FREE Local News St-Barth in English Published by “Le Journal de Saint-Barth” N°121 - May 19, 2007 WWEEKLYEEKLY05 90 27 65 19 - [email protected] RowingRowing AcrossAcross thethe AtlanticAtlantic ■■■■■■■ Rowing Across The Atlantic hey said it would take 100 days. On Sunday, TMay 13, just before 2:30pm, Graham Walters— who will be 60 in two months—landed on the beach in Saint Jean, com- WELCOME! pleting a 100-day adventure of rowing across the Atlantic The St. Barth Ocean. This Englishman, a Weekly is happy to veteran of three Atlantic be back for its crossings, left the beach of fourth season. The La Gomera in Tenerife in the Weekly is designed Canary Islands on January to help you put your 22. He had planned to arrive finger on the pulse in Antigua, a popular desti- of the local commu- nation for this kind of event. nity. Featuring an almost 3,000 miles that sepa- Beach in the US on May 21, But the winds and water cur- English résumé of rate the Canary Islands from 1996, and were headed to the top stories in rents decided otherwise and Saint Barth. His legs buckled the English shore. They nev- our French newspa- carried him to Saint Barth. when he stood on dry land, er arrived. Puffin was found per, Le Journal de Patrick Laplace was anchor- proof of the feat he has just in the middle of the Atlantic Saint Barth, as well ing near Ilet Tourue when he accomplished: to row across with the diary the journalists as original articles spotted Walters, and called the Atlantic in a small boat had left behind. Walters ded- in English, The St. others to create a small wel- just 15’ long. This little boat icated his expedition to Barth Weekly is the coming committee for this has quite a history, as its first them, and took their journal only completely man who appeared quite two owners, David John- on his trip, reading a differ- English-language unexpectedly on our shores. stone and John Hoare, disap- ent passage every day. “I newspaper on the peared in 1966. These two was looking for their island. It is distribu- Weighing more than 40 English journalists attempted ghosts,” he admits, “But I ted on the island pounds less than when he the first rowing trip across did not meet them.” every week from started, Walters arrived in the Atlantic in the 20th cen- November through good shape, sun tanned, with tury aboard Puffin, the boat Walters began this project the end of July. Our a smile on his lips and the Graham rowed on his jour- three years ago, right after he most exciting news muscles needed to row the ney. They had left Virginia saw Puffin for the first time. is that each Friday, He thought that the 40 year- The Weekly is also old boat was more than an available online at antique when he discovered Saint Barth Online its excellent condition. He (www.st- had to convince the directors barths.com), the of the Maritime Museum in wonderful web site Exeter to allow him to use launched in 1996, the boat “to write another and now run by our chapter in its history.” friends Bruno and Which he did! Géraldine Colletas. Thanks to them, A Carpenter On Land you can download every edition of The A carpenter by trade, Gra- St. Barth Weekly, so ham Walters is from Leices- that no matter ter, the mecca of English where you are in the The first real meal after 100 days at sea. Patrick Laplace, who sports and especially rowing, world, you can stay discovered Graham anchored by the islet of Tortue and who where training takes place in touch with your accompanied him as far as his landing on Saint Jean beach, on the Soar River. It is here favorite island. cooked him some mahi-mahi. Graham and his boat, Puffin, were that Walters learned to row then towed to the Quai Général de Gaulle in Gustavia where at an early age. And it was they awaited the arrival of mayor Bruno Magras. 2 St Barth Weekly n°121 ■■■■■■■ The Story of Puffin Rowing Across The Atlantic on a scull that he pre- in contact with his wife pared for his adventure, once a week. rowing two hours per day For Walters, this marked for three years. During his 4th transatlantic cross- the ocean crossing he ing—two were races, the rowed for eight hours per last in 2003 to reach day. To drink, he had but (without success) the a tiny quantity of desali- Panama Canal (he got as nated water created via far as Bermuda…). This solar panels placed at the time, aboard a 2.5 ton back of the plywood and row boat that is 40 years fiberglass boat. 300 old, was undoubtably the rations of freeze-dried hardest: “It “surfs” a lot food made up the main less than a modern boat 2.5 tons and just 15 feet. A hull of plywood and fiberglass, portion of his diet,with an and it sits lower in the which was revolutionary at the time, but rather heavy today: occasional fish, “but very water. It is very hard to that is Puffin, the little boat that David Johnstone and John rarely as they were not row.” Upon arrival, Wal- Hoare used in their fatal attempt to be the first to row across biting,” he says. He did ters stated that this was the Atlantic in the 20th century. In this picture, Puffin was photographed aboard the USS United States, which brought not see any sharks, or his last transatlantic the boat to the US in late 1965 when the two men set off on anything scary, which is crossing. their adventure. (Photo from Graham Walters’website: good as he did have to Last Wednesday, Puffin www.atlanticpuffin.co.uk) dive into the ocean to was still in Saint Barth, check the condition of the waiting to be towed to hull. He did see a whale Antigua where Graham On October 14, 1966, in the midde of the Atal- wants the boat to be on the Canadian boat, ntic. “The ocean was full display. Perhaps at the Chaudiere, found Puf- of plankton,” says Wal- Dockyard Museum which fin drifting in the mid- ters. “It was like a multi- retraces the history of the Atlantic by. The men’s tude of Christmas light.” former British port of journal was found As for the weather: he Saint John. Additional intact, with the final had a barometer, and also information can be found entry made on Septem- had a GPS aboard along on the Internet at ber 3, when a force two wind was too strong to with a satellite telephone www.atlanticpuffin.co.uk continue rowing. The with which he remained wind, part of a hurri- cane, only got stronger. 179 It is thought that the two men died in waves 179 is the number of rowers to have crossed the of 24 to 30 feet with Atlantic according to Kenneth Crutchlow, director winds between force 8 of the Ocean Rowing Society International, which and 12. helped with the organization of Graham Walters’s expedition. For Crutchlow, who points out that (Photo from Graham Walters’website: atlanticpuffin.co.uk) thousands of climbers have reached the peak of Mount Everest, rowing across the ocean remains one of the hardest challenges in the world. Stay in touch WHEREVER YOU ARE EVERY FRIDAY AT Now that Graham has given Puffin a new life, a new chapter in the boat’s history is being written. www.st-barths.com 4 St Barth Weekly n°121 ■■■■■■■ Gli Gli In Saint-Barth Three Days Dedicated To Carib Culture n Guyana and the southern Antilles, where their ancestors I lived more than 1000 years ago, there are but 25,000 Carib Indians remaining. In Dominica, their second largest territory, there are approxi- mately 3,600. They are sad that their history has been all but forgotten; the history of the first people to settle in the Caribbean who are still living today. Other cultures, such as the Arawaks, who visited Saint Barth as they inhabited the Northern Islands, and the Taïnos who lived in the Greater Antilles, were destroyed after the arrival of the Spanish. The goal of the Gli Gli (whose name path by which his ancestors arrived is a Caribbean bird used on a totem in Dominica. This dream became a for bravery) is to recall the existence reality with the Gli Gli project, and history of the Caribs. The project which included the construction of was launched 10 years ago, but began a large Carib canoe, and the idea to with a meeting in Dominica in 1994 retrace the path in the opposite between Tortola artist Aragorn Dick- direction, from Dominica to Guyu- Read and a Carib artist Jacob Freder- na, via all of the islands along the ick, both interested in the art and cul- way, to meet all the Caribs who ture f the Caribs. Jacob had a dream still live in the region. The journey since he was a child: to retrace the was captured on film in the BBC documentary “The Quest Of The Carib Canoe.” At the end of the first voyage, Gli Gli was taken to Tortola, where maintenance and care were aboard the schooner, Fiddler’s was easier than in Green. The expedition was organized Dominica. Then, a little to celebrate Gli Gli’s 10 anniversary over a year ago, the and the renaissance of Carib culture canoe went to Antigua to that is beginning to echo through the participate in a nautical regional islands.