In answer to the original question...we have friends presently in Grenada who we were in touch with earlier this week. They were preparing their boat as of Monday and were prepared to head to Trinidad 80 mile further south on an overnite sail (where there has never been a hurricane) on Monday nite if the 5PM forcast from NOAA did not show the storm gaining latitude. They reported a lot of boats arriving from further north in the islands and some people heading directly to Trinidad.
On the
SSB one has access not only to the HF forecasts from the weather service but also to routing/weather guys like Chris Parker who sell their serivces services to cruisers and provide personalized guidance via
SSB and/or e-mail to clients while the rest of the cruisers listen in. So...no one is caught unawares these days...but some are still caught because they make poor decisions. The object is to pay attention and make decisions to get out of the way early. Laying a-hull is the last option!
There is nothing economical that can presently replace SSB which makes it important for cruisers and potential cruisers to make their concerns known in the request for comments that has been put out by the government.
That has been discussed before...I will try to find the link and post it here unless someone else has it handy.
EDIT: Here's the pertinent thread:
radio" target="_blank">http://www.sailnet.com/forums/showth...ighlight=
radio