After receiving desperate emails concerning Mr. B. G. and pretty much knowing that he was in Phuket on Saturday night, we were blessed to receive acknowledgement of B.G. being very much in life, as the below email will attest to,
" am alive & well. Thanks for concern.
I ran Forest onto the rocks the day before the quake: not charted!! Had 12 passengers.Volvo caput. Taking water at a great rate: through the keel casing (retractible keel)
Unloaded passengers onto a passing long-tail. Luckily we could run back (spinnaker!) & beached her in front of my bungalow, 1/3 full of water.
Now pumped out & leak temporarily stopped.
The next day came the earthquake, or rather a 10-metre tidal wave. Forest rode over it without flinching. (keel up)
My only damage was loss of 5 bougaiville flowers!! (from the bungalow)
But devastation everywhere. Buses washed one block inshore from the beach, shopping malls with basements flooded resulting in instant death of nobody knows how many, I went to Patong today, a grisly scene.
Bridge to the island of Phuket broken. Airport closed, but re-opened with emergency all-night shuttle service to Bangkok (30 mins), most tourists fleeing the devastation.
Cleaning-up will take 3 days. People are still semi-paralyzed, but tomorrow they will be hard at it.
BTW, we got 2 Trophies in the Kings Cup Regatta, delightful, wonderful winds every day.