SAN DIEGO — Jimmy Buffett knows all about hurricanes and sailing, so it’s appropriate that the singer-songwriter has been enlisted to help promote a regatta on the Caribbean island of St. Barts and show that life is returning to normal after a direct hit from Hurricane Irma in September.

Buffett will serve as U.S. ambassador for the Les Voiles de Saint-Barth, April 8-14, a mainstay on the Caribbean yacht racing circuit.

Singer Jimmy Buffett will serve as U.S. ambassador for the Les Voiles de Saint-Barth, a sailing regatta in April. J.P. Piter via AP

“I sailed into the harbor in 1978 and it’s always kind of been my second Caribbean home, after Florida,” Buffett said by phone from New York, where he’s getting ready for the Broadway premiere of his musical, “Escape to Margaritaville.” “My kids all kind of grew up down there. I have a fond attachment from those early days. I’ve seen it in a lot of phases and I think it’s one of the most unique spots on the planet.”

Buffett grew up on the Gulf Coast and said he was “a child of hurricanes.” Besides writing songs such as “Son of a Son of a Sailor,” “One Particular Harbor” and “A Pirate Looks at Forty,” he also wrote “Trying to Reason with Hurricane Season.”

Buffett owns a villa on St. Barts that was undamaged by the storm. He said he’s impressed with how the island residents are bouncing back and he’s eager to help.

“They’re pretty resilient people there. They always have been,” he said. “They did an amazing job, I thought, in getting the place in any way presentable.”

Buffett played a free concert on the main dock in Gustavia on Dec. 27 to give locals a break from the recovery work and attract visitors to the island.

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