A retired British couple who spent their life savings on a yacht are now stranded in the Bahamas after being struck by lightning.
To make matters worse, the couple is now facing a race against time to move before hurricane season arrives.
At around 6.30pm on March 23, Mike Beech, 63, from Lowestoft, East Suffolk, and his wife Helen, 61, were anchored on a small island near Georgetown. On the boat, a bolt of lightning struck the mast of their sailboat.
The couple have three children: Alice, 30, Charlie, 29, and Jessica, 27. They were getting ready for dinner when they heard a “loud bang” and saw a powerful white and blue flash.
The lightning, captured on camera from a distance, destroyed almost all of the ship’s electrical equipment, with repairs costing at least £36,000 meaning they are currently unable to move on.
While their insurance company is expected to cover most of the costs, they could be facing a bill of around £6,000 and fear their retirement dreams could come to an abrupt end if their beloved boat is completely scrapped.
Mike has worked in a variety of careers, including as a lorry driver, while Helen worked as an NHS midwife for 34 years. They cannot afford the repairs themselves as they spent their life savings buying and refurbishing the boat and receive only a modest pension. .
But time is of the essence as the Bahamas prepare to enter hurricane and tropical storm season on June 1, but they are not insured for it.
“I never want to go through something like that again,” Mike said.
“It’s really scary right now because all the other ships are rushing back to the United States to get out of the hurricane and tropical storm zones and we’re stuck here.
“I’ve never seen a thunderstorm like this.
“But we’re still alive because I’m not sure what would have happened if we were on deck.”
Mike and Helen bought their 38ft yacht Mistral Dancer from Hamble-le-Rice in Eastleigh, Hampshire, in July 2018 for around £50,000.
“As a young kid growing up in the Trencrom Hills in Cornwall, I always wanted to sail across the Atlantic but it never happened,” Mike said.
“Obviously it was about the money and then we had three kids and family life came first.
“So it wasn’t until my wife retired that we were able to afford all of this because it was really her pension that drove us forward and kept us afloat.”
Before heading to the Atlantic, the couple decided to put their sailing skills to the test in the Mediterranean.
“We bought our captain’s tickets and headed out,” he said.
A year later, they set sail from Lowestoft and sailed eastward through the Strait of Gibraltar, arriving at Finik in Turkey and turning back.
The journey was so successful that Mike and Helen embarked on a 35-day Atlantic crossing in December 2022, stopping in Lanzarote and Cape Verde.
“We sailed to the Canary Islands without incident,” he said.
“Then we really picked up the speed and we were flying.”
They arrived in St. Lucia and spent a year island hopping before dropping anchor at Crab Cay, a small island a few miles from Georgetown in the Bahamas.
It was here that disaster struck.
The couple decided to move anchor after hearing a thunderstorm was heading their way.
At around 6:30 pm on March 23 this year, while Helen was cooking and Mike was looking at his phone in the lounge, a bolt of lightning struck their mast.
“First we heard a crunch and then a huge explosion,” Mike said.
“At first I thought someone had hit us or something – it was a loud bang.
“What followed was a huge flash of white and blue lighting up the interior of the ship.
“It’s like a flash, but 100 times brighter and with added blue light.
“Obviously, by the time you hear it, it’s over.
“There’s no time to panic.”
Mike looked through the saloon window and saw the boat’s wind indicator and antenna falling into the water.
“I didn’t know what it was, all I saw was a cloud of smoke and sparks,” he said.
“That’s when I realized we were under direct attack.”
Other crew members anchored more than 1,000 feet away captured the lightning on video.
“You can’t see our ship, but you can see the strike didn’t actually hit the ground because that’s where it hit our mast,” Mike said.
Although they were not injured, the surge destroyed all of their electrical equipment except for a few light bulbs.
In particular, their GPS system, autopilot, depth sounder, speedometer and proximity gauges were damaged, as well as the alternator and relays.
Repairs to the ship would cost at least £36,000, according to a survey carried out last week.
“The bill from the surveyor was horrific,” Mike said.
“He estimated the parts would cost about $20,000 (£15,900) and flying someone with the knowledge here would cost about $25,000 (£20,000).
“I didn’t expect it to be so expensive.
“That’s pretty much what we paid for the boat, it’s all our savings and a big chunk of Helen’s pension.”
The couple were living on Helen’s pension and were unable to pay for repairs out of pocket.
They were also very concerned about the mast and feared their insurance company, Pantaenius, might decide to write off the ship entirely.
“The people who conducted the survey said that since the EMP (electromagnetic pulse) passed through the ship, there is nothing that can be used reliably for ocean voyages now,” Mike explained.
Another challenge is that Mike and Helen’s visas and cruising permits are set to expire later this week unless they pay an extra £400 ($500).
The couple has not yet determined how much their insurance will cover, but said the local boating community has been very helpful and supportive.
To help them get back on the water, their friend Tony Wells has launched a campaign GoFundMe fundraiser £6,000.
Mike and Helen had only planned to stay a few more days before setting sail for Jamaica and then south to Colombia.
If all goes to plan, they hope to continue their journey and visit their son Charlie in New Zealand.
“We’re just passing through, we don’t plan on staying,” Mike said.
“Maybe it wasn’t intentional, my mom was up there laughing at me.”
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