Typhoon Wrecks Truk Liveaboards

On March 29, the eye of Typhoon Masak hit Micronesia. In Truk, it killed five people and destroyed homes and businesses. Two liveaboards, the Odyssey and the Siren, were driven onto the reef and seriously damaged. The Odyssey has been freed and is headed to the Philippines for repairs, and won't be back in operation earlier than July, if then.

The Siren, which local looters cleaned out, wasn't so lucky. In a Facebook posting on April 14, owner Frank Van Der Linde wrote, "I left Truk lagoon last week with our beloved Siren still on the reef, and we were waiting for the insurance to decide what the next step would be. Apparently, the looters didn't have the same idea and decided to destroy all the evidence of the looting and vandalism, and totally senselessly, put the boat on fire and burned her down to the ground. There is nothing, but really nothing, left of this once so amazing beautiful vessel."

Many divers with reservations on the two craft have been able to preserve the flight reservations and secure trips on either the Thorfinn, which survived intact, the Truk Stop Hotel or the Blue Lagoon resort. But not everyone can be accommodated.

Odyssey Adventures wants to help its crew, many of whom are homeless and don't have money to rebuild their houses, so it has launched a fundraising effort at GoFundMe to get crew money for building and food supplies, and "the family who protected Odyssey Adventures during and after the storm will also be included in this fundraiser." So far, they've raised $5,000 more than their initial goal of $7,500 ( www.gofundme.com/odysseycrewrelief ).