Luxury Beachfront Home Sleeps 28 with all amenities included in Crystal Beach

Hello Friends and Family. Thanks for all the phone calls and emails. Sorry I haven't been able to
answer them all just yet but I will. Everything is gone. I'll get back to everyone within the next
week or so with updates. See my notes below the picture.

The photos are on my website danjacobs followed by dot net. I'm not allowed to put links on
this website. Sorry

541 Caplen Shores Cir
542 Caplen Shores Cir



Thanks to everyone so much for your kind words of encouragement by phone and email. If I haven’t
returned your email or call, I hope to soon,. Here’s an update for you about our properties on the
Bolivar Peninsula as I know them as of about 11PM, Tuesday, September 16, 2008. I apologize if
there are grammatical or spelling errors in my letter, but I wanted to get it out as fast as
possible.

The best news is that Jeanne and Bill are OK. They unintentionally got stranded on the peninsula
when the water rose faster than forecast. If you don’t know remember them, they have been taking
care of our properties for almost the full 10 years that we have had the pleasure to allow guests to
enjoy them. They rode out the storm at a bayside house (Murphy’s) near The Ship’s Wheel. I spoke
to Jeanne this afternoon. According to Bob Anderson, who built Caplen Shores, it appears that
Sandy, who rents a house from Jeanne, works at Rancho Carribe and sometimes helps with cleaning our
properties, was at the Rancho Carribe Golf Course club house, and was washed away during the night
when the clubhouse broke up. We have not heard from her. Jeanne and Bill left their dog and cat at
Caplen Shores, so they have been lost as well. I really thought Caplen Shores had a good chance of
survival, but obviously not. I spoke to Jeanne around 10AM on Friday morning and told her I really
thought she should get out. She said they had planned to, but the water came up much faster than
anticipated and they could not get out. They drove to Rollover, but it was already covered with
water at 2PM, about 5 hours before the first real increase of the storm surge in Galveston. As you
probably have figured out for yourself, Hurricane Ike has made Ray Nagin’s “storm of the century” a
couple of weeks ago, look like an afternoon thundershower. Of course I do not want to belittle what
Hurricane Katrina brought to poor Waveland, MS. In both cases, the vast destruction in Waveland,
Crystal Beach and Gilchrist were overshadowed by their larger, more “newsworthy” neighbors of New
Orleans and Galveston. What most people haven’t realized yet, is the total destruction of Waveland
is much the same as the Bolivar Peninsula, except about double. My personal estimate is that at
least 2000 homes were totally destroyed. And yes, many, such as mine, were personal residences,
not “second” homes as many in the media proclaim. I haven’t been able to get onto the peninsula
yet, but hopefully will later next week. I lost many personal items in the storm. One of the
things I regret the most is a little brown teddy bear that a child left years ago that I was hoping
would be returned to its rightful owner someday when they returned. Due to it’s wear and tear, it
was obvious that it was well loved. Most of the items I had were replaceable except one picture of
my daughter Jennifer, which is not replaceable, as was the Rowe Jukebox at Caplen Shores which
garnered hundreds of favorable comments.

I have seen a few shots of where Stingaree and Gulfview were, but as far as I can tell, they are
gone.

Jeanne said before they were evacuated by helicopter, on Sunday, they walked from Ship’s Wheel to
Caplen Shores (about 7 miles). She said all of the houses in Caplen Shores are gone. One of the
best parts about the Bolivar Peninsula is the friendliness and camaraderie we have with our
neighbors. We all accept that hurricanes are a part of living in what many, including myself,
consider to be paradise. Rebuilding will obviously be a challenge, but rebuild I will. I love The
Bolivar Peninsula and have since I first visited there as a child more than 50 years ago. As I have
told many of you, I have visited 107 countries in my career as a pilot, and one of my favorite
places on the planet is Bolivar. Although my philosophies have been challenged somewhat, I still
consider it to be my home. Just like Thailand after the tsunamis and the Gulf Coast after previous
hurricanes, we will rebuild bigger and better. The best news is that I am well covered for my loan
amounts by both flood and windstorm insurance, something that I cannot say for many who have lost
everything, so I should have no issues that many persons have faced with their insurance companies
in a debate over whether their damage was caused by wind or flood. Unfortunately, the appreciation
we have enjoyed in the past 4 or 5 years wasn’t covered, but that’s just part of having homes in
what I consider to be paradise. Many were not covered by flood insurance due to its cost. I have
filed my preliminary claims and hopefully they will be processed in a nominal amount of time.

In my lifetime, there has been an order of enjoyment. In my case, it was being there for the birth
of my daughter, Jennifer. Second has been spending time with Teresa, Third was rolling down the
runway at 180 MPH as captain of Boeing 747 Jumbo Jet to fly halfway around the world with 500 people
onboard, and the fourth was a tie between listening to a Rolling Stones album on the deck at Caplen
Shores and reading the guest books for our beach properties.

We have become personal friends with many of our guests through the years, some in person when you
arrive, and most by phone. I know that Jeanne has met most who have been our guests at Caplen
Shores. There is good reason to believe that I may be able to rebuild a property that will
satisfy your requirements before next summer Again, I have no reason not to rebuild. I really
enjoy being able to even have a tiny part in bringing families together.

I welcome your phone calls or emails at any time; however, I may take a couple of days to return
some during the next week or so.

Your Friend,

Dan Jacobs

see below

This is my home. I only rent it when I'm not there.