Floyd’s Pelican Bar a testament to resilience

Underestimated by many as merely a wooden structure in the sea, highly vulnerable to the elements, Floyd’s Pelican Bar was not built to withstand nature’s wrath, but to work harmoniously with it, says owner Floyd Forbes.

Located on Jamaica’s south coast in the parish of St Elizabeth, the bar is one of the few structures along Parrottee Bay to remain unscathed by Hurricane Beryl. The Category 4 storm swept through much of the island’s south coast, leaving a trail of destruction in its wake. However, Floyd’s Pelican Bar was virtually untouched.

“Early Thursday morning, a fisherman told me he went out at 3 o’clock and saw the solar lights on my bar, an indication it was still standing,” Forbes told The Sunday Gleaner, his voice filled with appreciation and humility.

“The bar remains standing because of the work carried out by Spectrum Systems Limited. The Greenheart wood, which was used to make the structure, is deeper and stronger. The thatch on the roof is lighter and more flexible. We’re not fighting nature; we work with nature – that makes a big difference,” said the proprietor of 23 years.

Floyd’s Pelican Bar evolved from a simple “object” in the sea in 2003. He said that, each time a storm hit, his bar took a beating and he had to rebuild.

“When we started to feel the effects of Hurricane Beryl, I told my wife I was not going to worry about the bar, because I knew it was made with my inner man. So I knew it was very, very strong.”

He said that he was confident that the engineering behind the bar’s construction would help it withstand the menacing storm. Andrew Stanigar, Spectrum Systems’ managing director, explained that he supplied Floyd with Palmex Thatch roofing, which has flaps that hold it down securely. He also said that the Greenheart piles played a key role in the bar’s hurricane resistance.

“The Guyanese Greenheart piles are a very dense and hard type of wood used to strengthen the bar’s structure. Each pile weighs 500-700 pounds and is driven five to seven feet into the seabed, making them extremely sturdy and resistant to breaking or bending, even in a Category 4 hurricane,” Stanigar explained.

Named one of the most popular bars worldwide, Floyd’s Pelican Bar operates seven days a week, including on public holidays, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., weather permitting. Despite the storm hitting last Wednesday, persons were boarding boats to visit the thatched-roof edifice last Friday.

Forbes, who has hosted the likes of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, as well as Sarah Ferguson and her children and several movie stars, emphasises the personal connections.

“People from all over the world, people of all calibres have come, but it’s hard to really call by name because some just come and go about their own daily business,” he said.

Floyd’s Pelican Bar is adorned with flags representing hundreds of nations, and licence plates from various cities worldwide.

“People who come bring their flags. Some come and see others and send theirs on their return home. If they bring a cap, a shirt, it is displayed throughout the bar.”

janet.silvera@gleanerjm.com