On-line JULY 2007 NO. 142 The Caribbean’s Monthly Look at Sea & Shore Women at the Helm See story on page 16 TIM WRIGHT JULY 2007 CARIBBEAN COMPASS PAGE 2 Info& Updates Caribbean Requests Extended US Passport Reprieve The Caribbean’s Monthly Look at Sea & Shore In January of this year, the United States State Department’s requirement for all US citizens to have passports in order to return from (and thus in effect, travel to) the www.caribbeancompass.com Caribbean and other neighboring areas by air went into effect. On June 8th it was announced that, due to inability of passport centers to cope with the resultant JULY 2007 • NUMBER 142 flood of applications, this requirement has been suspended through the end of September. During this time, US citizens can return home if they show a receipt proving that they have applied for a passport. As Tony Best explained in the June 19 th issue of the Barbados Nation newspaper: Marooned “Overwhelmed by the flood of applications for passports from United States citizens Swell holds hostages .............22 planning to travel to the Caribbean, Canada, Bermuda and Mexico, the United BARTLETT States State Department, which issues passports, has decided to suspend the [require- ment] for passports…. Before the rush for passports… it took about six weeks to STÉPHANE LEGENDRE receive the travel document. Now the waiting time can be as long as three months.” According to a June 17th report in USA Today, “thousands of people awaiting pass- ports were canceling vacations or losing money on non-refundable tickets.” As this issue of Compass goes to press, the Caribbean Tourism Association (CTO), which represents 32 Caribbean countries, is lobbying the US Congress to extend the passport-requirement waiver until 2009. According to the CTO’s chairman, Allen Guade-Loop 2007 Chastenet, who is also St. Lucia’s Minister of Tourism, “The evidence is now over- 29th round-the-island race....10 whelming that tourism and commerce in the Caribbean have suffered considerably as a result of the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative passport rule.” Crime Hinders Caribbean Development His Hurricane Hints According to a recent report, jointly prepared by the World Bank and the United Nations Brad’s Annual Reminder........18 Office on Drugs and Crime, violent crime caused by the trafficking of Colombian cocaine through this region to Europe and the United States is severely affecting the JULY 2007 CARIBBEAN COMPASS PAGE 3 Caribbean’s potential economic growth. The report called on the region to modernize police forces, improve crime statistics, and invest in crime-reduction programs. The report CHETLAND added, however, that signs were that the flow of narcotics through the Caribbean is diminishing as Mexican cartels take over from Colombian organizations in distributing drugs in the United States and shift trafficking routes to Central America. There’s Good News, But Stay Alert The Caribbean Safety and Security Net, which broadcasts daily on single-sideband radio How Sweet It Is frequency 8104 at 1215UTC (0815 hours local time) collects first-hand reports of crimes Summer on the Rio Dulce .....30 against yachts in the Caribbean. These are posted at www.safetyandsecuritynet.com. The Caribbean Safety and Security Net is primarily an interactive radio network of cruising yachts which meets for the purpose of exchanging information about safe- Jamaica Hello! Whale Tales ty and security concerns while cruising in the Eastern Caribbean. Its main purpose Cruisers get Irie welcome.......20 Would you let them steer? .....34 has always been to report and log incidents of crime against yachts, so that sailors in the Eastern Caribbean can make intelligent decisions about where to visit and DEPARTMENTS how to behave while there. While the reporting and logging of cruiser-related incidents is still a large part of Net activities, the Net has expanded into much more. Most people who listen and/or Business Briefs........................7 Cruising Kids’ Corner ............38 contribute, see the Net as an information exchange and as a place to turn when Eco-News...............................8 Dolly’s Deep Secrets.............38 there are questions or concerns about some part of this cruising life. In addition to reporting and logging incidents, the Net provides a relay on emer- Regatta News ........................9 Book Reviews ........................39 gency and priority messages from friends and family, boat watches for vessels miss- Destinations ...........................20 Product Postings....................43 ing or overdue, warnings of navigational hazards both natural and manmade, sources for medical services, and, as time allows, information on a variety of other Street Talk...............................24 Cooking with Cruisers...........46 topics, such as customs and immigration procedures and fees, other nets, sources Meridian Passage .................33 Readers’ Forum .....................48 of weather information, etcetera. Sailors’ Horoscope ................36 Classified Ads........................52 Net controller Melodye Pompa reports that so far this year, fewer than half the num- ber of crime reports have been made to the Net as compared to the same period Island Poets ...........................36 Advertisers’ Index .................52 in both 2005 and 2006. She notes that, in addition, far fewer reports were made of Cruising Crossword ...............37 Calendar................................54 burglary and incidents involving weapons. However, she reminds us, “Let’s not let our guard down. As soon as boats in Margarita stopped lifting and locking their dinghies at night, there was a string of dinghy thefts. Always lock the dinghy to the Caribbean Compass is published monthly by boat and to the dinghy dock, always lock the boat when you leave it.” Compass Publishing Ltd., P.O. Box 175 BQ, Grenada/Carriacou/Petite Martinique: Bequia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines. Ad Sales & Distribution - Bob and Judi Goodchild Visit www.safetyandsecuritynet.com for additional tips on how to stay safe. Tel: (784) 457-3409, Fax: (784) 457-3410, Tel: (473) 443-5784, [email protected] —Continued on next page [email protected] Guadeloupe: Ad Sales & Distribution Stéphane Legendre www.caribbeancompass.com Tel/Fax: + 590 (0) 5 90 84 53 10 Mob: + 590 (0) 6 90 49 45 90 [email protected] Editor...........................................Sally Erdle [email protected] Martinique: Ad Sales & Distribution - Isabelle Prado Tel: (0596) 596 68 69 71, Mob: + 596 (0) 696 93 26 38 Assistant Editor...................Elaine Ollivierre [email protected] [email protected] St. Lucia: Distribution - Wayne Barthelmy Advertising & Distribution........Tom Hopman Tel: (758) 584-1292, [email protected] [email protected] Art, Design & Production......Wilfred Dederer St. Maarten/St. Barths/St. Kitts & Nevis: ON-LINE SUBSCRIPTIONS [email protected] Distribution - Eric Bendahan (599) 553 3850 Accounting.................................Debra Davis Ad Sales - Stéphane Legendre Tel/Fax: + 590 (0) 5 90 84 53 10 Mob: + 590 (0) 6 90 49 45 90 [email protected] [email protected] NOW AVAILABLE! Compass Agents by Island: St. Thomas/USVI: Distribution - Bryan Lezama Join our growing list of Antigua: Ad Sales & Distribution - Lucy Tulloch Tel: (340) 774 7931, [email protected] Tel (268) 774-6657 [email protected] St. Vincent & the Grenadines: Ad Sales - Debra Davis, on-line subscribers! Tel: (784) 457-3527, [email protected] Barbados: Distribution - Norman Faria 12 issues US$29.95, 24 issues US$53.95 Tel/Fax: (246) 426-0861 Tortola/BVI: Distribution - Gladys Jones [email protected] Tel: (284) 494-2830, Fax: (284) 494-1584 Same price, same content — faster delivery! Curaçao: Distribution - Cees de Jong Trinidad: Ad Sales & Distribution - Giselle Sankar Tel: (5999) 767-9042, Fax: (5999) 767-9003, Tel: (868) 634-2055, Fax: (868) 634-2056 [email protected] [email protected] Dominica: Distribution - Hubert J. Winston, Venezuela: Ad Sales & Distribution - Patty Tomasik Dominica Marine Center, 24 Victoria Street, Roseau, Tel: (58-281) 265-3844 Tel/Fax: (58-281) 265-2448, For full details visit: Tel: (767) 448-2705, [email protected] [email protected] Caribbean Compass welcomes submissions of short articles, news items, photos and drawings. www.caribbeancompass.com See Writers’ Guidelines at www.caribbeancompass.com. Send submissions to [email protected]. We support free speech! But the content of advertisements, columns, articles and letters to the editor are the sole responsibility of the advertiser, writer or correspondent, and Compass Publishing Ltd. accepts no responsibility for any statements made therein. Letters and submissions may be edited for length and clarity. Compass Publishing Ltd. accepts no liability for delayed distribution or printing quality as these services are supplied by other companies. ©2007 Compass Publishing Ltd. All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this publication, Cover Photo Tim Wright: WOMEN AT THE HELM except short excerpts for review purposes, may be made without written permission of Compass Publishing Ltd. Marsha Farfan at the Helm of Business Machine ISSN 1605 - 1998 —Continued from previous page St. Kitts Minister Heads Global Sustainable Use Body GRENADINES In the wake of the 59th meeting of the International Whaling Commission, held in May, St. Kitts and Nevis’ Minister of Agriculture