A retired British couple are stuck in the Bahamas because their yacht got hit by lightning.
Mike Beech, 63, and his wife Helen, 61, need to get moving before hurricane season starts.
The lightning damaged the electrical navigation equipment, causing £36,000-worth of damage.
They were anchored near a small island close to George Town when the lightning hit their boat's mast on March 23.
The couple – who have three children Alice, 30, Charlie, 29, and Jessica, 27 – were getting ready for supper when they heard a big bang and saw a bright flash of white and blue light.
While their insurance should cover most of the cost, they could end up with about £6,000 in expenses and are worried that if their boat is completely destroyed, their retirement plans could be ruined.
Mike, a former truck driver, and Helen, who was a midwife with the NHS for 34 years, cannot afford to pay for the repairs themselves. They spent their life savings on buying and renovating the boat, and only receive a modest pension.
But time is of the essence as the Bahamas prepares to enter the hurricane and tropical storm season on June 1, for which they are not insured.
A friend and fellow sailor has set up a fundraiser to assist them in covering their insurance excess and any additional expenses, including renewing their visas and cruising permit.
‘I never want to experience anything like that again, at all,’ Mike told PA Real Life.
‘It’s really scary at the moment because all the other boats are racing back to the US to get out of the hurricane and tropical storm belt and we’re stuck here.
‘I have never seen an electrical storm like it.
‘But we’re alive, because I’m not sure what would have happened if we had been on deck.’
Mike and Helen bought their 38-foot yacht, Mistral Dancer, from Hamble-le-Rice in Eastleigh, Hampshire, for around £50,000 in July 2018.
‘As a small child, growing up on Trencrom Hill in Cornwall, I always wanted to go sailing across the Atlantic but never accomplished it,’ said Mike.
‘Of course, money was the main reason, and we also prioritized our family life with three children.
‘So only after my wife stopped working could we manage it, as her pension is what really supports us and keeps us financially stable.’
Before attempting the Atlantic Ocean, the couple chose to test their sailing skills in the Mediterranean.
‘We got our skippers license and then we set off,’ he said.
A year later, they left Lowestoft, passed through the Strait of Gibraltar, and sailed east until they reached Finike in Turkey before making a round trip.
In December 2022, Mike and Helen successfully started their 35-day voyage across the Atlantic, making stops in Lanzarote and Cape Verde along the way.
‘We had a fantastic sail down to the Canary Islands,’ he said.
‘After that, we really picked up speed, we were sailing very fast.’
They arrived in St Lucia and spent a year hopping between islands before anchoring in Crab Cay, a small island near George Town in the Bahamas.
However, disaster struck at this point.
After learning about an approaching electrical storm, the couple decided to change their anchorage.
‘First we heard the crackling noise and then there was this very loud bang,’ said Mike.
‘At first, I thought someone had crashed into the side of our boat or something – the bang was that loud.
‘Along with it, there was this huge flash of white and blue light that illuminated the inside of the boat.
‘It was like a camera flash but much brighter and with blue light mixed in.
‘By the time you hear it, it's already over and done with.
‘There's no time to get scared.’
Mike looked through the saloon window and saw the boat’s wind direction indicator and antenna fall into the water.
‘At that moment, I didn’t know what it was, all I saw was a cloud of smoke with sparks,’ he said.
‘That’s when I realized we had been directly struck.’
The lightning bolt was recorded on video by fellow boaters who were anchored over 1,000 feet away.
‘You can't see our boat, but you can see that the bolt didn't hit the ground, it hit our mast,’ said Mike.
Although they were unharmed, the strike destroyed all of their electronic devices except for a few lightbulbs.
Specifically, their GPS system, autopilot, depth sounder, speed log, and close-hauled gauge were all damaged, along with the alternator and electrical relays.
‘The bill from the surveyor is incredibly high,’ said Mike.
‘I never thought it would be so costly.’
The couple, who depend on Helen’s pension for their living expenses, cannot afford to pay for the repairs themselves.
They are very worried about the mast and are afraid that their insurance company, Pantaenius, might decide to declare the boat a total loss.
‘The person who conducted the survey mentioned that since an EMP (Electromagnetic pulse) affected the boat, none of the equipment can be trusted for ocean sailing now,” explained Mike.
The hurricane season begins in the Bahamas on June 1, and Mike and Helen are running out of time to move their boat to safety.
‘That’s really concerning,’ he added.
Another difficulty is that Mike and Helen’s visas are expiring later this week, as well as their cruising permit, unless they pay an extra £400 (500 dollars).
The couple have not yet been informed about the extent of their insurance coverage, but they mentioned that the local boating community has been incredibly helpful and supportive.
In order to assist them in getting back on the water, one of their friends, Tony Wells, has started a fundraiser on GoFundMe for £6,000.
Mike and Helen had only planned on staying a few more days before departing for Jamaica and then traveling south to Colombia.
If things had gone as planned, they were hoping to continue their journey and visit their son Charlie in New Zealand.
‘We were just passing through here, we weren’t meant to stay,’ said Mike.
‘Maybe it wasn’t meant to be and my mother is up there laughing at me.’
You can support Mike and Helen via their GoFundMe page.
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