesel fuel for the boat, gasoline for the dinghy's outboard, a case of batteries (all sizes), a watermaker (used to turn salt water into fresh water), and a good nautical chart of Haiti.
4. Finish sailing to Port-au-Prince which looks to be a fairly protected harbor. Unfortunately all of the commercial piers seem to have been destroyed, making it impossible for large ships to enter. However a sailboat with a 6-foot draft could easily get in close, anchor, and be able to immediately provide relief.
The beauty of a sailboat is that it is like an instant 5-room hotel that is completely self-contained. Workers would have a comfortable place to sleep and prepare meals. Of course it might be a temptation for some of the desperate criminal element, but the anchor is easily raised so the boat can be taken off-shore nightly for safety.
Unfortunately I am not independently wealthy and so all I can do is propose a good idea. Hopefully someone else can run with it.
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Nice post to know the ideas to help for haiti. According to the boat clubs, sailboats for sale will help clubs to earn money and they can donate these money to the needed. Boat clubs will organize so many social events to help the people who are in need.
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